Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-03-05
Farm and Household.
beet sugar In New England.

The friends of progressive agriculture viii
be pleased to learn that the beet-sugar indus
try in New England, so recently a matter Of
theory, pronounced by some conservative au.
thorities as visionary and impracticable ha.
been reduced to plain. matter of fact bust
ness operation. That sugar beets can be sue.
cessfully raised in this section and that beet
sugar can be pro6tably manufactured in our
own midst are no longer matters of doubt,
even in the minds of the most skeptical, how
ever simple the proposition may have appear
cd to the friends Of the enterprise. The fact
that within the past ninety days nine hun
dred tons OF sugar and moasses have been
produced 10y a single company in our neigh
boring city of Portland, from beets raised in
New England, is of itself worthy of mention
marking, as it does, the dawn of a grand and
remunerative industry
The importance of this fact is, however
Increased when we consider that the whole Of
this sugar and molasses, which found ready
sale in Boston and New York for $40, 900,
has been produced upon 100 acres of land,
or less than two square miles of territory ;
in other words, each acre of sugar beets in
the State Of Maine has produced 1888 pounds
OF sugar and molasses; or, to be more expli-
cit, each acre has yielded 1900 pounds of su-
gar and 1873 pounds of molasses, which ex-
ceeds the average product per acre from SUI
gar cane in Louisiana
This statement, though highly encourag-
ing fails to do justice to the facts, since the
average crop of beets has fallen very far
short of what may and ought to be raised.
1t was, in every sense, an experimental crop.
In nine cases out of ten, The farmers had
never before raised sugar beets, and of course
did not obtain the results which may be ex-
pected hereafter This is shown by the high
err average obtained in those localities in
which farming has been brought to greater
comparative perfection. For instance Ian
caster, Mass, has averaged eighteen tons to
the acre, and Newburyport, with her expert
enced onion-growers, has averaged twenty
four tons to the acre. Taking the product of
these two towns as a standard, we have TWEEN
ty tons per acre, which would give us two
tons of sugar and molasses actually obtained
this year from each acre planted in these two
localities of our own State. 1t follows from
these figures which are not hypothetical but
actual, that If Massachusetts,, with an area of
300 square miles, should devote one acre in
twenty to the culture of the sugar beet with
the average result obtained this year in Ian
caster and Newburyport, she would produce,
on 2jO 600 acres, at least 800 600 tons of su-
gar and molasses, which, at the price real
lied this year by the Maine beet sugar COM
pany, would be worth sos, 900, 600, and would
supply more than one-half the entire sugar
consumption of the United States
There is, of course, less favorable side to
the picture. Many farmers have not found
their last years crop remunerative and will
hardly be likely to repeat the experiment of
raising boets, while the returns from sugar
will not enable the company to pay any high
er price for beets next year. In order to Sc
cure the 5000 tons worked last season at
Portland it was found necessary to employ
canNassers III three States to contract with
700 farmers, and to receive beets at III
railroad stations, as well as by vessels and
wagons. 1t is still question whether our
New England farmers, as a class can afford
to raise beets at prices that will Justify the
manufacture of sugar unless they procure
additional stock, and feed the refuse beet
pulp upon their farms, rs is done in Europe.
Those progressive and intelligent farmers,
who are proficient in their calling whose
land is in good condition and who are famil-
lar with the requirements of the beet crop,
will average most remunerative crops. Such
farmers, fully approaching the value of the
pressed pulp resulting from the process will
not tail to secure supply for feeding to their
cattle, thereby keeping up the manurial re-
sources of the farm.
In this connection we make the following
abstract of facts taken from circular letter
recently issued by the Maine beet sugar COM
pany to the farmers of Maine: 1T is due to
the 100 farmers who have raised beets for
our company that they should know the ex-
act results. The average crop of 1879 on
100 acres has been ten tons to the acre. In
some cases thirty tons to the acre have been
raised. In one town (Newburyport, Mass
the average crop was over twenty-fou tons
TO the acre. In other cases not enough has
been raised to pay for the seed and fertilizers.
Artificial manures, used alone, have not rails
ed good crops and evidently will not alone
supply the place of barn yard manure At
certain stages of the crop, and in certain
soils, reliable commercial fertilizers have
proved valuable. We have worked up 5000
tons of beets, and have made 800 tons of su-
gar and molasses, which we have sold for
$4,000. We have paid farmers for beets
delivered in Portland 500, OO0 for storing
and pitting, $4,000 total $50, 600. We have
paid for fuel, $4,000; for labor and other
manufacturing expenses, S37, OOO total,
S47, 000-in all SlO7, 900. We have cleared
S3OOO which will not go far towards paying
for our machinery and fixtures, which have
cost us $50, 600. You will see from these fig
ures that we cannot pay more for beets than
last year, except for early deliveries, by
which we hope next year to lessen the cost of
storing and pitting.
The beet pulp has proved to be very val
liable feed for cattle, sheep and hogs, fully as
good for feeding as the same weight of beets
Yet three-fourths of the pulp has been vast
ed this year because farmers do not yet know
Its value Next year we hope you will give
1t trial. Many farmers have been disap-
pointed in the amount of their crops, because
they have left too much space between the
rows, SO that the ground has not been fully
covered, while at the same time they have
left the beets too close together in the row,
thus stunting the beets. In Europe the rows
are from fourteen to eighteen inches apart,
while the beets are from eight to twelve inch
es apart in the row. If farmers will plant
their rows nearer together and will leave few
er beets in the row, manuring well, planting
early, using plenty of seed, cutting out the
young plants from the intervening spaces
across the rows with an eight-inch hoe and
thinning out in good season, there is no reas-
on why their crops should not average TWEEN
ty tons to the acre. If they sell their beets
for 50 cash at the railroad station, and feed
one-third the weight of their beets in beet
pulp, at a cost of less than 81 per ton, there
is no crop so profitable"
1t is gratifying to note, in this connection,
that while Maine has taken the initiative, and
is entitled to the credit of having done so,
yet in the development of the industry Maine
and Massachusetts have gone hand in hand.
Citizens of both States have from the first
been represented in the capital and manage
ment of the company, and in the raising of
the beets. New Hampshire, too, has already
offered State bounty. If Massachusetts
should do the same, as Gov. Long has recon-
mended in his message, We may hope to see
a rapid development of agricultural prosperi-
ty in New England Movements for factor
les are already making in Northampton,
Franklin, Lancaster and other localities. If
the tariff on sugar remains unatered, and
our currency continues on specie basis,
America may possibly at no distant day be-
come the producer of her own sugar.
The Glow Crop.
The clover cron IL ona IN which tla es,,a