New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1892-06-01
HOW 10 RAISE SUGAR BEETS
Thorough Instructions as to Planting and
Cultivation.
Seeds for Tests Gan be Secured in Small
Lots at the Review Office.

Industry in Germany and France reads
like a romance. All of this history cen
tiers around Napoleon, first consul ane
emperor of France. About 1900, when
the ports of France were closed by Ma
poleon against all English vessels, the
supply of sugar Of the French people
was entirely cut off, as all sugar previous
to that time, and at that time, was I'M
ported from the British West India pos
sessions or in British ships. The French
people had learned to use sugar and
could not give it up, SO that, unless some
means were found to providesugar, great
hardship would be caused.
Napoleon, with his Characteristic ener-
gy, attempted to secure the manufacture
of sugar from grapes, which were at that
time, as now, a great agricultural pro-
duct in France. 1t was proved that they
possessed great deal of sugar and that
this could be secured from the juice, but
it had not been shown at that time that
the sugar in the grapes was not the same
as the sugar in the cane, and that it
would not replace the cane sugar. These
endeavors to make the grape sugar take
the place of cane sugar showed the great
difference between them.
1t had been shown long time before
that the beet contained sugar of exactly
the same kind as the sugar cane, and
culture to attempt the manufacture Of
sugar from the beet, and he gave vast
amount of money for the experiments in
this line. The beet at that time contained
about five or six per cent Of sugar. I'm
der the favorable conditions made by
Napoleon the amount of sugar increased
in the beet by the careful cultivation
which was given to them, and a great
many factories We're erected for the max
ing of sugar from the beet.
AS in all enterprises where experiment
ing has to be carried on to a large extent
these factories were financial failures, and
but for the liberal financial assistance
given by Napoleon it is probable that
the beet sugar industry would be. in a
languishing condition to-day But as a
result ofNapoleon's wise and liberal pol
icy the industry quickly became estab-
Ished, and by 1880 the manufacture of
sugar from beets had become quite a
large business, and to-day there are over
315 factories in France alone, and about
1865 in the world. \
\ vast amount of money has been ex-
pended in Germany and France, as well
as other European countries, in expert
menting upon the best means of raising
the beets for manufacturing them into
sugar. Now this industry is probably
more thoroughly understood and more
scientifically managed than any other
business, and the money which has been
expended in bonuses, ETC., by these gov,
arnments has been repaid more than q
hundred f3Ia, The lands used for the
raising of beets in Germany were origin
ally worth about $50 per acre; these
same lands are to-day worth from $3.50
to upwards Of $3.50 per acre, and this in
crease is directly due to the production
of beets.
The last congress, by provisions of TIT
Mckinley bill, have granted bounty O.
Gets. per pound for all sugar produced
in the United States, and while this is
slight tax upon the consumption of sug
ar to-day; if the farmers will CAREFUL,
experiment and determine whether O.
not they can raise on their lands gool
sugar beets, it will be but a few year
until all this money, and vastly more
will be returned to them in the SAM
way that it has in Germany and France
and probably to a greater degree.
The manufacture of sugar from slga
beets is so profitable and the amount 0
sugar used in the State of Minnesota i
SO great that there is no question but tina
factories will be erected as soon as it i
positively shown that the farmers knoy
how to raise beets and will do so. Their
is room in the State of Minnesota for a
least twenty-five or thirty factories; tina
viii require an acreage for each factor
of at least one thousand to two thousan
acres of land.
The results of our work last year an
year before show that the conditions owe
the State of Minnesota are as a lule fay
orable to the production Of exceedingl
good beets, but our results have so ia
,nfh hoo, f,1l1 N i.