National Republican., 1888-03-18
BEET MANUFACTURERS
An Industry Becoming of Interest to
Virginia Farmers.

An Industry Becoming of Interest to
Virginia Farmers.
In view of the fact that ii has been pro-
posed to erect at or near Alexandria one of
the sugar beet manufactures to be built
by the government, the pamphlet Just is
sued by the Norfolk and Western Railroad
Company will prove to be Of great interest
TO the farmers of Virginia.
The pamphlet has been prepared for
special distribution among Virginia agri.
culturists. 1t contains sixteen printed
pages on the sugar beet culture in France
Germany, Austria, Belgium, Hungary
and Holland taken from the United States
consular reports, and much other most
valuable information.
The preface of the pamphlet says: In
view of the probable action of Congress in
passing such legislation as will insure the
paying of a bounty upon all sugar manu-
factured from sugar beets or sugar cane
grown within the United States, the infor-
nation embodied herein has been COM
piled and is given to the agriculturists of
the state of Virginia, in order that they
may be fully prepared to experiment with
the sugar beet culture, to see If it can be
successfully grown in the state of Virginia.
For further information as to the cul-
ture OF the sugar beet and the manufacture
Special Report, No. d, of United States
Department of Agriculture" /" entitled IRE.
port on the Culture of the Sugar Beet and
the Manufacture of Beet Sugar Therefrom
in France and the United States" pub
lished under the direction of the commits
sioner of agriculture of the United States
in the year 1880, also reports of the United
States commissioners to the Paris uni
versal exposition of 1867 entitled "rhe
Manufacture of Beet Sugar and Alcohol
and Cultivation of Sugar Beet"
From the reports referred To the infOr-
nation is had that there are about 2.OOO,-
OOO acres of land devoted to the beet cul-
ture in the countries of France, Germany,
Austro- Hungary, Holland, and Belgium
In France there are now 500 rehneries
producing annually about 3s5,0O0 tons of
sugar in Germany 3il, producing $4,000
tons; in Austro- Hungary, 2i5, with u
product of 425,OOO tons, and in Belgium,
l5G, turning out annually about 100000
tons. In the countries named the annual
product amounts to All aggregate of L.
4S5, 600 tons.
The following facts, showing the rea.
tive yield and value of some Of the chief
agricultural products of Belgium, will in
dictate how the matter of profit stands
with the farmers of that country. The
average yield of wheat per hectare (2I
acrcs) is l,675 Kilograms (3,692i pounds
Vi rye, l,tup NO,-lNt pOulluS
ayoirdupois); of barley, $50 q ,O39 pounds
avoirdupoisl Of oats, l,5O0 1897 pounds
ayoirdupois), and of bcets, washed and
| cleaned, ready for the refinery, 5000 kilo.
| grams "a ,l6l pounds avoirdupois). The
| average price of wheat is $3.50 francs
$500 per 100 Kilograms (22Oi pounds
ayoirdnpois); ofrye, % tSi.60); of barley,
q Cs4.2N; Of oats, 1880 1890, and Of
beets, from 20 (SD to 25 lS5) per ton. This
estimate will give per hectare q! acres) the
following cash values of these respective
crops viz: Wheat, Az francs 1896 40); rye,
433 $3.50; barley, 3sI (S76,S0l; oats, $40
lS63), and beets, about 800 francs (Sl6O).
Thus il will be seen that hectare e!
acres) of beets will yield cash value of
322 francs CS6i.4O more than wheat, 1857
(S73.40) more than rye, 4l6 CSs3.20) more
than barley, and isl tS9S.sOJ more than
oats.
Mr.. Claus spreckles, president of the
Western Beet Sugar Company, at San
Francisco, in a letter addressed to Mr.. G.
Graham Anderson, Roanoke, Va, says
THE soil best adapted for growing sugar
| beets is u rich sandy loan. Beets must
not be grown successfully, in the same
soil, and they must never he manured.
Land that has produced crop of beets
should be planted in grain the next year,
and then manured and planted again in
| grain, and in the third year il may be re-
| planted with beets, but 1t must not be
manurcd that year. Thus u farm of lJ0
acres would enable farmer 10 grow fifty
acres of sugar bcets in each year, and
| think may safely say that the fifty acres
| planted in bects will prove more profitable
each year than the whole of the other hun
dred acres that are producing grain n
| present prices
In regard To erecting factories for the
manufacture of beet sugar, Mr. Spreckles
says: Before erecting factory anywhere
| must be guaranteed that AT least $500
| acres will be planted in beets every year
| for a definite number of years. ] must
| also be assured of sufficient supplies of
wood, water and lime in the neghbOr-
hood and good transportation facilities,
1t requires from fifteen TO twenty pounds
of beet seed to plant an acre of ground.
| The seed costs ten cents per pound in Ger
| many, and would probably cost twelve
cents per pound here. The large beets are
not the best inr making sugar, II the soil
be very rich the beots should not be
planted more than four inches apart in
the rows. lfthe soil be of good quality
the bCetS should be six inches apart in the
rows, and eight inches apart If the soil bC
moi 50 good. The rows should always bC
fourteen inches apart from one another,
There il Il great deal more of interest to
the farmers in the document issued by the
Norfolk and Western Railroad Company
which want of space CompCls to be omit
ted here. Parties-wishing tu obtain il can
do by addressing Mr.. c. q. Eddy, vice
president of the Norfolk and Western
| n IN. y IHa "a