The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1904-12-16
Sugar Beet Notes:

SOn.
Michigan should make all the sugar
consumed within its borders. We are
lot shy yet. The factories can slice
the beets if they can get them.
Michigan factories will turn out be-
tween 70 and 80 million pounds of sugar
this campaign.
Talk over the sugar beet proposition
with your neighbor and both take a
contract for 1905. Just small one
that you can take care of yourself with
your farm help. 1t will pay you.
While considering that contract for
1905 take into consideration the fact
that the crop is sold as soon as your
name is put to the contract. Go out
and try to sell your next seasons crop
of potatoes, corn or wheat before you
have the ground ready and see how you
will come out
1t is probably not generally known,
or considered, that our people annually
pay out more for sugar than for -four
but it is fact. The people of Michi-
gan annually consume about 175, ,00O,0
pounds of sugar at an average of five
cents per pound, which is a low average
price for sugar, It can easily be figured
what our sweet tooth costs us The
sixteen factories of the state will this
year manufacture somewhere about S0,-
000, 600 pounds of sugar, which is little
has than half of our consumption.
We should produce and manufacture all
the sugar we consume III the state and
have little for our neighbors. We
can keep this fortune that we spend
and get some of the other fellows
money if we will. Our sixteen sugar
houses, with a full acreage, can turn
one million tons Of beets into granulat-
ed sugar and the farmers of the sugar
beltca get -, 250, 900 for the raw ma
terial. These beets, every one, can be
grown within wagon haul Of factory
and no farmer be burdened with more
beets than he can handle. The farm
ers of Michigan can grow these beets be-
cause we have the soil, the climate and
the labor, and should grow these beets
because it is the most profitable crop for
farmers to grow, and because we need
this money right here at home. The
sugar companies stand ready to do their
part and the supplying of these 16 fac
tories with raw material enough to sup
ply our home consumption and sell some
30 our neighbors is right up to the
farmer. Sugar Beet Culturist.
A Courier Herald reporter yesterday
enjoyed brief chat with w. B. Gubtil,
secretary and treasurer of the American
Beet Harvester Co., of this city. This
is the harvester controlled by Messrs.
Ezra Rust, B. w. Gubtil and G.. F.
Connor.
The owners of the patents on the inn
plement have brought it to such de-
gree of perfection that it is understood
that the Alma Sugar Co. will probably
next season use fifty in the sugar beet
fields tributary to its factory. The
proposition of the harvester company is
to place so of the harvesters at Alma
with an expert to keep them in order
and to explain their manner of use
These are to be let out to farmers in the
harvesting season, the Alma Sugar Co
to deduct from the monies paid to farm
ers for beets % cents per ton for all
beets harvested for them by these ma
chimes. This royalty is to go to the
harvester company. Inasmuch as the
cost Of harvesting beets by the method
now in use costs from IS cents to 81, the
use of the machines, it is stated, will
save the farmer 80 to IS cents per ton.
The cost to harvest such favorable sea-
sons as the one just closed is said to be
75 cents per ton, while in wetter sea-
sons the cost is about 81 per ton.
The machine, in its early form, was
pronounced a success as beet litter,
but it has undergone so many improve
ments that its owners claim, and many
witnesses of its operation admit, that it
is great success not only as a beet
litter, but also as beet topper and
cleaner In its present highly improv-
ed state the machine is marvel of
simple yet ingenious mechanism.
1t first tops the beets then the litter
raises it out and, after Icing automati-
cally cleaned the tops are deposited at
one side and the beets in row on the
other side, out of the reach of the wheels
as the harvester comes down the field
on its return trip. 1t is unnecessary to
describe here how all this is done Suf-
flee it to say that the harvester has
been passed upon by many leading bust
ness men whose opinion is that it will
be invaluable to all sugar beet cultiva-
tors. Among those who have seen it
operate this last season was A. W.
Wright, who, on Nov TO- saw it in op-
GRAFTON at Alma Mr.. Wright then and
there pronounced it a success. Saginaw
Courier Herald.
John RoOs il in Wallacehuro Ont