Omaha daily bee., 1893-12-17
TIE PROPOSED OMAHA BEET SUGAR
PLANT

iHE ftfpfOo I'D UM4Hd BEhl JUAN
PLANT.
The mass meeting to be held tomor-
row morning at the rooms OF the Com
mercial club TO hear and consider the
proposal OF Count Lubienskie TO estab-
fish an extensive beet sugar farm and
factory in Douglas county should be
attended by all who are interested in
the development OF this industry and
who appreciate the value to this city of
such an enterprise as Count Lubienskie
proposes. Thoroughly informed regard
ing the production OF the sugar beet and
the manufacture of sugar from them,
the count, after careful and extended
investigation, selected this locality as
the most available for the project
he and those associated with him
have in view. He does not
come here asking any bonus or
subvention for his proposed enterprise.
All that ne requires is that there shall
be an ample supply of the raw material
to keep his factory in operation, to be
provided by the farmers of Douglas
and contiguous counties. AS has here
tOforc been stated in our new columns,
the project which Count ~Lubienskie, on
behalf OF a syndicate of foreign capital
lists, submits TO the consideration of our
people, is simply this: He proposes to
erect on a farm of 600 acres in Douglas
county, to be devoted to the raising of
sugar beets, an extensive factory for the
manufacture of beet sugar, the only
condition he asks being q guaranty
that the farmers of this section
ton Of the sugar beet. IL this
condition should be met he proposes to
expcnd between one and two million
dollars in the enterprise, which would
give employment, when completed, to a
large number of people and distribute
in the community a very large sun OF
money annually. In all ITS aspects this
proposition is II of the most important
that has been presented for the consider
alton of our people in a long time.
There is no apparent reason why the
simple conditions asked by Count
Lubienskie cannot be complied with.
The area of Douglas, Sarpy and
Washington counties contains over
100000 acres, 30 that it would
be necessary to devote less than l per
cent of it to the cultivation of sugar
beets. If 300 of the enterprising farmers
of these counties can be induced
to devote twenty acres each to
this purpose we can have here
an extensive sugar plant that will
be of great benefit to the entire com
munity. And what inducement have
the farmers to do this? The fact that
the raising of sugar beets is a highly
profitable industry. According to sta
tistics just at hand of the value of sugar
beets per acre in Nebraska for the cur
rent year the average amount received
was between $50 and $50, while the best
tenresults range from 1864 to S69.S so per
acre. The cost of raising beets is esti-
mated to be between Sl3 and Sl5 per
acre when farmers do not have to hire
more labor than usual on account Of the
beet crop, and about $50 per acre when
he engages special service for beets. 1t
will thus be seen that there is a margin
of profit in raising sugar beets greater
than in almost any other agricultural
product, and no farmer of ordinary in
telligence need have any difficulty in
learning how to successfully cultivate
the beet, which, with proper attention,
is one of the surest of crops. Another
consideration of great Importance to the
farmer is that there is an assured
market for this product as soon
as it is ready to be mar
keted. There is no question that the
soil and climate of this section are per-
fectly suited to beet raising and that as
good a quality Of beets can be grown
here as anywhere.
1t rests largely with the farmers of
Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties
to decide whether or not this proposed
enterprise, with its large possibilities of
general benefit, shall be consummated,
and it is confidently hoped they will
take a practical and intelligent view of
the matter. If so there is every reason
to expect that we shall have here as
soon as it can be completed the most ex-
tensive beet sugar plant in the country.