This view shows the Platte River Valley of Nebraska in which hundreds of tons of sugar beets are raised. All the farmers for many miles around raise the same crop. The land is thoroughly fertilized, then plowed and harrowed with tractors. Next the seed is drilled. When the plants reach a certain size they are thinned by hand. This is an important part of the work and must be done at just the right time. Sugar beets require considerable cultivating and hoeing to insure a good crop. Nebraska farmers call twenty tons to an acre a succsesful crop. When the beets are full grown they are plowed out. The tops are cut off, together with any apart of the beets which grew above ground, as such parts have been found to contain but

little sugar. This topping is done by hand and is the only time the beets are touched by human hands from the time the beets are plowed up until the sugar bag is opened at the place of using. When the topping is completed the beets are taken to the sugar refinery. One Scottsbluff factory uses over one thousands tons of beets daily. Colorado, Utah, California and MIchigan also grow large quanities of sugar beets. Only a small section of the United States is adapted to the raising of sugar cane, and as our country uses more sugar than any other country in the world, making beet sugar has become a very important industry.