Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-10-30

WILL nUuUUln illliIlLilO
TAKE THE OFFER OF A SUGAR
FACTORY FOR THEIR BEETSs
THE MEETING OF FARMERS MONDAY-A
PRACTICAL TALK FROM MR.. o. X. lap
HAM-CONIMITTEE APPOINTED TO CAN
VAss THE COUNTY-OFFERS FOR THE
FACTORY FROM OTHER PoINTs-AU-
GUsTA PEOPLE HAVE TILL NOVEMBER
nth TO DECIDE.
&C., &C., &C.
About three hundred farmers assem- bled
at the Court House Monday to consider
what action they would take on the propo-
s1tion which has been made by Mr.. 0. K.
Lapham regarding the establishment of a
beet sugar factory here. MI. LIS propo-
sition is in brief this-that if they will put
1900 acres of land in beets as minimum
OF any larger amount, he will put up beet
sugar factory at Staunton, will furnish
them beet seed at cost and take his paw in
beets. will furnish them fertilizer and take
his pay in beets. and will pay them for
their beets from So, so to 81 ton, Oh what
ever sum the saccharine matter they weld
entities them to.
MI. A. A. Sproul of Riverheads, was
called to the chair, and Mr.. A. C. Gordon
of Stanton, chosen secretary.
Mr.. J. W. Churchman moved that Mr..
0. X. Lapham be invited to address the
meeting, which was adopted, and being in
formed by a committee composed of
Messrs. D. A. Drake, W. P. Mish, and N.
c. Watts. Mr.. Lapham appeared.
REMARKS OF MR.. LAPHAM.
MI. Lapham alluded to the fact that he
had already addressed the Farmers County
Alliance on this subject, and said as the
county papers had published the address and
a good deal else besides on the subject, the
gentlemen composing the present meeting
had doubtless posted themselves by reading
as far as he was able to inform them. While
it is true that sugar was made from beets as
much as an hundred years ago, yet the prac-
tical work might be said to have commence
ed in Europe only from twenty to twenty
five years ago. In this country the work
was not commenced until about five years
ago. The first beet-sugar factory East of
the Rocky Mountains was established this
year. Last week there was another estab-
lished in Utah. But, all told, there are not
over five in the United States. [ have
heard from the factories in U tab and Grand
Island, Nebraska, as late as this morning.
NO RISK.
In the beets I raised, this years per cent
of sucrose was less than last year. But 1
hear from Nebraska that it was also less
there, so it must be the result of general
climatic cause and not a local. But even
with this lesser yield there is enough to
justify sugar beet culture. If I am will
ing to take the risk Of starting factory
you certainly can plant the beets, on which
you can't lose. If I did not take single
ton of the beets you raise, you could not
lose. [ found last year in feeding beets to
cattle that it paid me more than anything
else on the farm have charge Of.
BETS COMPARED WITH OTHER CROPS.
What is the profit in beet raising? Well,
compare it with your other crops. On
your wheat lands they tell me they can pro-
duce wheat at little less than $1.OO cost.
Others tell me that it costs from $1.10 to
$1.25. Then you get from 20 to % bushels
of wheat an acre, which you sell at $1.00.
On the same acre of land you can raise
from 80 to 40 tons of beets, for which l
offer, on certain conditions, to pay you 81
of oiuo ST
800 to 500 you get from wheat. True, it
will cost you something more to prepare
your land, but allowing for every possible
increase of cost there will still remain to
you ten times the profit there is in wheat
But the beets must have care. / would
rather you cultivated one acre with care
than ten acres carelessly. 1t is only from
the properly and carefully cultivated acre
that q farmer can get the right idea of
what can be done. You can put down the
cost of preparing an acre of beets at from
$15 to $50, which includes from IS to SIS for
fertilizer, the subsoiling, cost of seed, and
everything else, and you still have 800 profit
on an acre of beets.
THE INCIDENTAL PROFIT.
The incidental profit is, that you get back
the spent pulp for cattle feed, which is
called So a ton in Europe. Let us call it s.
a ton and you get back SIS.
The leaves of the beet are IS per cent. of
the total weight of the root, so from every
80 tons of beets you get Is tons of leaf en-
silage which is good for the dairy. These
leaves are valued highly as a food product
and fertilizer and their analysis shows that
they are properly so valued. You can leave
them on the ground for fertilizer Oh you
can put them in a silo. This year l use
them as food Tor cattle; last year 1 left
them. on the ground.
In Germany nearly all the land they put
in beets is similar to that around Staunton
and there it produces Bottoms, 50-tons, and
in the case of the mother beet lotions to
| the acre.
| ABOUT THEIR CULTIVATION.
Now about cultivation. You are not
cultivating large beets. They are not
worth one dollar ton; they are full of wa
ter and have little sugar. If you are going
to raise that sort, don't try it at ALL They
are to sugar beet about what common
stock is to a Jersey COW. You must have
the beet planted where the sunlight can
strike tit is the sun which makes the
sugar. Plant so they will go down deep
what of the beet is above ground has little
sugar. The cost of preparing and cultivat
ing an acre is just the same whether yor
raise Is tons OF 80 tons.
Aside from the beet industry, if you will
allow greenhorn to telly so. you are toe
much one-ideaed. There IS an enterprise
now before YOU that will work in with thu