Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-06-03
Sugar from the Beet.

philadelphia Press Republican,
The practical certainty of an increase
i'm the tariff on imported sugar and the
great decrease in the production OF cane
i'm cuba. as a consequence OF the war are
turning attention decidedly again TO the
subject of making sugar from DeetS
grown In this country. The bounty gwen
sugar producers under the Mckinley law
stimulated the industry for a short time.
but the repeal Of that law left II without
protection. and it decreased rapidly. The
subject was taken up by number OF the
legislatures I'm session this year. and va
riOus bills introduced TO encourage the
industry. Among the states which passed
laws on the subject are New York. Mich
igan. and Minnesota in each of which
bounty of ! cent pound Is 10 be pald on
sugar made from beets grown withh
those States.
The most persistent efforts to ma.e
suear-beet culture success have Deen
made I'm Nebraska. Before the passage or
the Mckinley law experiments In beet
sugar growing were attempted in that
State. The State paid a bounty. and as
the soil i'm many ncighborhOods is known
TO be favorable TO the purpose. the farm
ers embarked I'm the industry with much
enthusiasm rhe Mckinley bounty still
further encouraged them, and extensive
beet-sugar factories were erected. Dr.
Max HOllrung. OF Germany visited the
State i'm 1898. 20 inspect the prospects ior
bCct-sugar-g growing. ana reported on ms
return home that with proper encourage
rreUt there vas bright outlook for the
industry. He estimated that there were
$4,000 acres Of land in Nebraska. or
abOut one fftl of the States total area,
adapted TO the sugar-beet. and that most
Of IL was superior 20 the lands in Ger
MANY. on which beets were grown.
The enactment Of the Wilson law IN
1894 and the repeal Of the bounty clause,
was q serious check on the industry. But
that il did not wholly destroy it is seen
from the fact that the crop is still pro-
duced in Nebraska at profit. \ recent
report made TO the Iowa Legislature
gave the results reached by a large num-
Der Of Nebraska farmers, who are sun
experimenting with suSar-beets. The area
of land planted in the examples given
varied from three and half acres TO 4oJ
acres. and the product ranged from 10
tons TO 3.42o tons In every case a proht
is shown. The man who planted four
acres realized $50 after paying all e%-
penses while the planter of 455 acres
made 81. g65 clear. The farmers in CAN
fornia and Utah have also gone extensive
" into raising beets, and proved that
with proper encouragement. an almost
unlimited crop can be produced. In 1881
only 100000 pounds Of beet-sugar were pro-
duced in the United States, but in 1895
the last year In which government
bounty was paid. 43,6iS,1G pounds were
produced. This was practically all pro-
duced in three States. but with a large
number of States engaged in the industry.
the amount could be increased lhuen-
ntely
The area adapted TO the growth OF the
sugar-beet is much more extensive than
generally known. Professor Wiley, chief
Of the Division Of Chemistry in the
United States Department of Agriculture,
has shown i'm a recently-publshed pamph-
let. that q belt Of territory 200 miles wide
and stretching from the Atlantic Ocean
10 the Pacific ocean, is. so far as eli
roatic conditions are concerned, adapted
10 Che growth of the sugar-beet. This belt
includes most of New York, and Penn
vania. the northern part Of ohio ana
Indiana. much OF Michigan and Illinois
nearly al oil Iowa. and tie southern part
of Minnesota, and so westward to the
Pacific coast. where Ii spreads out ana
Includes much Of California and Oregon.
OF course. not nearly all the land in THIS
belt is suitable 10 growing sugar-oeets,
but large areas are. 80.
This country Is importing about $780,
eco coo worth of sugar a year, part OF
which is the product of the beet. Ger
many produced last year 1853 1872 tons or
beet-sugar. worth about $s6.iS9 2J). The
crop will undoubtedly be much larger this
wear as better prices are expected. Other
European countries are largely Interested
i'm The Industry As the United States is
the greatest consumer of sugar of any
country in the world. and has the most
lsnd adapted TO producing the article, IL
woula seem to be wise TO encourage in
every reasonable way the growth of the
suear-beet so that nome supply VIII be
guaranteed. and the money now sent out
the country be Kept here.