The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-04
THE INDUSTRY GROWING
NO REASON FOR INFORMING THE
PRODUCT OF CUBA OR
n HAWAII.
BEETs BRING SIS PER TOE
I'm Utah and Nebraska. Where Fac
tories Are Now Well Es-
tablisheR.

|
Island. Neb.. a few weeks ago a paper
was read by R. M. Allen which con-
gress has considered important enough
for printing among it's documents.
There are now several considerable
beet sugar factories in the United
States, Of which three are in Califor-
MIA, two in Nebraska, and one each in
New Mexico and Utah. There is also
q small factory in Virginia and a new
| one is built in Wisconsin.
This country, according to Mr.. Allen,
consumes about 100000 tons Of sugar
| year, and Of that amount produces
less than 100000 or less than one-f1fth.
| With a total consumption last year
| Of 100000 tons, the imports for that
year were !, 450,000, valued at $110, 000,-
600. The domestic production was 3T7,-
600 tons, and of this amount 1924, 900 tons
was cane sugar and 10000 beet sugar,
maple and sorghum accounting for the
rest
1t is, therefore, evident that beet SUI
gar is still a very small fraction of our
total product and a still more insig-
| nif1cant one, about one-seventieth part,
in our total consumption. In fact, the
| beet sugar industry is far less pros
porous in this country than in some
others, while a popularity of 1t is It's
being conducted in certain localities or
sections where from various reasons
incentives are offered to it.
DEMAND EXCEEDS SUPPLY.
In Utah, for example, isolation has
given beet culture the advantage of a
good local sugar market, the freight Oh
cane sugar brought into the state help
ing to procure good prices for the
home industry. The population can
easily consume more sugar than It's
one factory supplies. In Nebraska the
beets were of poor quality last year,
but this year Mr.. Allen thinks her
! sugar product will compare well with
that Of Jacksonville, which is in the
latitude Of San rancisco, while not be-
ing far behind that Of Chino, near Los
Angeles.
The Pecos river district in New
Mexico, has this year had it's first sea-
son, and yet boasts Of producing richer
beetS than any others of the country.
The people say that their beets will
average 1S per cent of sugar, and that
they get 81 per ton for beets having
IA per cent or better, and rs cents less
for each point under IA. But there
will be no really trustworthy figures
until after the factory results are re-
! ported, and, in fact, several seasons
should first be tried. The beet country
there is treeless, alkaline area, west
OF the Staked Plains, having the ad-
vantage or SalubriOuS climate. Of
course the beets are grown under irri-
cation. and it IL becoming well known
that where irrigation IS applied crops
are apt to be famous for size. the
water supply being constant and uni
| form. 1t has been thought that the
harvesting season could be extended
| through the winter in that latitude.
The rail outlet is by the Texas & Pa
cific road.
BEETS WORTH S. PER TON.
In Nebraska the price OF beets is S.
per ton deliverd at the factory OF
| course the farmer near the factory
| has great advantage in freight over
| the one at distance, say of twenty
miles, the latter perhaps netting only
! 81. But this also shows that it can
| pay farmers to sell beets within wagon
haul for 81 per ton.
| 'At Ames the cost Of beets delivered
on board cars for 1893 was $3.50 per
| ton, the cost per acre being $54 and
| the yield fifteen tons. In 1894 the beets
cost $3.50 on board cars, the cost per
acre being $3S and the yield 101 tons.
In 1895 we grew miscellaneous lot Of
| beets, none Of which were sold, the
average yield being 265 tons to the
! acre, and the cost was $3.50 a ton de-
Hvered to cattle. 1t Is a little too early
to get actual figures for 1896, but using
figures up to date, with estimates for
the balance, the cost Of sugar beets
| Is estimated at $3.50 a ton on board
cars, the cost per acre being $50 and
| the yield twenty tons. This figure of
$l50 per ton on board cars is, as 1 say,
an estimated figure, but we believe
! it to be a correct figure, and the yield
would have to be reduced to fifteen
tons an acre to raise the price to 50
ton. We do not believe that our
! yield will be less than twenty tons
to an acre, the quality being very sat
| isfactory.''
This estimate Of $50 per acre for
beets put aboard cars strikes Mr.. Allen
as reasonable, from his experience,
assuming good land and good manage
ment, and with the yield at ten tons
per acre he puts the cost at $3.50 de-
| livered.
THE PRICE OF BEETS ABROAD.
Now. turning to European beet grow
| ers, he finds that up to about 1894 they
got from 81 to $3.50 per ton for their
beets, according to grade. A decline
In the price Of sugar in 1895 brought
| that Of beets to an average Of 1913
but the heaVy decrease of the Cuban
sugar crop during the present year
has carried the price for beets in
France and Germany up to $3.50 Mr.
Allen, however, says that he gives his
figures as to foreign countries from
memory, although they are near enough
to accuracy for the general argument
| The point is that German farmers
start with a cost of about SIS per acre
for rent and SIS for fertilizers" while
| our farmers are commonly proprietors.
not paying a cash rent, and the land,
at least for while, need cost little for
| fertilizers. Hence, Mr.. Allen concludes
| that our farmers get rather more than
| the European for their crops and have
| an advantage over them. Indeed. the
| German law, paying a constantly de-
| creasing bounty on export sugar was
to have expired during the coming
j year by natural limitation, but last
winter it was decided to keep 1t up
| longer.
To the Nebraska farmer the actual
| cost of beets, put on cars, with the
richest land, no rent to pay, the best
! tillage, and the season and all other
circumstances favorable, is $3.50 a ton.
| This, then, is the minimum cost. with
the average considerably higher, esti-
mating the average yield at ten tons or
| more an acre. The hope is to see beet
culture on many farms on a small
| scale, as a few acres can easily be irri-
| gated by a windmill.
But Nebraska also pays a bounty on
beet sugar. The law was passed at
the session Of 1889, and to the Grard
4 Island factory was paid for sugar pro-
| duced the next year $7.364 In 1891 the
4 law was repealed but during the nras-