Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-09-14
COLOPAGO Is FTP ST

According to the Bee. sugae Gazette, The leading
publication of the United States devoted to tIe beet sug
ar industry, says Colorado Springs Telegraph, Colorado
las. during the past few weeks, acquired a new calm 10
distinct'Cn.
The last year saw Colorado take the lead in the
,ro5pction Of sugar beets. the quantity of its output III
this branch of agriculture passing all rival sections
Through the addition of three factories this year, how
ever. the state now can claim pre-eminence in sliclng
capacity as well, the possibilities of the mills now being
greater than those Of the mills of Michigan.
According to the journal referred to, colorado mas
this year planted to beets 10000 acres of ground. rms
acreage, it is estimated. will yield $4,000 long tons. Last
year the acreage was $4,000 and the tonnage ten times
that figure. This growth in a single years time Is one
of the most striking steps forward ever made by any
state in any industry and, as stated, places COLORADO irst
in rank among beet sugar producing states.
Owing to the fact that carefully graduated freight
rates now prevail. the Colorado mills today are enabled
TO market their product throughout the entire country
with those markets firmly established the sugar prouuc
ers confidently believe that they have before them an
era Of prosperity both unprecedented and permanent
The guarding Of the existing tariffs, in the general read
justment of freight rates throughout the country that
seems to be possible as one of the events of the next
few years, will be a matter for Colorado business inter
ests. all Of which will share the prosperity OF the beet
sugar industry, to look out for.
The new plants in this state have a daily combined
capacity of 1000 tons. One of the factories, that at Ster-
ling. is removed to Colorado from Saginaw, Michigan.
The new factory at Lamar comes from Norfolk, Nebras'
braska, and the third plant, that at Holly, is an original
Colorado enterprise.
It does not admit of contention that New Mexico is
as well, if not better, adapted to sugar beet culture as
Colorado can possibly be. The Albuquerque section OF
the Rio Grande valley is an ideal beet country; but
sparse population and insuflciency of water, have hereto
fore caused that industry to pass us by. The beet sugar
problem is very much like the often heard problem OF
the hen. Did the first hen come from an egg, or was the
hen first and the egg came afterwards? Beets cannot be
raised for a profit unless a sugar factory is near the
fields of production; capital will not invest its money in
a beet sugar factory except upon the guaranty of a large
and specified acreage Of beets within convenient dis
lance. SO there you are.
No doubt this problem will be solved so soon as it
shall become generally known that the valley here has
an abundance of land, and that the water question has
found its solution in the cheap electric power the city
OF Albuquerque can now furnish. The market for beet
sugar in the United States is practically limitess, and
suitable beet lands are in constant demand. With the
cost of water pumping reduced to one cent per 1000 gaI-
Ions, the lands near Albuquerque must become of inter
est at once.