Daily Republican., 1879-01-25
tFron Ysstsrdayi Late Editioa.j
THE SUGAR BEET ENTERPRISE
the Report al the COmn,lttee-MOw
u hucceeded, and what the Prob
able Resssits will be In Case Of Its
Qualifications

Specially reported for the Republican.
DOVER, DEL, Jan. I'D, 1879.
As the subject of producing sugar
from the sugar beet and Its introduction
as a delaware institution" Is meeting
with much consideration with our citi-
Gems in general We give the report OF
til. commissioners Iraving the matter in
hand. This report was presented to
the Senate this morning. 1t says:
The Commissioners met at Dover on
April 10, 1877, and having procured
copies of the joint resolution making
the appointment, also Of the act, the
provisions OF which they were au.
thorizcd to carry into effect, they or.
ganized by -lecting Lea Pussy, Chair
man; Edward l.. Martin, Secretary,
and Samuel B. Cooper, Treasurer.
On considering the subject before them
they concluded TO offer three premiums
Of SIS, $50 and s25 to the farmers of
the State OF Delaware, for til. best
three results in cultivatlng til. sugar
beet for sugar.
In view of the universal practice OF
preparing the ground in the fall in the
beet sugar districts of Europe, and to
afford an opportunity to do it in this
trial, the premiums offered were for
beets grown in 1878. They also had
printed and circulated certain papers
giving information on the subject, $50
lots of seed were distributed, and a
lot Of sample b-ets were returned for
testing. As anticipated, the results,
with but few exceptions, We're poor. AZ
a knowledge OF the causes Of this is
deemed Of value, the commission make
a detailed report.
In order to insure good seed for the
trial the commission had fresh seed i'm
ported from Germany early in the
spring of 1878 procuring three Of the
best varieties. The seed was carefully
prepared, and put into small mailable
packages.
Over 100 farmers applied for seed as
competitors for the premiums and
A number Of others besides. The pres
ent necessities of the important crops
claiming the first attention from the
farmers in their season the sugar beet
lcXprriment must necessarily occupy
secondary attention, therefore out of
the number entering into the competi-
tor 40 sample lots of sugar berts were
returned. These were tested by Prof.
Shipper Wallace, 1l3 Walnut street,
Philadelphia. A few Of thu richest
h-"ts We're also tested by Prof. \.
! Weichert. 7G7 Wall street, New York.
Those double tests agreed very near
| ly, and confirm the excellent results
obtained,
/ The premiums were varded to the
farmers whose yield Of sugar as shown
| by the tests would be- largest for the
given area, and were as follows
4. J. Reynolds, Petersburg, Kent CO.,,
G9s6 pounds of sugar per acre.
d. IIeyd, Dover, 1906 pounds.
/ II. Thompson, Pleasant Hill, 1898.
Of the 40 lots Of berts tested % yield
ed we'll. They averaged at the rate of
- toln WI '''I ioo'a W ti'e acre. !" per
cent. OF sugar, which allowing for the
loss ca per cent? in manufacturing,
would turn ont an av"ras" o! 29s2
pounds OF sugar Yer acre. These cX-
r-llent results establish the fact that
there ar" districts in our state we'll
adapted TO til" production ct the sugar
beet, rich III sugar, "her' the proper cut
tW' Is gwen. IL ais" indicates other
districts as likely to b- unprolItabIe for
that purpose. II Is cause OF regret
that tie farmers did not manifest more
interest and larger number take this
opportunity t" try Their lands Tor SUI
gar.
The commission are OF the opinion
that better knowledge OF tins INDUS
try, the pr"ht To he derived from It's
introduction both to the Individual and
tn" state would tend to remove this
apathy. They would therefore ask at
trntion to some results from It's com
plete development in France, and
there Is reasonable certainty from
the test made this year that our stat"
can equal them.
A farm Of S32 acres the sal" of the
prodncr from which with ordinary
farming amounted 70 SS,ooW per annum
with III" culture rotation required for
the sugar beet, increased the annual
receipts 10 Sal ,2Oi. farm Of 20
acres produced j, 22j bushels OF wheat,
200 tons of sugar herts and pas
,ured $50 head OF cattle in year. But
the model farm Of France containing
Id2 acres averaged for II years 70
bushels Of oats, on 80 acres 80 bushels
OF wheat, on $50 acres - tons of sugar
brrts per acre, 3 tons of hay per acre,
pastui"d 5000 head of cattle and 5000
she, =. These farmers attribute theii
success as cultivators entirely to the