The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-12-03

diana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota.
the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming,
Washington, Colorado. Utah and Cal
ifornia. Over much of this vast area,
including also Kentucky, Tennessee,
the Virginias, and probably North Car
DINA, it has been conclusively shown
that beets of proper quality can be
grown in profitable quantities sufficient
to fully supply any number of well To-
Gated sugar facorties-that is TO say,
10 to 20 tons per acre of beets con
tanning II to IS per cent or more OF
sugar, with an average coefIicient of
purity of so per cent or above that.
Arrangements are under way for "A
large expansion of the beet sugar in
dustry. Mr.. Claus Spreckels has or
dered the outfit for a mammoth mill
in the Salinas Valley, Monterey Coun-
ty, California, for which he required
guarantee that at least %. 500 acres of
beets would be grown annually for five
years, indicating a plant with capaci-
ty of upward of 100000 tons of beets.
Mr.. Spreckels declares, as a result OF
his experience with beets in the Col
den State and with his monopoly OF
the cane sugar industry of Hawaii: "T
may not live to see the day. but young
er men will see that in 10 years the
beet sugar industry will be the great
est industry in California, and Cali
fornia will be the greatest sugar pro-
ducing State in the Union. II is the
only profitable thing left for the farm
er He can't get into it too soon"
At least three other beet sugar fac
tories for California are so far pro-
jected as to appear almost assured;
nf m no InC
Angeles, is to be built by Montana
mining king" who evidently agrees
with American Agriculturists conten-
tion that protected sugar is a better
proposition than free silver" The
Pecos Valley people assert their will
lingness to put 81 600, 900 into sugar
factories in that locality. A plant at
Bowling Green, KY, and one at Ev-
ansville, Ind, are in prospect. Wis
consin has one factory quite definitely
assured. Central New York capital
lists have an option on the only beet
sugar factory in Canada-at Farnham,
Quebec-which it is proposed to estab-
lish in the Mohawk Valley. Any num-
Der of factory propositions are in en-
bryo, and many enterprising towns all
over the country are planning to push
for a beet sugar factory.
tional legislation. McKinley's election
will be taken as insurance of reason
able protection against foreign compe-
tition, and will be followed by the
rapid development of the industry.
Even if Bryan is elected, it is possible
the development may not be wholly
arrested, at least in California.
Under favorable conditions, Wiscon-
sin and Iowa will follow Nebraska in
offering a bounty payable to the beet
growers) on all sugar produced from
beets raised within the State. New
York and Minnesota are likely to do as
much perhaps other States also. Ne
braska now pays 5-8c per pound, equal
to about 81 on the ton of beets Utah
paid &c per pound during the first two
years of the Lehi factory.
Europe. especially Germany, has de-
veloped her beet sugar industry by
an elaborate system of protection
against foreign competition, internal
taxation to encourage beet planters
and sugar manufacturers, and substan
tial rebates and bounties upon all sug
ars exported. Europe is not content
with shipping to this country 80 times
as much sugar now as Is years ago,
but to still further monopolize the
increased her export bounty, and
France is likely to do the same Those
nations are willing to go to almost
any extreme to discourage the sugar
industry in this country, so as TO pre-
serve for themselves the American
greatest market for sugar
in the world.
Moreover, it usually takes two to
four years for a beet sugar factory 10
get well established, because of small
supplies of beets until farmers have
learned how TO grow them. This has
been the experience of all our now
factories. But when the art
is once acquired farmers find beets at
"a 70 Sc per ton one of the most profit
able crops, paying so to $25 per acre
net profit above all expenses of pro-
duction Corn and wheat hardly pay
cost of production, let alone profit. An
acre of corn, 40 bushels at 30c, Will
buy 200 pounds of sugar; it Will pro-
duce 1000 to 5000 pounds of sugar in
beets.) A dozen or 20 years ago the
beet sugar factories at Portland, Me;
Franklin. Mass. and Wilmington, Del,
failed because they couldn't get beets.
At that time other crops were more
profitable. farmers were not interested
as at present and they had no sue
cessful experience in this country TO
profit by. The immense investment
required for a beet sugar factory is
idle about two-thirds Of the year: this
has to be insured against also.
This nation paid $70,OOO,OOO for i'm
Dorted sugar in 1879. In 1894 our