Arizona republican., 1890-11-23
CULTIVATE SUGAR BEETs.

l. century. Certain varieties of the beet were introduced in England in the year l549. Dr. William McMurtrie, in Report No. 28 from the United States Depart ment of Agriculture in 1880, onthe cul- ture of the sugar beet, says ''The root does not seem to have been considered as having an industrial value, and was cultivated only for the table or for cattle food until 1747, when Margraf, mem Der of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, believing sugar to be a regular constitu- ent of plants other than the sugar cane, made examination of different varieties of vegetables, and succeeded in separat- ing from several kinds varying quanti- ties of chrystalizable sugar. Of all the plants examined, he found the beet to be the richest in sugar, and believing, that Europe would find in this root the basis of an immense industry, he urged the importance of his discovery upon the academy, hoping to see valuable and practical results follow. A success ful plan for extracting the sugar from the beet was discovered in 1797 and i'm troduced in France and Germany.
 "At the beginning of the nineteenth century France had established schools and imperial factories to teach the sys- tenn, and between the years 1902 and 1909 had reduced her importation of sugar from over 50,00O,000 pounds per annum to l0,000,000.s During the same years Germany had taken just as active interest with most satisfactory results" |"
 McMurtrie in another report says :: Notwithstanding the progress that has been made in Europe in the culture of the sugar-beet and the manufacture of beet-root sugar, and immensity and value of the industry it has supplied to European nations, the knowledge and experience resulting has not been ap- piled in such way in the United States as to make the production of sugar from this source matter of any commercial or industrial importance, although at tempts at the introduction of the in dustry have not been wanting. The first experiment, made by two enter prising Philadelphians as early as 1880, was almost cotemporaneous with the final firm establishment of the industry in France and the great interest mani tested in it there"
 The industry in the United States has been dormant and it is only of late years that any active interest has been shown. The Department of Agriculture has lately taken the matter in hand and has not only issued reports giving full data and information for the benefit of those desiring to experiment, but has offered inducements, and Congress has joined. being satisfied of its importance. By the action of the last Congress a bounty of ? cents per pound is paid to the home producer of sugar. The De- partment, too, has gone so jar as to dis tinguish the exact districts in the United States most adapted to beet cul- ture and has traced the isothermal line from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast.
 Among the experiments with the sugar beet in the West Department report gives the name of R. Nadeau, of ->7ss ..-.ts~.~-,, ~s-so uSO, planted several hundred acres. He shipped as sample to be tested some fifty tons to the Standard Sugar Manu- featuring Company, at Alvarado, Cal. The analysis, which was given in re- port of Mir. Kulburg, chemist of that company, demonstrated that in sugar producing qualities they were up to, if not above, the standard of beets grown in Germany and France. This analysis was made with both green and dried beets, the result being about the same. The lowest average yield has been fif- teen tons per acre, and from an analysis of the California beet, made by the Bureau of Chemistry at Washington, the yield of pure granulated sugar is about 9.5 per cent or l90 pounds of sugar per ton of beets; at this rate, one acre would produce 2S50 pounds of sugar. The actual yield for the first crop, how ever, as given by the report of the sec retary of agriculture, is nearly 400O pounds, or two tons per acre, in all ex- cept poorly cultivated fields.
 It can readily be seen what can be done with this vegetable with the re- quisite soil, water and climatic condi- tions attended with the right kind of energy.
 The isothermal line traced by the 1 of Agriculture passes di- rectly through the Salt River Valley, and the temperature of Arizona is most | favorable to beet culture as proven by investigation, and demonstrated in other localities, while experiment in California gives the beet there from to 5 per cent more of saccharine matter, which is the sugar, than the European beet. As sunshine, and properties of the soil known to exist in Arizona, are especially conducive to saccharine, it is safe to figure on an advantage of 2 or 3 per cent over California. If it is once demonstrated that the thousands of acres of fertile lands of the Salt and Gila Valleys are peculiarly adapted to this sugar beet culture, capital will find it's way in for the erection of mills and factories.
 UNCLE SAM's navy is gradually climb