Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-02-25

| ana nights, Win capacity OF Z0O TON
of beets a day, every one who know
anything of the manufacturing of suga
out of beets knows, and the factorie
in California are proof Of it. Tn
greatest trouble of the factories is tina
they cannot get beets enough. Woult
it not therefore be surer to help tn
factories to get the beets and give {
small bounty to the farmer who has K
| furnish the raw n aterial and therefore
runs all the risk of the weather con
ditions which are cut of his power
If a bounty is considered necessary
/ give it not to one man, to one concern
but to the people; to the farmers. Their
! it will remain in the state.
According TO a statement the pre6i.
! dent Of the Wisconsin Beet Sugar com
pany will ask for a bounty of L cent
| pound of sugar made in Wisconsin
with 96 per cent, polariscope test
According to q letter the same gentle
man wrote some time ago to the North
western Agriculturist, he expects <
manufacture 100000 pounds of sugar
this year. That will bring him, if q
bounty is given, which we hope it never
will, $4,000 AS the whole factory II
Menomonee Falls equipped ready fol-
operation will not cost more than $780,
900, according to the statement of the
manager, the interest on the capital in
vested will be 81 per cent. Besides
there is the profit of the factory.
would like to ask the people if any
man has a right to expect that his in
vested capital will bring so high an in
terest? Mr.. Gates and his companions
must have very low opinion Of our
representatives. in the legislature II
they expect that they will vote for such
bounty. Such a bounty would not
induce our farmers to raise more beets
but would only assist the factory
people in treating the farmers as they
please.
If our legislature wants to help the
beet sugar industry, the way to do it
would be to induce the farmers to raise
the beets by giving 25 cents for each
ton that averages 10 per cent. sugar
An acre will bring an average OF
twelve tons of beets; that would there
fore be SO per acre, and as the factory
would need the product of 1000 acres,
that would only be an outlay of Sc 600
besides the cost of analysing the beets
at the Experimental station.
But want to state that | am against
any bounty for a product that is con
nj Thncn vho
keep posted on the progress of
this industry, which has brought
wealth to the farmers and cOmmuni-
ties in every country III which it gain
ed a foothOld | think it strange
that the Americans who are known as
an energetic and pushing nation are SO
slow in developing this industry Every
ore acquainted with the sugar beet in
dustry in Germany and Austria knows
what a revolution it has brought in
agriculture. The farmers not only had
a crop for which they had a ready mar
ket at fixed price, price they knew
before harvesting, but to secure a good
crop they were obliged to till their
fields we'll and provide them with the
necessary amount o. nourshment.
This had a great influence on the
following crop-that is they raised
more of it and of better quality The
pulp that the farmers brought back
from the factory makes good feed for
cattle. AS this pulp is cheap the far
mer could keep more cattle, make
money by fattening it and gaining
more fertilizer for his soil Not only
the farmers but also the manufacturers
of agricultural machinery profited by
this industry. AS the beet is a deep
rOoter, sub soil plows are more neces-
sary; to cultivate the crop, cultivators
were necessary, for harvesting, har-
Vesting machines. These points indi-
cate the wealth this industry brings to
a country. The land where beets could
be grown would increase in value in a
few years.
Now, what is the hindrance to the
development OF this industry in this
country? say, the high price the far
mer got for the crops which did not
cost so much labor; the high priced
hand labor; failure to understand the
cultivating of crop, and the sugar
trust. The experiment stations of
most Of the states furnish through
their bulletins to the farmer so much
valuable advice concerning the culti-
walton of the sugar beet and the adap-
liability of the soil for the crop, that
any farmer who wants to inform him
self finds enough material that costs
him nothing. But the sugar trust is
still at work and is the greatest hind
rance in the development of the beet
sugar industry. What power this
trust has is shown by the fact that
even Claus Spreckels, the sugar king
of California, who has, it is said $40
100000, behind him, had to give up his
fight with the trust which he started
in 1888 and had to join it.
That the factory does not always
deal fairly with the farmers is shown
by the fact that the farmers who fur
nished the beets to the factory at
Chino, Cal, demand the right to have
their beets analysed by a chemist
whom they themselves pay, and the
factory has to acknowledge the result
Of his work and pay for so many per
cent. of sugar as he states. On a visit
to the factory at Norfolk, Neb., 1 was
told by farmers that the company did
not act fairly toward them and that
they wanted man of their own choice
at the scale 1t was therefore M SIR