The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-04-11
SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
FILES A REPORT

FILES A REPORT
A History of the Industry Reviewed
and a Full Account of the Sea-
| sons Operations Gfven-Favor-
nbIe Reports Received From Min
| nesOta, but the Rest Came From
New York and Michigan.
The secretary Of agriculture has re-
Gently transmitted to President Nc
| Kinley, for the information Of con-
| gress, a very full report on the pres
ent condition Of the sugar beet indus
! try in this country, and Of the opera
| lions of the department during the
| past season in relation thereto. The
document consists of two parts, the
| first being a report from the chemist
Of the department, DR.. H. w. Wiley,
in which the history Of the industry
| is reviewed. and giving a full account
Of the seasons operations.
| The principal distribution of sugar
beet seed the past season was made
through the agency Of the agricultural
| experiment stations, the directors of
many stations having been appointed
|
carrying this method into effect. Seeds
were also sent to about 10000 farmers
! in different parts of the country with
! full instructions for planting. cultivat-
! ing, and sampling for analysis. These
instructions were contained in Farmers
Bulletin No. 81, of which during the
season nearly 100000 copies were dis
tributed. The samples for analysis
were sent either to the agricultural
experiment stations or to the depart
ment Of agriculture. In all, about $500
samples were received for analysis at
| the department of agriculture.
The best results were reported from
| The states of New York and Michigan.
| Other states in which reports were ia
vorable were Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana,
Minnesota, Nevada, South Dakota,
| Wyoming and Colorado. States giving
| fair results were Iowa, Nebraska, New
! Jersey and Pennsylvania. In general,
! it was found that, after passing south
of the mean isotherm of II degrees
| Fahrenheit for the three months of
June, July and August. the results
were poor. 1t is found that the belt of
| territory included between the limits
| of the isotherms Of II and 60 degrees
[ may be regarded as the basic belt of
| the beet sugar industry. The best re-
suits are obtained within or north of
| this belt, other climatic conditions being
| favorable. Extreme northern limits of
! sugar-beet culture are determined only
| by the advent Of freezing weather.
The stations collaborating in this
work were Tennessee, Kentucky, Indi-
| ana, Iowa, Wisconsin and New York.
| The best results were obtained from
| the stations in Wisconsin and New
| York. The beets which were grown at
| the New York stations were carefully
selected for physical properties, and
| ~, e
| shape and size were subjected to indi-
vidual analyses, and preserved for the
| propagation Of seeds for the season of
| 1898. In all. 500 beets were found to
have the requisite qualifications for the
! production of seed, and these have
been preserved during the winter in a
| silo and are to be distributed this
! spring to the various stations for seed
! production.
A few Of them which have exhibited
peculiar strains of excellence have
| been preserved for the production of
new variety of beets, which it is pro-
posed to call the American Elite. These
| bets have an average weight of about
thirty ounces, and an average content
| of sugar of 10 Der cent. The purity of
juices in similar beets was found to be
| about IS. These beets, having shown
| these remarkable variations from the
standard in size and sugar quality, are
! evidently fitted to produce new va
rie'ty Of beets better suited to American
| farmers than the standard beets Of Eu-
rope.
1t is the interstion of the department
| to endeavor to establish a variety of
| beeJtS of this kind which shall have at
| least a third greater weight than the
standard sugar beet of Europe without
losing anything in sugar content or in
purity of juice. The immense advan-
| e oh to-
/ American growers is easily seen. The
| most successful scientific work in the
future will come from placing the seeds
| in the hands of few reliable persons
| in each locality, and securing a care
full supervision of their work by some
accredited agent of state experiment
| station or the department of agricul-
| ture.
The report contains a chapter on the
value of the sugar beet and the beet
pulp as cattle food, giving the chem
| ical composition of each, the "a ito be-
tween the nutrients, and it's general
value as a producer of milk and fat
| and as a sustaining ration.
| The report closes with a CHAPTER on
statistics Of sugar production in this
| country during The year 1897 During
| the season nine factories were in OPP
Grafton in the United States, namely,
at Alameda, Los Alamitos. Watson
| Vile ana Cn1lO, Cal., Ienl, Utah; Eddy,
| N. M; Grand Island ard Norfolk
Neb.; and Rome, N. Y. Forty-one thou
sand two hundred and seventy-two
| acres of beets were harvested. with
| an aggregate weight of 3S9, 6S5 tons,
] yield of almost nine and a half tons
per acre This is less than the aver
i age in Europe, but with more scien-
tific agriculture and judicious fertiliza-
| ton the yield in this country can
doubtless he brought I'D to- If not
above, the average Of the best fields of
| Europe. The careful experiments of
| the New York experiment station, at
| Geneva, with beets grown in collabora-
ton with the department of agricul-
| ture, resulted in an average Yield Of
over sixteen tons CT high grade beats
/ per acre.
| Total amount of beet sugar made in
/ the United States during the year 1897
was 0.491. $40 pounds. an average of
| 232 pounds per ton Of 1900 pounds. Or