Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-10
CAMPAIGN FOR SUGAR BEETS
Commercial Club Wants to Organize Stock
Company for Their Culture.
ASSURED CROP WILL WIN SUGAR FACTORY
Capitalists Ready to Build when Raw
Material is in Sight-PrOfts of
Sugar Industry in Nebraska
and Elsewhere.

The Commercial club has not yet given
up its project for the establishment of a
beet sugar factory in Omaha. 1t finds itself
in position to say that the capital Will be
produced for the erection of such an enter
prise as soon as it can assure those offering
the capital that such a factory would be
supplied with the necessary beetS to keep
1t in operation during the beet season, and
it is now preparing or trying to prepare to
tender to the capitalists such an assurance.
Experiments have shown conclusively that
the raw material can be raised in this vi
cinity of a superior quality and productive
ness, and this being certainty, the pro-
moters OF the enterprise in the Commercial
club cannot see why the establishment of a
beet sugar factory here at an early day
need not be an equal certainty.
Some months ago a cotere of local CAPT
talists authorized the announcement that
they were ready to furnish the money for
the establishment of such a factory IL the
crops necessary for its operation were as
sured. To meet this requirement the club
has been considering plans for the organiza-
tion OF a stock company with a capital of
5000 to carry on the cultivation of beets,
the intention being to put in something
like 1000 acres of beets. The cost of rails
ing beets is figured at something like S22
an acre, and the above capital would be
required to carry the planting and cultiva-
tion forward to point where revenues from
the marketing of the crop would be in
sight
Experimental Production.
The fruitfulness of the soil in the vicinity
OF Omaha for the production of sugar beets
has been tested and demonstrated to be
superior, Last spring a coterie of mem
bers of the Commercial club, comprising
Messrs. NJ. c. Peters, r. C. Peters, Guy Bar
ton, h. S, Wilcox j. S. White, C. ID.
Thompson. V. b. Caldwell G. w, Lininger
c. S. Hayward, |. w Carpenter, f. p. Kirk
endall Arthur Smith, c. Pickens, j. Il.
UT, NJ. Robson L. c. Price and the firms
OF Payne & Harder and the Nebraska Fuel
company, each contributed s25 to fund to
demonstrate by experimental growing that
beets OF a good quality can be raised in the
vicinity of Omaha NJ c. Peters and T.. c.
Price took charge of the work. They
leased four tracts of land one of a singla
acre on the bottoms near Florence lake,
another OF an acre and a half just north of
Ames avenue. another of the same area on
north Thirteth street and a one-acre tract
near South Omaha
In a report recently submitted to the club
these men report that this experiment was
not for the purpose OF showing how cheaply
beets can be raised here, but to demonstrate
whether or not they can be raised at all
Therefore trial was given lands of varied
character and the question Of economic
handling was not considered as that is a
consideration that can be adjusted when
the time comes for raising beets in consid-
erable quantities. Owing to the small acre.
age the necessity Of purchasing some mg-
chinery, tho further uecessity Of keeping
help employed and the shifting of operations