The Advocate and news., 1898-03-16
should the United statep PrOduOe It's sugar2


Should the United States Produce It's Sugar.
Secretary Of Agriculture James Wilson In the Forum
Efforts are being made in the United
States to extend the growth Of sugar
producing plants by ascertaning-
through ientihcally-conducte re-
search at State experiment stations, and
by private enterprise, under direction OF
the Federal and State governments
where such plants will flourish best, to
the end that we may as nation be-
come independent of other countries In
this regard *and distribute among
our own people the immense sum Of
money that is now sent abroad to pay
for sweetening materials. This
subject should be discussed from ~
standpoint Of the farmer rather than
from that of the political economist. The
farmers Of our country produce from the
soil grains, cotton, tobacco, vegetables,
fruits, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, va
rious animal products, and the like; and
if they can add to our farm systems any
crop that yields an article Of common
use, is not exhaustive of plant-food, and
whose by-product is valuable in making
meat and dairy products, 1t will find IA
Vor with producers. There are very few
crops, or manufactures Of them, Of which
this can be said so emphatically as 1t can
be said Of sugar beets. The grains are
well known soil robbers. They carry
from the soil nitrogen, potash, phos-
phoriC acid, lime, manesia, and the other
elements Of plant-foOd. Tobacco Is pc
culiarly severe in this regard because
because none Of its products are fit for
animal food; and what is sold from the
farm carries away so much mineral plant
food that most soils are soon exhausted
If not replenished by commercial fertil-
izers, the purchase Of which is out Of the
question in many parts of the United
States. Meats take away comparatively
plant food from the soil, compared with
their money value. The cotton plant Is
not exhaustive if the stalks are plowed
under and the seed is returned to the
soil, either directly or through the in
strumentality of domestic animals. The
oil Of the cotton seed may be sold with
out taking any plant-food from the farm,
as 1t comes from the atmosphere through
the leaves Of the plant. Butter is also
harmless in this respect, and does not
impOVerish the land on which the COW
grazes. Sugar is as harmless as oil and
butter; it comes from the carbonic di-
oxide Of the atmosphere. If the sugar
beet Is hauled to the factory and the
pulp taken back to the farm, no plant
food is lost to the soil.
The writer grew beets by the acre for
stock feed from 1891 to 1896 at the Iowa
Agricultural College, and found the
terprise profitable for that purpose alone.
All domestic animals are benefited by
daily rations Of roots in winter when
they have no access to pasture; the
young animal, the breeding animal, and
the fattening animal alike, find them
grateful. After the sugar is extracted,
the pulp contains all the plant-food fur
nished by the soil, and is substantial as
a fodder for domestic animals as the beet
is before the sugar is extracted The fod-
der of our rations are nearly all to car
bonaceous, and require mixtures OF MI
trogenous by-products to make them
suitable for animal growth or milk-pro-
duction. Here, then, we have plant
that, aside from the sugar it contains,
makes a valuable food for our domestic
animals, and is capable of successful cul
tivation in many of our States. 1t fits
into our farm systems conveniently be-
cause it's planting season is earlier and
it's harvest time later than that Of corn,
and not only serves a double purpose as
an animal nutrient, but holds out the
liveliest hopes that it's adoption will keep
at home $1OO,OOOOOO through the value
of it's sugar contents alone.