Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-10

dS 10 lHe qudnllly anu Qudllly Oh DeelS pros
duced wao quite satisfactory. The South
Omaha tract was, however, abandoned. Or
! the other three tracts the yield ran from
twelve to fifteen tons per acre, and the aver
ngo per cent of sugar in the entire crop
on the three tracts was 1875 per cent, with
an average purity Of S0.6 per cent. The
beets from the tract on the bottoms near
Florence lake were most productive. They
iyielded 1876 per cent of sugar and S79
purity.
other Nebraska Factories.
At tho beet sugar factories out in the
state farmers producing beets paid for
them according to their productiveness in
suga; For beets carrying 12 per cent of
sugar and rs per cent purity they are paid
81 a ton. and additional 25 cents tors
10 added for each additional 1 per cent OF
sugar. Upon that basis the beets raised
near Florence lake ought to have brought
at tho sugar factories a little over So a
ton The average yield per acre is figured
at ten tons, but in tho Douglas county ex-
pertinent it ran from twelve to fifteen. 1t il,
not stated in the report submitted to the
Commercial club just what the yield was
on the respective tracts, but placing it ab
the lowest figure twelve tone, it would bring
the money value of an acre of beets up to
over $50. When 1t is considered that the
average cost Of raising sugar beets is fig
ured at $22, cne can gain some impression
of the profit that attaches to the production
OF sugar beets. With such profit in pros
peCt 1t cannot readily be understood why
capital should stand around begging for the
production of raw material with which to-
operate a factory, but that has been the
history of the Introductory stages of the
beet sugar industry. The uncertainty of the
itg N ha pf ha
weather aud soil, and the further fact that
tho relations OF farmer producers of beets
and the authorities Of the Nebraska fac
tories have not always been of the most
pleasant character, have doubtless done
much to discourage experimental growing.
in this state The bounteous haryests that,
have been yielded during recent years in.
tho production OF less hazardous crops has.
also deferred many farmers from assuming
any risks in the production OF Deets, tina
latter being at best an expensive crop, thd
growing of which is attended by great care
S'ld labor as we'll as hazard and expense4
Therefore it is that it has been deemed
necessary to organize a stock company for
the propagation of beets at this point, and
any enterprise in that direction will enjoy
tho encouragement of an assurance already
given by tho authorities of the new Ames
sugar factory that they will buy the entire
crop at prevailing prices. They have also
agreed to practically absorb the freight
charges from Omaha to that point.
Prodts of Rect Sugar Industry.
The profits of the beet sugar industry
are more or less generally known to be con-
siderable, and there IS little wonder among
those who think they know something about
them over the movement instituted here
last Tuesday by the American Beet Sugar
Manufacturers association to prevent the
importation of sugar from Cuba, Porto Rico
and the Philippine islands free of duty, or
under such reductions of existing tariffs as
may result from the acquisition of these
islands as dependencies of this government.
Those who have given the subject much
thought and study say that beet sugar
is made in Nebraska at a profit OF 2 cents
pound The cost Of production is figured
at about cents There are three factories
in the state. The one at Norfolk has a
capacity Of 400 tons of beets per day, the
one at Grand Island 300 tons and the new
one at Ames about 800 tons. The total
possible consumption is therefore about