The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-12-21
HENDERSON, n. G, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1898.

of late have these great expenditures
begun to reward the energetic pro-
prietors of these works, and, as they
gain experience, the farmers supplying
the factories are getting more profit
out of the culture. The peculiarly
of the Beet Sugar industry lies in the
fact that success to the manufacturer
means success to the grower of the
beets, for the factory is entirely
dependent upon the farmer. If the
farmer can not find profit in the
culture the factory can not get sup
plies, so that it is essential to the sue
cess OF the factory that the culture
should pay the grower, upon whom
they depend for their raw material.
The factory must have supplies and
must therefore contract to take the
crops at an agreed upon price, SO that
the grower is sure OF his market
before he plants the crop and knows
that no gambling in futures can affect
the price while he is producing it.
Each years experience puts him in a
better position to contract for
the coming year. This mutual
! dependence of manufacturer and
producer will always insure rea-
sonably fair division of profits. The
manufacturer, with half million or
more invested in plant that can be
run but for a few weeks or months
annually, must be sure of his supply,
and the farmer, learning by experience
the price that will be paid him, has the
whip handle, and no extortion can be
practiced.
The factory we visited is the Norfolk
Beet Sugar Factory, located at Norfolk
on the north fork of the Elkhorn river
in Nebraska, on the railroad leading
from Fremont on the Platte to the
Black Hills of Dakota. The same
company owns also factory at Grand
Island on the Platte river, which we
did not have time to visit. They also
run two factories in California. The
business, after many discouragements
and a liberal expenditure, is now
reasonably profitable in Nebraska, but
we understand that the California fac
tories are much more profitable owing
to the long season tor planting and
manufacture. The great drawbacks
to the basiness in Nebraska are the
lack of labor and short season for
working up the crop. Farmers are
deferred from planting large areas
because of the impossibility of getting
abundan. help at thinning time. Both
of these difficulties would be obviated
in Southern latitude. So far as l
could observe, the culture is almost
Identical with that of cotton, except
that deeper breaking is necessary for
the beets. Our Southern farm hands,
accustomed to chopping and thinning
cotton, would find the chopping out
and thinning of the beets almost
identical, and the abundance of this
class of labor in the South would
admit OF beet culture on a larger scale
than in Nebraska. Then too we
could begin to SOW earlier in spring,
and by succession of crops, could
keep the factory running twice as long
as there. We drove into the country
around Norfolk, Nebraska, and talked
with quite number of the farmers.
They are generally an ignorant class of
German immigrants, but they all agree
that the beet crop is the most profitable
one they raise. Their only other crops
are corn and prairie hay, and though
they raise large corn crops the price,
20 to IS cents per bushel, renders it
necessary that they turn it into beef
and pork to get any profit out of it.
From number of these growers l as
certained that their average gross re-
ceipts are about 5000 per acre for
the beets. The factory pays uni
form price of $500 per ton and the
average yield is 10 to IL tons per
acre, though there are instances of 80
or more tons being raised. One
grower in Californa is said to have
raised 81 tons per acre, the largest
yield known. Too large beet is not
wanted, one the size of a small or
medium pineapple being as large as
desired. In California the price runs
as high as $3.50 per ton, the practice
there being to pay according to the
saccharine quality of the beet as ascer-
tanned by the Polariscope. But owing
to the less intelligent character Of the
Nebraska grower it has been found
necessary to fix an average price for
all. The greatest care is used in get
ting seed from beets OF good pedigree,
the best seed growers in Europe al
ways testing by the Polariscope every
beet planted for seed, and rejecting all
that falls below standard in quality.
The manufacturers annually send an
agent to Europe to select seed for the
next crop, and buy no beets but those
grown from seed thus selected for
various soils. This is more essential
where the average price prevails, than
when each grower is responsible for
the quality of his crop. An expert
enced buyer is already in Europe Sc
lecting seed for the crop of 1894, and
contracts are now being made with
the farmers for next year. Every one
with whom we conversed has increased
his planting annually and all propose
to put in larger area next year, though
the factory has nearly reached its full
capacity for that climate. This is of
itself a sufficient indication OF the
value Of the crop to the grower, who
all seem enthusiastic on the subject.
We were hardly prepared for the ex-
tent Of manufacture, much as we had
heard of it. The Norfolk Beet Sugar
Company has plant which we were