The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-11-15

which Will permit the receiving and
storing Of $4,000 tons of beets.
These sheds will do away with unnec-
essary delay in the handling of beets by
the farmers and as fast as a load is dug
and taken from the field it can be haul
ed to the companys receiving sheds,
weighed, dumped into the bin, and tine
raiser receive his money for it. Hun
dreds of wagons Of a peculiar construc-
ton have been built under the direction
Of the Sugar company and these are
sold to the beet raiSers at lust about the
cost of construction.
After the beets are taken from the
ground wagon Of this construction is
driven into the field and loaded and the
work OF marketing the beets Is over
with as soon as the load Is hauled 10
the factory and weighed, for there is
nothing more to be done but driXe up
the long incline over the beet sheds and
remove an iron pin and the wagon
dumps its contents automatically into
the bins of the company.
First Car Sold In Oklahoma
ABOUT a week ago the factory was
started and run for a few hours as i
test Of the machinery and 10000 pounds
Of sugar made which was shipped to
purchaser in I-awton, 0. T., who months
ago ordered the first carload of sugar
refined The factory has a capacity OF
500 tons Of beets per day which means
three carloads of the best grade of
granulated sugar daily when in opera
tlon. The refinery is run TO its capacity
during its Campaign" which lasts froll
ninety to one hundred and sixty days
ana IS limited by the supply of beetS
and the climatic conditions
Weather conditions in western Kan
sas are such that the company hopes to
operate the plant at least one hundred
days every campaign and possibly much
longer It requires from five to six hun
dIed men to operate the factory most
cf whom are men imported for the pun
pose as the locality in which the fac
tory IS situated has failed to provide
iaborers proficient in the handling OF
the beets and their products.
With the advent Of sugar beets into
western Kansas great change has
come over the country Where a few
years ago there We're immense fields OF
alfalfa yielding their owners handsome
profits are now smaller fields ranging
from twenty to eighty acres in size
planted to sugar beets. A field Of beets
resembles a great garden more than
anything else, the broad green leaves
waving in the wind and obscuring the
ground while the beet itself thus pro-
burrows into the ground from six t.
twelve inches and weighs at harvest
time from two to three pounds
Seed From Germany
Beets are grown from seed import
ed from Germany and furnished by the
company. which is planted thickly in
long rows reaching across the fields.
Then comes the thinning process and
the one which so far has been the
hardest for the western Kansas farmer
to handle. Thousands of laborers are
required during the beet thinning sea-
son, and in the past most of them have
been brought into the state and repre-
sent almost every condition and ma
ucnality though the Mexican and his
family predominates. for the women
and children work in the fields during
the thinning and wedding season.
After the thinning and as soon as the
beets have matured comes the digging
and topping which gives further en-
ployment to the laborers who during
the growing season have been employ
ed as weeders and thinners. The
wages paid for this class of labor is
mon labor and ranges from $1.75 to
$3.50 per day, and help is scarce even
at these wages.
beet growers remuneration for his
summers labors depends almost en-
tirely on the care he has given his crop
though the season must also be reck-
oned with. Figuring the yield at from
twenty TO thirty-five tons per acre the
profit VIII range from one hundred to
Gne hundred and seventy-five dollars
per acre, for there is no f1uctuatson in
the price Of the beets and the company
now offers to make contracts for sew
eral years in advance at SIS per ton 70.
beets delivered at their factory.
Seventy ner cent Of the sugar an
nually consumed in the United states
Is made from sugar beets and each
year the importation Of cane sugar be-
come less as sugar beet factories are
eStab ablished in this country. The pom
ular impression that cane sugar is
sweeter than that extracted from the
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