The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-25
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
Beet Sugar.


To the Editor of the indianapolis Journai
Many of your readers take a lively interest in
agriculture, and all of them ought to- Like all
loyal Americans they are also disposed to swear
by" the family paper These, l think, are suf
fcient reasons for my calling attention to an
article on Beet Sugar republished from the
Chicago Tribune, in the Journal of this date.
There is so much in this article which is mis-
leading and so much which is false that cannot
let it go unchallenged. The idea conveyed there
III, that beet sugar and sugar made from corn
starch are in competition, is refreshing in it's
freshness, and could only have originated in
the brain of an agrculturist who has had his
sole tutelage in the office of a great daily news
paper. Beet sugar is identical in every respect
with cane sugar, and does not resemble corn
sugar any more than it does starch.
have never see so much that is new in agri-
cultural matter in so small space as in the fol
lowing extract
$50 long as makers of glucose in this country
are willing and able to pay 90 cents per bushel
for corn there is little likelihood that the beet
sugar business will grow largely in America, and
certainly not in the West for farmers will not be
willing to grow beets at s. per ton when corn,
which is more easily grown, will bring from IS to
SIG per ton"
The average number bushels of corn per acre
produced in the United States is about twenty
five, or |, 400 pounds. The average number of
tons of sugar beets produced per acre is about
fifteen. A reasonable man would not indulge in
tallacy like the above; an honest one could not.
1t may be true that Sin Illinois the soil has
qualities which make sugar beet growing I'M
profitable but Illinois is not the United Sta tes
One beet-sugar factory near San Francisco has
sent into the market this year l. 800 900 pounds
of pure sugar, having made more than 150
pounds per ton of beets. SO hopeful are
the signs for the success of this industry on
the Pacific coast that The California State Board
of Agriculture and State Grange of the Patrons
of Husbandry have united in a request to the
Commissioners of Agriculture to make a thor
ough study of the subject and survey of the 10
calties suitable for the beet-root culture. 1t is
probable that such a study will be made at an
early date. From information which / have
collected i'll the last year, l would not be sur
prised to find an area in northern California, Or
egon and Washington Territory suitable to the
cultivation OF the sugar beet nearly equal in ex.
tent to the beet fields of Europe.
The efforts of the glucose manufacturers to
belittle the prospects Of the beet-sugar industry
may have some effect where the truth is not
known but in no other quarters.
lnaSmuch as sugar alone takes annually nearly
one hundred million of dollars out of the country
1t would be more becoming in our great news
papers to encourage all efforts to keep this vast
sum at home, and not, by ignorance and misrep-
resentation, mslead the public on a matter of
such vast economic Importance. 1 am, respect
fully, H. w WILEY.
INDIANAPOLIS, June %.