Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1881-03-02
Beet Sugar In New England.

We have doubted, and in these columns
and elsewhere expressed our doubts, whether
the beet sugar industry could be made sue.
cessful in New England. The reason of our
doubt was that observation has convinced
us that very few New England farmers
know enough about root culture, or, indeed,
any nice kind of farming, to succeed in rails
ing sugar beets successfully on large scale
for sugar production. Good beets can be
raised by those who know how, and raised
at fair profit, for s5 a ton. But nobody
can do any kind of productive work at
profit without first learning the how. Men
brought up to grow grass, grain and pota-
toes in the ordinary way have really been
educated away from work like growing
beets, onions, or any crops of that class.
The careless, slovenly ways pursued in Or
dinary farm work on American farms units
and incapacitates those who are brought up
to them for the careful, intelligent, prompt
and business-like practices of the grower of
beets for sugar. They hate the very idea
of being tied down to such a sort of work.
Everybody who has observed these things
at all knows how worse than difficult it is to
get slack, disorderly, slovenly farmer to be
smart, systematic and neat After such
one has reached mature age the change is
practically impossible. Now sugar beets
can only be raised at profit by promptness,
intelligence and system in their cultivation.
Therefore sugar-making from beets cannot
be success amongst us, unless the owners
of factories will import their labor from
Germany or France The fact is that most
A.-,-'-"., fo--"n-- about 90 rnnoh ike
genuine farmers as the boys who peddle mo-
lasses candy are like genuine confectioners.
Here and there are exceptions, but only
enough to "prove the rule" Taking the
recent experience of the Maine Beet Sugar
Company, and we find that several of the
farmers who contracted to supply sugar
beets raised thirty tons and upwards per
acre; more than fifty raised at least twenty
tons to the acre. These we're satisfied and
willing to go on. But those who failed (and
many failed utterly were so much the more
numerous that the supply the past year fell
off from twelve thousand tons the previous
year to seven thousand tons, much of which
was brought from without the state. The
company has given up the undertaking, and
the new Franklin company, organized last
year in Massachusetts,, has also closed its
factory, having secured only three thousand
tons of beets.
The surprise, or the most painful part of
it, arose from the unwillingness of those who
failed the first season to persevere. The
fact that others close by them made good
crop made no difference. The job was
thrown up in the petulant, childish manner
so characteristic of unframed men and wo-
men. Beet growing was denounced as a
"humbug," just as orcharding, or any kind
of agriculture requiring knowledge and skill
is denounced by nine out of ten who are toe
ignorant and too conceited to believe and &C.
knowledge that any fault exists in them
selves. Nevertheless, we have got to come
down to it, boys. 1t is "root, hog, or die.
Either we Yankees must learn to farm, OF
get out Of the way for those who can. 1t il
the only way to save our heritage.