Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-14
Rise Of a Great Industry in This
. Country.
OVER s20,OO0,000 CAPITAL INVESTED
Progress From First Experiments
in 1880.
THOUSANDS OF TONS MADE

by DR.. Guilford L. Spencer of the Depart
ment of Agriculture while acting in the
capacity of expert special agent for the
division of manufactures of the census Of
flee. In the preparation of this report DR..
Spencer persohany visited every beet sugar
factory in operation. in che United States,
and his report is statement of the devel-
Opment and present condition of this new
industry. In-view of the great interest in
the subject of the manufacture of sugar
from the beet. DR.. Spencer was instructed
to prepare a report more in detail than
usual.
From this report It appears that there
were thirty-one beet sugar factories in the
United States IN the census year, distrib-
uted among ten states and one territory,
representing an invested capital of s2O. $685.
S19, and producing 81 ,42I long tons of beet
sugar, valued at 81 .;}23 Sol. This it is said
is a small product. in view of the amount
of capital invested. due largely to the fact
that the census year a disastrous one
for the beet sugar crop
The existence of thirty-seven factories Is
reported at the close of the census year
having nominal daily capacity of 22.31O
snort tons of beets and capable of manu-
featuring 100000 short tons of sugar an
nualy.
First Experiments I'm 1890,
Until 1879 the history of the Ameri-
can beet sugar industry is a record of
series of failures. The first expert
ments were made in 1880. There is no
record of the quantity of sugar manu-
featured. The history of the next expert
ments Is also brief David Lee Child in
1850 conducted small works at North
ampton, Mass, and made 1900 pounds Of
sugar. then discontinued the manufacture
There is no record of further attempts
until 1863, and from that time until 1876
number of failures occurred in Califor-
MIA Illinois and Wisconsin.
The first factory in California was erect
ed in 1870. at Alvarado, the site of the
first successful factory in the United
States
These works We're operated until 1878
when 1t was proposed to remove them to
another location. a new company was or
ganiZed. which purchased the Alvarado
machinery and removed it to Sequel, Santa
Cruz county.
The factory at Sequel was in operation
in 1919 and reported in the tenth census
1t was operated at loss for several years
and was abandoned about 1850.
The history of the manufacture at Alya-
RADIO is Of great interest. since the success
of these works and the practical demon
stration of the fact that suitable beets
could be grown led to the establishment of
other factories, and were undoubtedly i'm
portant FACTORS in the development of the
beet sugar industry
In 1879 four factories We're In operation
two in California one in Maine and ono in
Delaware. The total CAPITAL Invested We
s361.Wo and the value of the products was
S2S2,1f2- Few single factories reported IN
the twelfth census have so small an in
Eestment as the combined capital of the
TOUR In operation i'm 1872
Al the census of 1890 reports We're re-
ceiyed from only two beet sugar factories
anu tne statistics for the industry were
nor separately reported, but the value of
the product is estimated to have been
eH+"V' No estimate of the capital invest
e. was made.
The Capital Invested
Inc total capital invested In beet sugar
manufacture in 1899 was 800 95s $40 or
which @S2 'o5 is reported for land. s3.sgl-
Oh ior buildings, s14, AZ, $50 for machinery
ana Sl,9t4, lis for cash on hand. bills recetv-
"oe' unsettled ledger accounts, raw ma
ttrlaIs, stock In process of manufacture
finished products on hand and other s,,n
dries The item land is nor intended 70
lnclude farm lands, but in view of the con-
siderable area required by the factories for
storage. DISPOSAL of waste water, etc, and
TO provide for the future growth Of Tho
Establishments, it has not been practicahIa
TO eliminate a small area now utilized tor
agricultural purposes. In many instances
large tracts of land are owned by the I'm,
pdhles and devoted to agriculture
Work for the Farm Hands
DIT Spencer says that in beet sugar fac
tories the length of the manufacturing wear
Is dependent upon agricultural conditions
Inc factories are operated only a mart or
the calendar year, but after the close of
the manufacturing season. many of the
employees, especially foremen and skilled
Iaoorers, are engaged for few months In
making repairs and improvements The
majority return TO work on farms or in
other industries. The manufacture begins
al Tune when there Is comparatively little
S StlI lor tarn labor. except in harvest
nj Inns
ms out the year for the farm laborer
II is said that the small value of the pro-
Ducts, so, for 1899 is due to an enOr-
nous shortage in the crop of sugar peers
for the year ending May II, 1860 In an
branches of sugar manufacture the years
OF plentiful harvests must carry the in
dustry over the years of failure and yieId
a return that will make the average earn
1ngs justify the investments
VI the sixteen new factories, fifteen of
which were operated for the first time in
1899 several We're not completed when the
harvest was ready. and in some instances
there We're serious losses from deterioration
of the beets. As whole, there was an an
parGst small profit earned by the factories
In certain cases handsome dividends we're
paid: in others there were heavy losses and
In many instances the factories little. more
than paid expenses.
New Factories
In addition 10 the factories operatcI in
the census year six. including one auxiliary
but no sugar manufactured We're under
construction for the crop of 1900 The caDf-
tai invested in new factories is 81 500 p
q making total of S24.I5s,519 for the new
Industry in the year 1900
OF the thirty factories in operation dur
ing the census year. ten reported the total
value of their products for the preceding
business year aggregating 81 SIS 6>l The
same factories reported a product valued
at $2,I@6 - for the census year.
The Acreage Engaged.
The acreage actually contracted for in
1859 49,, 1n5. Because of the shortage
OF the crop in various parts of the country,
particularly in California. beets were ac-
tually harvested from but 1915 acres,
and the average yield from this land, 5
tons tof 2.tro pounds per acre. was unsat-
isfaetory. The average yield of beets for
Germany for the crops of 1867, 1918
and 1S's-'19 respectively, was II, IA and -
tons per acre.
Small Demand for Pulp.
''Rept min continues tho renort sia