The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-04-10
The Beet Sugar Industry.


nestle beet sugar industry is capable
Of great growth will not be disputed
by any student of that industry. AL
though the industry is a creation of
the present century, having been
forced into existence by the Napoleonic
wars, there is now in continental Eu-
rope an annual production exceeding
100000 tons, while in our own country
in 1895 the production amounted to 30,-
900 tons, Notwithstanding the fact that
the American branch of this industry
is scarcely a dozen years old. In 1895.
we produced more than four times as
much beet sugar as maple; and our
beet product was more than a tenth
as great as the domestic cane product.
in the year from 1894 to 1895 the beet
sugar product increased so per cent:
there is no reason why if proper en-
couragement were offered to capital to
invest in this industry, the annual pro-
duct should not be multiplied in course
of time fifty and even one hundred
fold.
c, H. Dietrich, of Hastings, Neb.,
who is interested in this industry,
says: There is no place in the world
better adapted for the growing Of the
sugar beet than Nebraska, the 2roof
being afforded by the success which
has attended the efforts of the farmers
in the six years they have been pay
ing attention to this branch of agricul-
ture. At present there are two beet
sugar factories in the state, one at
Grand Island and the other at Norfolk,
both of which have been highly profit
able. l believe that with the proper
| kind of protection from the national
government Nebraska and the other
states where the sugar beet can be
grown can be more greatly benefited
| than by any other form of tariff legis-
| lation."
Mr.. Dietrich points to the fact that
| more than one-half of the worlds sugar
crop is now being produced from beets
| as an indication of the tremendous size
| of the industry and the right it has to
demand consideration from the govern
ment. and he adds:
| We are importing every year sl0O, 900 600
| worth of sugar that could be produced ct
| home just as easily as abroad If the gov
| ernment would give the industry the
| proper encouragement. 1t would require
| 1000 factories to make the sugar we buy
| from foreign countries, and to build those
| factories would require an Investment cf
not less than 100000. Two million acres
| of ground would be devoted to the raising
| of the Dcets, and each acre of that land
| woIld give twenty days employ meut to
one person each year. the average being
| one person to five acres for each season.
| The Sl000O,000 which we eypenG for the
suga" that is imported would be spent at
home instead, and that means 500 each y
| a million families, enough to buy the nec-
| essaries of life which that class of labor
needs Labor is the principal item IN
| volved in the growing of sugar beets and
it is of that character that gives employ
| ment to al the members of a family. II
| is light enough in its character to be per-
| formed by both women and children dur
ing the hours when they are ordinarily
| at leisure. The beets can be raised in the
| suburbs of the towns and cities, where
there are always tracts of ground that ave
practically worthless. Their cultivation
Offers a form of employment vastly more
profitable than the potato patch plan orig
mated by Governor Pingree.
1t is worthy of note, as bearing upoI
the financial possibilities of this in
dustry, that an acre of land planted
with beet can be made without Difficult
ty to yield a ton of sugar worth from
800 to $120, and there are certain by
products in addition. The exhausted
pulp of the beet root is valuable 70
cattle-food; a coarse spirit can be fer
mented from the refuse sugar and Their
is also a residue of potash salt
amounting on the average to 8 per cent
In Europe the revenue derived from
the distillation of spirits is often equa
to the revenue from the sugar itself
and where the two forms of produc
tion are intelligently combined, prof
is assured. 1t would be strange, in
deed, If Yankee brains seriously appliet
to this mechanical problem could no
at least equal the achievements whicl
are matters of record on the other side
The sale Thursday at Lebanon, b,
public auction, of the household effect
of Robert Coleman, the Iron king
whose wealth was once reputed to ex
ceed $4,000, 900, supplies a dramatic ex
emplification of some mems vicissi
tudes. Those who know Mr.. Colema
/ will feel regret over his misfortunes
i for in the days of his prosperity he wa