The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-05-11
Experiments to be Made Interesting to
Farmers and Capitalists.
Important Investigations to De-
termine What Part of the Country
is Most Likely to be a Successful
Field for Operations, Both in the
Actual Growth of BeetS and the
Production of the Highest Grades
of Sugar.
of Sugar.

CHICAGO. May 10-A special to the
Times Herald" from Washington, d.
c., says: A map of the United States,
with a broad red strip running across
it from the Atlantic to the Pacific. will
soon ornament the walls of the office
of the Secretary of Agriculture. This
map particularly interests two great
classes of citizens of the United States
the farmers and capitalists.
Having distributed sugar-beet seed
to about 1000 farmers said Secre-
tary Wilson, L want to take up the
practical end of this subject now and
show to the capitalists, as well as the
farmers, where they can afford to make
such experiments and enter upon such
business investments are are likely to
be a success financially and otherwise.
We are going into the sugar business
in this country in dead earnest"
You still have faith, then, in the
beet-sugar enterprise from a practical
standpoint"
Undoubtedly, and it is evident that
the people OF the United States have
faith in it. We have supplied in the
last few weeks 10000 farmers of the
country with sugar-beet seed for ex-
periments during the coming season
They are scattered through practically
every State north of the extreme south
ern line of States. The people as far
south as the Carolinas, Tennessee and
Texas believe that they can grow SUI
gar-beets successfully. And We are
quite willing TO give them full oppor-
tunity to make that test everywhere If
they succeed in extending the beet-su-
gar territory down TO the very line of
the sugar-cane, there ought to be no
difficulty in producing in the United
States all of the 100000 600 worth of
sugar for which We are now going
abroad every year.
THE practical business end of this
experiment" continued Secretary Will
son, lis the next thing to be taken up.
We have supplied people in all parts OF
the country with beet seed, and they
can now go on with their experiments
in growing them. Meantime we shall
begin our more technical but equally
important Investigations to determine
what part of the country is most likely
to be a successful field for operations,
both in the actual growth of the beets
and the production of the highest
grades of sugar This is a subject which
want to know about. 1t takes money
to establish a beet-sugar factory. 1t
is not practicable for the farmer who
raises a few acres of beets to turn them
into sugar upon his own farm. The
factory must have such expensive ma
chinery and be operated upon such
large scale as to absorb the production
of several farms if it is to be a finan-
cial success.
so the capitalists who are waiting TO
put their money into beet-sugar fac
tories are entitled to all the informa-
ton which We can give them as to the
section or sections of country where
beet-sugar is most likely to be success
ful in production.
ITO this end they ought to have the
best information that can be obtained
in regard TO climate, soil, transporta-
ton. conveniences and other elements
which enter into a determination of
these questions. The next step which
propose to undertake, then, is to put
into the hands of competent persons
the study Of this subject including eli
mate rainfall, character of soil and
other matters Of this kind in the vari-
Gus parts of the various States. In
this way while the farmers are exper-
imenting with the growth of the sugar
beets. we expect to be making equally
important experiments and researches
from this standpoint and by cOmbina-
ton of these experiments be able to in
dictate to the people desiring to invest
in the establishment of sugar factories
the location or the strip of country