Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-11-11

sureless, the ladies enjoyed serving
equally as well. Replying to an ex-
pression of appreciation Of this Kindness,
one lady said they really enjoyed doing
what they had done, and as some oil
them were married they knew well. 100,
| that men did not talk about sugar or
anything sweet when they had not mad
| dinner.
WORKING FARMERS SUCCEED.
| Colonel Whitehead concluded his ad-
| dress Immediately after dinner Inc
! Colonel proved himself well informed on
| the industry, and his talk touched all
| phases Of the subject.
| IF a farmer will work" said he me
| will succeed. Let the soil be ever SO
| rich and its products demand ever so
good a price. but place upon that SOIL as
| its tiller a man with soft hands. VINO
parts his hair in the middle. and wears
red shoes, and 1t will bring Its owner 10
starvation / find that what Is the mat
| ter with the Virginia farmer Is he is
| afraid to sweat. Now the thing TO DO Is
| to plant your sugar beet In March, as
| you do your garden beet. This will come
| On early. Sell this crop early and pocket
your money, and in June put In another
| crop. and watch 1t and II will give you
warning before its second growth be-
| gins"
Colonel Whitehead then suggested that
| the State as a whole make guarantee
TO CAPITALISTS to furnish the raw mate
rial. and then let every farmer in Tide
| water Virginia raise an acre or SO Oh
| beets and back the State in the pledge
| Each farmer could raise an acre, ana ne
| could tell then as never he could otner-
| wise what his land was prepared 10 90.
| He urged this plan because 1t was d
| safe one for the farmer. and while tne
| plant was working under the guarantee
| of the State, the land would be getting
| into condition for the better production
| of the beet.
Concluding, Colonel Whitehead de-
| clared that there was no other. as lar
| as he could learn. but the tobacco crop
which would pay as well as the beet
HAS SUCCEEDED EVERYWHERE.
Colonel Whiteheads address brought
| the hour TO the arrival OF Colonel Bu-
ford at $3.50 o'clock. Colonel Buford sald
| that wherever the industry had been
| introduced 1t had proved paying sue
cess, practicable, and appreciated Dy
| the people among whom the industry
had spread. IF" he said, 1--WE can
introduce into this State a new and
having crop. we all know what real
blessing and boon this would be" he
EXPLAINED how much care the Board OF
Agriculture had taken to determine the
profit and possibility of raising the beet
| i'm the State. Experiments abundant
were made and these had yielded re-
suit most gratifying TO the board. ms
return was made too, he said, amid q
singular ignorance of the culture OF
the beet, and taking this into the con-
sideration, the tests made In the SOL
Of the eastern portion OF virginia hau
been surprising and most satisfactory
AN ADDRESS TO FARMERS.
Here Colonel Buford read an open let
ter to the farmers OF the State. which
only a few hours before his board had
prepared. This letter, which Colonel
Buford said would be sent to every
prominent farmer Of the State, reads
as follows:
State Board OF Agriculture,
Richmond. Va. November s. 1897.
To the Farmers of Virginia:
In March last the State, Board OF Agrl-
culture took up for consideration ana IN,
yestigation the subject OF the productlon
of sugar beets in Virginia 10 ascertain
its possible development into new agIl-
cultural industry in our midst, IL climate
SOIL and other conditions should oi tscn =,
insure an attractive profit in its pursuit.;
In the prosecution of this purpose the
Commissioner of Agriculture was directed
to procure and distribute TO farmers IN
the different counties of the State, free
of cost sugar-beet seed Of the best-knoWn
variety, with a circular of information
as TO the best mode Of culture, upon the
pledge OF those receiving them TO raise at
least one fourth of an acre OF such beets,
and furnish a fair sample OF the same 70
the State board for analysis as 10 their
value in sugar. This was done as prompt
l.. md initial
thus started to the number of about 10.
THE TESTS SATISFACTORY.
At a later date the board provided by
arrangement with DIR. II. troehling, an
experienced and competent chemist OF TINS
city, for a scientific test upon the most
approved modern methods of the quality
and value of saccharine OF the beets thus
produced, so as to ascertain their mer-
charitable character and value. These
tests-about 10S in number-have been
made in the laboratory Of DIR. Froehling
during September and October. and under
his personal care and direction, and OIL
samples of production from different
points in Tidewater, Piedmont, and the
Valley districts of the State. These
samples varied in saccharine value from
So to II lilo per cent. Thirty-five of them
were below u per cent, and seventy-three
showed saccharine value of from II to
II lilo per cent, with a coefficient OF
purity of from 70 to SS55 per cent. or
a purity average of 50 per cent, which is
equivalent to $50 pounds of raw sugar per
ton of beets. We are informed that in
Germany the average Is 24l pounds per
ton of beets; In France IT is 254 pounds,
and in Austria Hungary 2iS pounds per
ton of beets. In these countries 1t Is
considered a profitable industry II sac
charine value OF Il per cent. is shown,
and contracts are usually made upon that
basis. "a per ton being the usual price paid
for beets having that average. with an in
crease In price for each traction OF per
cent. above that. In Germany the ave-
rage price paid under this system was
$i64 per ton during the years 1886. We
have no exact data as to this or other
countries, but the prices paid are believed
to be about the same in this country and
in Europe.
THE YIELD IS GOOD.
In the United States the quantity pro-
duced, from lands of good previous Ter
tility or properly fertilized for the pur-
pose, may be conservatively stated al
from ten to twenty-five tons per acre. II
ordinary seasons favor and fair measure
OF attentiye culture Is bestowed. Every
man can thus see for himself what arc
the results in crop and income from II
that he may reasonably expect from the
devotion OF a portion of his lands ano
labor to this crop.
Eleven beet-factories are now in opera
ton in the United States, and number
of others are projected. Two or three OF
the States are encouraging this Industry
by Offering bounty 10 the grower OF 81
per ton in addition to the price paid by
the mandatory.
The experiments OF this board demon
strate, beyond question, that in most
sections of this State. notably I'm the Tide
water and Piedmont regions. beets of saf-
ficiently good quality can be grown 10
make the industry prontaDle one. and
Indications warrant the belief that the
day Is not far distant when most. IL not
Ill ~ 10