The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1904-04-08
AN Appeal to the Farmers.

The farmers of the county have, up
to the present time, greatly disappoint-
ed the management of the Owosso
Sugar Company by the slowness with
which they are contracting to grow
beets during the coming year. This is
not as it should be. The farmers of the
county were enthusiastic over the prom
Use of the Sugar Company to build a
factory in Shiawassee county and rely
ing on their intention to grow beets,
the company came and invested hun
dreds of thousands of dollars here. So
far so good. Last year the farmers did
very well in the extent of acreage they
contracted for. The season was bad,
very bad Many farmers came out at
the end of the season with but small prof
its. Now because some lost money, and
because such growers as the Merchants
Beet Company Limited, which had to
take what land it could get, in what
ever condition it happened to be, and
was at the mercy of almost every sort of
condition and circumstance, lost money
is there any reason why the farmers
should decline to have anything more
to do with the crop2 Good faith with
the company that spent nearly three
quarters of million dollars here de-
mands that they try again. The true
American grit for which the American
farmer is noted demands the same.
And more than this Shiawassee county
farmers owe it to theirewn pocket books
to give the crop another-trial. There is
absolutely no doubt that the growing of
of sugar beets is profitable under
circumstances which are favora-
BILE to the profitable. growth of other
crops. Good soil, good care, and
good weather, however, are as neces-
sary to sugar beet growth as they are to
the growth of any other crop. Any crop
will occasionally fail for any of the
above reasons, but the farmers expert
ence should also tell him that no crop
properly grown will fail all the time.
And the farmers self respect and proper
pride in his own ability should not al
low him to give up and own that he is
beaten, literally on his own ground.
Others can make money raising sugar
beets. 1t is not in accordance with the
commonly accepted ideas Of the. ability
and independence of American farmers
to see them admitting defeat after a
single trial, or even two, or three.
There is profit in the crop and there is
every reason for ssticking to it until all
of the secrets of getting the most profit
out of it are mastered. But do not let this
be considered plea to take more acreage
than can be kept clean. There is prob
ably not a farmer in the county who
could not take care of at least one acre
and keep it as clean and free from weeds
as the finest garden Many even the
big majority, can keep two acres in
that condition without going out Of
their own families for a single days
work more than they would hire any
way. That is the experiment which
The TIMES hopes the farmers of the
county will make with one accord this
spring There are many who are al
ready well enough informed to feel per-
fectly able to take ten, twenty, and in
some cases more acres for next year but
to the farmer who has made but small
profit, or to the one who has lost some
money it is not advised that he 60 in
this year for large acreage. But in
the interests of the farmer himself, first
of all, and in the interests of the COM
munity at largewhich wants to see this
new industry in our midsta success, and
in the interest of the men who have in
vested hundreds of thousands of dollars
in this locality, THE TIMES does hope
that the farmers Of the county will be
true to themselves and their best tradi-
tions, and that not man OF them, un-
less there are imperative reasons why
he cannot dose, will fail to contract at
once for one or two acres of sugar beets
for the coming season. 1t should be a
matter of pride with every farmer in the
county to grow at least one ortwo acres
and to grow them so well that they will
show as big a margin onithe right side
of the balance sheet as any other farmer
can show for that crop. Shiawassee
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