Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-19

TIC AIIiCiiSnh bCCt ou6oA S~'AIs-hS
upon inducement offered them by the
land owners In this locality. They were
given $4,000 acres as an inducement for
them to come, and they have 1t all
planted to beets, because they cannot
get enough from the farmers. Beet
raising Is back-breaking business. Help
is scarce. There are five sugar facto-
ries In this state, and It Is impossible
for them to obtain beets enough to keep
them busy. One Of them, belonging to
]. D. Sprcck at Watsonville, In the
Pajaro Valley, is closed because the
farmers will not or cannot raise the
beets TO supply 1t. Labor Is so scarce
that they cannot get hands, and the
laws of congress will not permit them
to import Chinese labor. The profit
In beet raising however. is good. It is
said to be an easy matter to raise $50
tons Of beets on ten acres at a cost Of
about 50 a ton. The beets sell from 81
a ton up according to the amount Of
saccharine matter they contain. They
are usually raised among the trees OF
orchards which pay much better.
The nearest beet sugar factory is one
hundred miles north at place called
Beeteravia, which, the conductor told
me. Is the French for sugar beet. It Is
controlled by the trust, and consumes
1900 tons of beets a day. There Is an
other at Albarado, and Senator Clark
has a factory at Los Angeles. ]. d.
Spreckles. son Of the Hawaiian sugar
king has the finest factory In this
country-and have been assured that
1t Is the finest In the world-at Salinas,
where he handles $500 tons Of beets q
day. He grows 1000 acres of beets
himself, and the enterprise represents
an investment Of $1O,0O0,000. Spreckles
formerly owned It all himself, but, af-
:er long fight. sold a half-interest to
the trust. which now controls every
beet sugar factory in this section. A
new one is being built at Visalia, in the
San Joaquin Valley in the central part
Of the state.
There Is no more profitable business
In California or elsewhere than the
manufacture of beet sugar. and 1t
would be very much extended, II 1t
were not that the lack of labor makes
It impossible to get the beets. II the
manufacturers were permitted to i'm
port limited number Of Chinese far
mers. the industry would be doubled as
fast as factories could be built, but 1t
has reached its limit with the present
supply Of labor.
Ali the way nsrthward from Santa
Barbara to San Francisco, at intervals
OF few miles are lovely villages and
towns. settled largely by eastern peo-
pie. and seaside resorts whose fore
ground Is the ocean and whose
background Is ranges Of mountains
some Of them rugged and rocky, and
others draped in velvet mantles Of
green. The valleys are occupied by
great ranches, some of them having
thousands of acres, upon which wheat
and barley have recently been harvest
ed by steam. and fields Of sugar beets
and beans. which look as though they
have no limits Upon the mountain
sIoes. which have taken on their au-
tumn cloaks Of gray, are pastured herds
Of cattle and sheep. with here and there
a forest of titanic trees. The foothills
are covered with orchards Of apples,
plums, apricots, prunes, pears, peaches,
oranges lemons. olives and walnuts-
each fruit having its peculiar foliage
and its own shade Of green. The
ranchhouses and the residences in the
towns are surrounded by gardens Of
fragrant blossoms. perpetual carnivals
Of flowers. hundred varieties OF palms,
oleanders and geraniums, which grow
like Virginia creepers out here and hide
the walls and roofs, and any ruins
there may be. with mantles Of vivid
scarlet.
There Is much Of interest that could
be written Of celery raising, Of mustard
seed raising, Of bean production, Of
strawberry culture. Of pigeon raising
and scores Of other like Industries; but
shall not attempt 1t at this time.
leave here tomorrow for Portland,
Ore, where will take in the great
fair. When l reach Portland I will
have been on the road twelve days. I
could have made 1t In five or six days;
but have preferred to travel more leis-
urely.
expect to write next from Portland.
r. ]. HERNDoN..