The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-04-02
MORE PRACTICE
LESS THEORY
Is What Is Now Needed to DeyelOpe
clatSop County'S Resources.
RAISE SUGAR BEETS FIRST
Aad q Factory will SOoH folloN Capital Is
Assured II the Beets Can be Furnished
seed To BE Supplied.
RAISE SUGAR BEETs FIRST

To the farmers Of clAtsop and Column
bla counties some time ago copy
u the AEtorian published In 1876 came
into my posscnsion. II contained some
very old newr and some things which
would not seem out OF place IN to-days
paper side by side appears articles
on the Hayes and Tildsn campaign and
on tho need Of "A wagon road across
Young'H bay The prospects fog "A rail-
road 20 Portland are discussed and
al&o the cultivation Of sugar bcets. a
subject I viii presently bring up again.
II might with equal Tropriety have spo-
ken about flax raising. coal and timber
In the Nehalem. -four mills and factor
i,-s or OF a dozen other topics which
have bccn talked OF and written about
until they arc threadbare After all
that has been SAID OF our natural ad-
vantaRcs and undeveloped resources,
they arc today almost Us natural and
undcveloped as when comoomily had
the cole what We need for the next
few years In more practice and less
theory. more work and less talk
Around Grand Island. Nebraska. and
and wa;sonvtlle. California, land
has Increased many times In value
since sugar factories were built NJ
thosc places. and the farmers who
arr supplying these factories with
bcets are the most prosperous In the
entire country. Las; year the Watson
Vile factory paid out three quarters
Of n miillon dollars for beets alone,
beside what was paid for labor. fuel
and other expcnses. All this can be
duplicated In Ciatsop County II We can
once get the thing IN shape. Hut we
must quit theoriEinE and gct down 10
work win say here THAI Wa have as
suranUe that tho capital will be ready
with which 10 build Il factory as soon
as the farmers have monstratad their
willingness and ability to do their part,
but what position are We IN now 10
mako Il showing which would induce
u man 10 invest the hundreds of thou
sands necessary for buildings and ma
chlnery? While we know that bccts
raised in other parts of oregon and
In Washington have given most salts
factory results. when analysed. who In
this county has ever had any tested'
While we talk al random of the guam
tlty OF beets which can be raised on
an acre. who has ever measured the
ground and weighed the beets grown
on even a quarter OF an acre.
In order TO get a factory. we must
show first that we can raise beets
containing a high percentage OF SUI
gar. and up to the standard for pur-
lty; and second. that enough farmers
will go into the business 10 furnish
the required amount OF beets, The
first OF these points can only be deter
mined by experiment. The second viii
come later. when the farmers have
figured out from these experiments
what profit there Is In the business
for them. IL takes q great deal OF
land to keep a sugar factory going,
and In order 10 be a success Il means
that every available acre In Clatsop
or Columbia counties which can be
reached by boat or train must con-
tribute its share.
have on hand a limited quantity Of
beet seed. purchased from the Wat
sonvllle factory. These seed will be
mailed free in half-pound lots TO any
one who viii write 20 me for them.
and agree TO give them fair trial
and report results next fall, Printed
Instructions from the agricultural coll
lege at Corvallis will be sent along,
and samples Of beets sent directly to
the college, or to mo. will be analyzei
free Of charge, When we have the
results of the analysis and the tom
mage raised per acre. we will canvass
among tine farmers with these figures
and see how many will agree to go
into the business and how much land
they viii cultivate. We will then be
In a position to talk intelligently to
the capitalist.
Mr., ID. NJ. Stafford made a sugges-
ton in the Historian some time ago
which l think is we'll worth repeating.
Many farmers raise turnips and car
rots for their cattle. Sugar beets will
turn out as we'll and are worth as
much for feed. Why not try an acre
or two OF beets this year Hnstead OF
the other crops, so that we can have
the results of field cultivation In
quantities, The seed can be had from
the Watsonville factory for 20 cents
per pound, and the expressage will be
four or Ave cents additional. Fifteen
pounds will plant am acre.
In closing this letter / desire once
more to urge the Importance OF this
matter to the entire community, but
more especially to the farmers. We
have our railroad assured and the peo-
pie Of Astoria and other towns will
enjoy the benefits which naturally
come from quick communication with
the rest OF the world. But what will
II benaait the farmers unless they
have something to ship? People do
"a a.l~ Ii.