The Holly chieftain., 1904-02-19
The Sugar Beet Situation.

In the matter of beet contracts
for the season OF 1904, the section
under the Amity canal has been
gwen wind treatment by the
boomers of different localities.
which could only be surpassed by
an old fashioned county seat fight
The farmers have been appealed
to on every other basis except that
of business. The signing of con-
tracts with beet sugar factory is
q matter of business, and when the
farmer takes the matter under
consideration it is wise for him
to shut out Of his mind the ques-
tions of personal feeling and the
competition between rival towns
and communities. To the thought
full man the situation presented is
this;
Mr. Cox is a promoter of sugar
factories, of considerable reputa-
ton of one sort and another, who,
with the assistance of the citizens
of Las Animas, is trying to secure
enough contracts from farmers to
warrant the investment of capital
in "A factory at that place. Please
mark this fact; that it is necessa
ry that the contracts be secured
before the money can be gotten.
1t is also to be noted that the
community around Las Animas
annot and does not offer to sup
ply The contracts.
The only feature OF the Las
Animas factory that is attractive
is that of permitting the beets to
be shipped during November, No
provision is made to supply the
farmer with money to thin. culti-
yate and harvest his crop. No
obligation is put upon the factory
to supply the farmer with labor,
and there is no reason to believe
from the contract that this com.
pany can or will do so. The i'm
portance of labor for cultivating
and growing beet crop is appar-
ent
There is a grave doubt as to
whether factory can be con.
structed for 1904 when no COM
mence ment has been made as late
rs this. February 10. 1t takes as
long to move an old factory and
reset it for business as it would
to build new one. The Fort
Collins people failed to have their
factory completed on time and
had to have their beets, or most of
them, ground in another factory.
Supposing that the Las Animas
factory, after the farmers have
signed contracts with it, should
not be completed to grind the
crop of 1904, the factory will
either be required by the terms of
their contract. to purchase beets
from the farmer at the prices
named in the contract, and have
them ground by some other facto-
ry, or permit them to rot. From
the talk on the platform it is not
reasonable to suppose that the
Rocky Ford factory will grind
beets for the Las Animas factory.
1t will require concern of the
strongest financial standing and
the strictest integrity 10 stand up
and take its medicine and accept
these beets from the farmer ac-
cording to contract, when they can
make no use of them.
All the wind jamming on earth
will not build a beet sugar factory.
The best work that the farmer can
do to secure a factory for the COM
munity under the Amity Canal, is
to grow and deliver sugar beets
for a factory and show his ability
and willin sness to grow the beets
necessary to start Que, so that
when the time comes to build the
factory in the community referred
to we will not have to go begging
into other territories and make
enemies to get ourselves started
In order to make the best showing
in growing beets we need the as
sistance of capital in loaning tc