The Weekly Tallahasseean., 1901-09-12
: SUGAR CANE CULTURE.
Capt. Rose, State Chemist, Thinks For
tunes Are to Be Made at It.

tunes Are to Be Made at 1t.
Capt. R. E. Rose, the State Chem
ist, gave a very interesting talk on
Monday relative to the sugar cane IN
dustry in the State Of Florida The
subject grew out of q comparison be-
tween the interests Of sugar cane grow
ers in this State and in other States
and in Cuba on the one hand, and OF
the growers of beets for the making OF
beet sugar on the other hand. Mr.
Rose is emphaticslly in favor Of sugaH
cane growing, and Of growing 1t i1s
FLORIDA.
The beet sugar industry requires, hE
says, at least five years to be fully ung
derstOod by any inexperienced pafClef
desiring to cultivate it. There are alss
but three crops that can be raised suce
cessfully in that amount of time. OnSS,
person can cultivate no more than hVs
acres of beets for this purpose at =
time. and the harvesting of even thf
amount requires two hands at least
On the other hand, the growing
sugar cane requires less care and
pense, fewer hands to handle a muga
larger area can be cultivated and y
paws, upon an equal area, seVer$I
times the amount Of beets will y1e4o
made into sugar. (
The sugar cane industry in Flor1dA,
Mr.. Rose thinks, has passed the e.
detrimental stage" That Is success 90
the people and farmers Of Leon coQh-
ty is practically a settled thing. Thay
can raise sugar cane equal or &
ceeding in quality of its saccharHe
contents that of any other State Sn
the Union, if rot of the world. HeSis
anxious co have the proof Of his stage
ment given Official authoritative sage
ton. For that reason he wrote vt
ter to Hon. james w. Wilson, SeTe-
tary of Agriculture, at Washington
and to w. H. wiley, chief chemis4 OF
the Agricultural Department, suggest
ing that the sugar cane which SHOULD
be placed on exhibition at the State
fair, at Jacksonville, should be of sci-
ally examinedI and reported upon THERE
on the spot, to demonstrate that 10Th
in quality of cane and in its producing
sugar capacity, it was equal 20 The
best cane grown anywhere in She
United States or in Cuba. That oVdng
to soil, climate and general ada4ta-
/ bility of surroundings Florida mas
henceforth an open field for Sane
| growers The people of the State Have
not had their eyes fully opened to Ghis
fact, he thinks.
Mr.. Rose is himself a practical zane
grower, having for a number of YEARS
had charge of the st. Cloud sugar E5an-
tations, where he averaged a yieH OF
40 tons of the best quality o. can& pei
acre for a number of years, and pheI
his neighbOrS around him were in the
first or experimental stage of growth
He believes that had not other xsec-
4 tiOns, who had not been so succe9sful
been discouraged just when they STere
opening their eyes as to the best and
true methods of proceeding witR the
work, they would all have succeeded
in their efforts.
We hope, as he says, that this amat.
ter will meet with the approval St the
Government officials at Washington
and he thinks that such analysiS an6
statements as he suggests will zOper
l-VR an industry worth millions Of dol
lars to Florida alone, 70 say qdEhine
of other States of the Union End q
possible large export trade beside.