The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-22
BEET SUGAR BOOM COMING.
THE NEW TARIFF WILL HELP
AMERICAN PRODUCERS.

Raw sugar USED by American Renneries May
in Time ne Raised by Our Fa~rmers-Hct.
Aria Districts the best for Beet Growing
Tho men Interested in the beet sugar industry
believe that tho new tariff, II the bill Is passed
as reported by the conference ommitteo of Con-
gress, will boom that industry, and that ulti-
matoly all the raw sugar refined in this country
will DO produced here. This means great profits
for tho farmers and the upbuilding of n great
industry. J. J. Hagerman Of Colorado Springs,
President of the Pecos Valley Railroad Com
pany and the Pocos Valley Company, the own
ers of a largo part Of tho Pocos Valley in Now
Mexico, is stopping at the Manhattan Hotel.
Beet sugar Is the chief industry Of the valley,
and Mr.. Hagerman Ia largely Interested in 1t.
He Is thoroughly familiar with tho industry in
the United States. A Sun reporter called on
him yesterday afternoon. He said:
Under any Of tho laws We had up to tho
time tho Mckinley law, offering q bounty, was
enacted, tho protection was altogether too
small to induce capital to invest In the business.
The bountics paid by Germany and somo other
countries were great disbursements to those
who thought Of going into the business here.
The bounty under tho Mckinley bill did not
last long enough TODD much good. but notwith-
standing all the uncertainties and discourage
ments during tho past ten or twelve years, two
beet sugar factories are at present established
In Nebraska, and have been fairly successful.
Ono has been established by the Mormons in
Utah. This has been running six years. and
has been very successful. There are two In Cali
fornis, not very far from San Francisco, which
have boon running several years, and have dono
we'll. The largest of these is owned by Mr..
Spreckels and his friends, and 1t has been very
profitable. 1t produces raw or unrelncd sugar,
which it soils to the American Sugar Refining
Company in San Francisco. At Clino, CAL,
there Is o very largo plant capable Of working
1000 tons Of beets daily. / think It has beon
running about six years, and has been extremely
successful. There is o factory in Pecos Valley.
N. NJ, which was completed in November, 1896,
and has been very successful for q FIRST year.
Experience has shown that by far the most
favorable localities in the United States for tho
industry are in tho arid regions whore the
weather is not too cold. where the land Is suit
able, where there IL q long period Of sunshine
each year. and whero there Is water for irrign-
ton. There 10 no doubt that the ideal place for
carrying on this industry successfully Is in tho
irrigated valleys of the arid region. Tho reasons
for this are that the conditions I have stated OK
list there and tho soil is new and rich. There is
always water to give tho plants when
they need 1t, and the ripening and har-
vesting seasons in the fall are dry and the
winter Is mild, so that tho beets can
DO worked up in the factories without tho great
expense OF protecting them in pits. For these
reasons tho factories In New Mexico, for In
stance, can run from 14o TO 100 days in the year
with moro safety than the factories in Franco
and Germany and In other parts Of Europe or
the northern parts OF the United States can run
ninety days. Tho average length Of the cam
paign. as 1t is called in Europe and Nebraska, Is
about eighty-fve to ninety days. In Califor-
MIA, owing to climatic conditions, the length Of
the campaign Is about 100 days.
THE successful prosecution OF the beet sugar
industry is now almost wholly an agricultural
question. There are no longer any chances 10 DO
taken about the proper kind Of factory to erect,
and there is no difficulty in running factories
under proper supervision. 1t is no longer an
experimental business, 50 far as extracting tho
sugar from the beets Is concerned. The only
difficulty is the production of beets OF the re-
Quired richness and purity.
in all Germany for the year 1896 was, according
to the official reports Of the G%overnment. 1911
same; in Caiitorhnia. about l.I;5o per cent. Tho
\. NJ, averaged 1888 per cent. OF sugar in the
beets, a result never before attained ON q COM
Sugar bects cannot be raised by careless
farming; The proper seed must be provided.
the work must be- done With the gre ,test care.
II, usually requires two or three years for the in
telligent cultivator to produce a maximum crop,
but after the farmer gets used to it there is no
trouble in producing the right kind Of bcets
under proper natural conditions. IL Will be only
a short time before our farmers are as well able
TO do 1t properly as they arc able in Franco and
80 far as the profits OF the business are con-
cerned the fundamental thing Is TO get bccts
!. T ricna IN aa sIqsa wS Snd not SniS Gonssmi inace5s with ni dflt ,ho
tory capable of working o 10000 tons OF beets in
q season or campaign and using bects running 10
per cent. in sugar. could make a profit OF 20 per
cent on the Investment, where the same factory
y working on IA per cent; beets would make moth
Ing. The factory working on IL per cent. beets
. would get 1000 tons more sugar than 1t would
!. the Same cost. Tho 1000 extra tons Of sugar
: would be worth at least 100000.
Q The cultivation Of sugar beets in the proper
, in the Pecos valley, and ! suppose in most other
t ming IA per cent. in sugar, and IS cents a ton
9 more for each extra ! per cent: so that a
S45o a ton With no 10 extra eSia.' expense S1sss S0 to hi E1s
l. sell; After two or three years, experience
. swol ISs~f tons ca. an I acre. w sS%as S at & ErGoins /
;. ton. would DO $5l an acre. The total
I. saSf9a' no. i sHsssd 80 fair All acre w's fcr tho fSr s et@'sdI az
4 n n,wsss cdD, the PLACE ser Of If payment Pay ssntori The b. crop |;
. is raised, SO the farmer knows exactly what he
viii get and he knows he will get it in money
without any discounts or commission. I know
!: OF nothing which will help our farmers in tho
I proper localities so much as the development Of
! the beet-sugar~ industry in this country,
ference committee schedule extremely favor
able to tho bcet-sugar industry. 1t differs from
tDe Scnhte bcneuul0 In TIC important point tina
there Is a specific duty Of a5-lOO OF a cent
pound on sugar testing TO- and less. and an adj
IS Senate bill proposed an I'd yaiorcm duty On low
. grade sugar, and IL would be Impossible for am.
domestic producer of sugar TO tell just what pro
lection he could depend on having. Many friend
OF tho beet-sugar industry preferred a bount,
% to any more duty. | think this would have beef
:, a great mistake. Bountics are obnoxious to tn
people. whose money goes to pay them, and
bounty would be short lived. what we want L
develop the industry is n tariff which will las
n long term of years. and which both tho CAPT
talist ana the farmer can depend on. and | be
a that character.
MANY people take 1t for granted that wha
= Is good for tho Sugar Trust cannot be good 10
y the domestic producers. l do not think so. /
20 would be impossible to make "a law which woul
10 result in the development OF the domestic In
dustry without also helping tho trust, especial
on tho largo stock OF sugar 1t has on hand
r. While the proposed law Is not, l think, as goo
for the refneries as the Wilson tariff. 1t wi
give them ample protection and will. l think