Los Angeles herald., 1891-10-20
OUT FOR THE STUFF.
The Farmers After Beet
Sugar Profit.
Two Important Meetings Held
Yesterday. s3s
70.
A Good Cooperative Scheme Well
Under Way. A.
The Details of the Enterprise-A Great
Many Acres Pledged to Beet Gull
ture-The Addresses.

The cooperative sugar factory
scheme now being agitated in this coun-
ty seems to be slowly crystalizing in at
least one locality. An enthusiastic
meeting OF farmers, held yesterday af-
ternoon at The Palms, and an equally
successful one last evening at Colegrove,
show that at least one factory is reason
ably sure of being established in the
near future.
At the meeting at The Palms about
thirty prospective growers OF the sugar
beet were present. Mr.. E. H. Sweetzer
was called to the chair and L. 7. Fisher,
of the Santa Monica Outlook, acted as
secretary. Frank ]. Captain, the civil
engineer and expert on factories, was
the first to address the assembly. He
said: "The object OF this movement is
to cooperate not only for the purpose OF
growing the sugar-beet, but also for
manufacturing the sugar. Now the
capitalist receives all the profits, while
the farmer usually gets the mortgage.
The object of the bounty given by the
government is to encourage the farmer
to grow the beet, but this object will
never be achieved unless the farmers CO.
operate to avail themselves of the ad-
vantage. The cooperative system is in
use in Germany, and has proved great
success. We want to do likewise. The
method is to give farmer a
share in the cooperative company Tor
every acre he agrees to plant to the beet
for five years. A sure market is guar
anteed for his product, and whatever
advantage accrues from the scheme Will
be to his benefit"
John p. Conner, who has himself
agreed to plant 100 acres to the beet, at
Ballona, and who has been very active
in pushing the present plan, said The
beet-grower who now obtains $3.5O per
ton Tor his beets makes a very meagre
margin on his work. The average crop
per acre is twenty tons, and 1T IS easy
figuring to ascertain what the farmer
will obtain, if he is shareholder IN the
cooperative factory. If he has a little
place of ten acres planted to the beet,
he produces every year 200 tons OF Deets:.
That amounts to twenty-four tons OF
sugar, which, at cents pound would
be $2400. He will not be compelled to
pay the interest on million dollars OF
watered stock, but only the actual
amount invested in buildings and ma
chinery, that is, about $500, 900. On the
one hand, he receives $40 per acre, OF
which $40 is profit, and on the other
hand, $240, OF which $130 is profit.
This is the result which can
be obtained by this proposition.
No capitalist can come in and grasp your
factory, for no one can obtain share OF
stock unless he is grower. Ii capital-
lists want to come in, they must first buy
the land before they can get hold OF a
share of stock, and after this factory has
once been started there is not farmer
who will want to sell share, and most
of the members will be sorry they did
not secure bigger interest at the start"
Mr.. Henry Denker-I want to say Tor
the benefit of those who can only
plant heets on rented land, and
therefore could not obtain stock
in the company, that in this region
beets have been raised running 80 tons
to the acre, and having a percentage
of saccharine matter Of IA. The average