Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-03-25
SUGAR BETS IN NORTH DAKOTA,

SUGAR BEETS IN NORTH DAKOTA.
For two years, during the growing seasons Of 1890 and 1891,
to the production of beets for sugar making purposes in the hope
Of the introduction of the beet sugar industry into the State: The
Government Agricultural Experiment Station at Fargo, during
these two years, has not only grown beets on it's own land, but
has, moreover, subjected to analyst. all samples submitted by
growers of numerous different localities. During the year 1891,
the State Department of Agriculture furnished seed from which
beets were grown in more than 200 different localities throughout
the State, covering practically every variety y Of soil and climate
found within our limits, and from all these localities beets were
secutive years by the Experiment Station itself, having been ,~m SUBJ
jected as nearly as possible to identical conditions, and the analy-
cesses both years, furnish a reasonably correct basis for an esti-
nation of the sugar beet producing adaptations of the Red River
This crop subjected to analysis showed an average sugar con-
tent tent for s@d the e three IL esr varieties ash e ;s g gss; l.. Of Il 1880 s9r per cent &C. % of sugar in
secutive years of 1881 per cent. of crystalizable sugar, the differ
chiefly caused by the excessive amount Of rainfall during the year
1891, a condition not conducive to the formation of sugar: And
gar content Of beets grown in Germany for the year 1890 was 1872
per CENT S cons Sa9 f;l less thar than the yield Of the North Dakota
our State best adapted to the production Of a beet Of high sugar
content, the lighter and dryer soils farther west being better fitted
percentage of organic matter and a high content of sucrose or
s n%S ta The ans. experience dsnset Of the he Yea year 1891 shows @sst, sondusiyely that,
State, all parts Of North Dakota susceptible of cultivation are
tent 50 high as to make it's economical conversion into sugar as
feasible as is the case in any other state of the Union.
culture, samples from some 200 different localities were submitted
to analysis at the Government Experiment Station, covering prac-
result Of these analyses was 1l43 per cent In connection with
this experiment, however, observations on the period of ripening
and date OF highest sugar content were made which furnished
facts of exceptional interest, as demonstrated by the following
table:
Bssts ssSyssts$ B Bss~ssn 5 g ef fs3S and aSt Oct: soi : :1s15 per per cent Of Of sugar:
Beets harvested after November LIST. ...::.:"":.l3 per cent. Of sugar:
The first suggestion furnished by these data is, that the actual
average sugar yield for the entire crop of the season was far below
the possibilities, inasmuch as because of ignorance of conditions
on the part Of the growers, a very considerable portion of the crop
was harvested before it reached its maximum sugar content; I'd,
the longer the harvest was postponed previous to the arrival of
frost-indeed,, after November lst-the greater was the proportion
of sugar present in the crop; Sd, it is further here demonstrated
that the supposed shortness of the season for the production of
crops in this latitude is i'll founded, inasmuch as the highest yield
of sugar was found in beets harvested after the LIST day of Novem-
as pertaining to the beet crop is SO much greater than is possible
with most other farm crops, that with this crop the danger of loss
through early or abnormal frosts is reduced to the minimum. In
view of these facts, it seems to be positively demonstrated that the
greater portion of the State Of North Dakota is admirably adapted
to the production of sugar beet with a saccharine content as high
or higher than that obtained in localities where the beet sugar in
dustry is already we'll established on a paying basis, and that the
average yield per acre in our State, which was, for the year 1891,
thirteen tons, is equal to that of France, where the industry is
practically the basis of the industrial system of the country, The
establishment of the industry in our State, therefore, is no longer
an agricultural problem, but a business matter, depending simply
terial demonstrated as obtainable in the State can be taken by the
capitalist and economically converted into marketable sugar. The
it is borne in mind that the State offers a bounty of two cents per
pound for all sugar produced from beets within its borders. Fur
Their, that fuel, on the availability Of which this industry must
necessarily largely depend, can be secured with exceptional con-
venience and economy in the form Of Ignite coal, Of which the
State contains boundless stores. The solution of the problem
must, moreover, be facilitated by the abundance and low price of
the land demonstrated as capable of producing satisfactory beets.
These conditions must demonstrate the fact that the State of
North Dakota furnishes advantages for the establishment of the
sugar beet industry under conditions which make its success as
sured. E&& =A ~ au.Ms. A.s~4%a .s 4a.u-.
H.. ]. s~TOCKBRIDGE,
Director Government Experiment Station.