Omaha daily bee., 1905-08-19
OUR LETTER BOX.
sugar meet ana Me-, svgar

| SuEhE meet ana meet sugar.
CHICAGO, Aug. Ito the Editor OF Tho
Bee; The United States Is exporting an
nually, about s1OOO,OOO.OOO worth OF agricul-
tural products, but il importing about Is per
| cent Of the sugar consumed by its popula-
tion, This peculiar fact appears stnl moro
astonishing in considering that soil, cli-
mate, etc. all natural conditions, are more
| favorable to the sugar beet culture In the
United states than anywhere else and that
economical circumstances are nowhere
more inyitins for such an enterprise than
here.
The sugar consumption OF the United
| states In 1904 amounted TO 500 600 OOO
pounds, or B.S pounds per capita Of its pop
ulation The sugar. imported amounted 10
4, 1OO,OOOO0o pounds. for which we paid about
T2000,OOO to foreign countries. The loss our
agriculture, the sugar industry and there
with an army of laborers suffered was,
however greater
The total home production Of sugar in
1904 amounted to 1000 10000 pounds. OF
which only 40 per cent or about 10000 900
pounds, were beet sugar, while 90 per cent
originated from cane. The sugar cane Gull
ture centers principally in Louisiana and
some districts Of Texas and Florida 1ts
further extension is limited by natural con-
dltions soil, climate, etc
According to the census OF 1900 there were
$4,000 acres devoted to cane culture. Of
which 27OO acres were located in Louisi-
ana. The cane harvested in the whole
United States amounted to 100000 short
tons, OF which 3,O00O 900 were grown in
Louisiana. The returns, according to Frank
h Rutter, assistant chief, division foreign
markets, Department Of Agriculture indi-
Gated an average yield of somewhat less
than eleven tons per acre for the whole
United States and about eleven and a third
tons In Louisiana. The cane sold brought
an average price of 50. 40 per ton for Lousi-
ana and S.45 for the entire country.
While the sugar cane culture is limited to
few southern states, sugar beets are
grown from ocean to ocean, most success
Iuily in New York, California and Utah
IN lSOS-4 hfty-three beet sugar factories
located in twelve states. were in operation
In California, Utah and New York the
average yield per acre was about eleven
tons; on some irrigated lands, 1t is said.
up to twenty-five tons and even more have
been harvested. The average price paid per
ton OF beets was about A6O Some fac
tories have now offered S per ton to farm
ers willing to make a contract for five
years In the year 1904 300. 295 acres were
devoted to sugar beet culture, on which
2,22,S39 tons Of beets were harvested. from
which 46622o,0O0 pounds of sugar were man
fractured, which gives an average OF III
pounds per acre. BY the employment Of
German methods in the manufacture the
average yield of sugar per acre would be
raised to at least 1900 pounds per acre.
Surprising. now that the average yield
OF the sugar beet production could be
raised to fifteen tons per acre and out OF
each ton 300 pounds of sugar could be man
ufactured. more than 100000 acres of land
would still have to be allotted to the sugar
beet culture to satisfy the home demand
for sugar. The beneficial influence OF
sugar beet culture upon the system of
farming is evidenced in various ways The
sugar beet crop in rotation ahead Of wheat
Is one OF the causes of the Improvement
OF France and Germany as wheat-growing
countries. The leaves, the pulp and mo-
lasses are available for feeding to stock
and this Increases the capacity OF the farm
to maintain live stock, whereby the fertility
OF the soil may be renewed more effectively
and at less cost than by artificial fer
tilizers.
Considering all the aforesaid, as well as
the fact that with the progress Of the Gull
tivation of the colonies of the great Eu-
ropean powers the exports Of our agricul-
tural products must decrease and that good
agricultural lands adapted for sugar beet
culture can yet be bought here at prices
from about IS upward and irrigated lands
from S25 upward, IL is astonishing that our
farmers are so slow in grasping the great
opportunities OF the sugar beet culture.
DIR. EMIL DORM