Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-01
Special to The Herald.

pOrtant productions OF Ine lerIlie Ihiilo
valley is the sugar beet.
Previous to the year 1890 expert
mental crops of beets planted on the
Chino ranch, an estate of $4,000 acres,
proved that the soil was well adapted
to the raising of these saccharine roots.
The yield was large and the percentage
of sugar was high.
Negotiations with Robert Oxnard OF
San Francisco eliminated in the dona-
tion of $500 acres of choice land by
Richard Gird out of his 45,0OO-acre
ranch property, and the building or
$1,O00,000 sugar manufacturing plant by
the American Beet Sugar Manufac-
turing company, controlled by Mr.. OK
nard.
The factory was put in operation in
1891 and has been operated every sea-
son since that year excepting the years
1900 and 1904. These years were not
promising for the beet crop and the
works were not started.
The Chino sugar factory usually runs
from four to four and half months
in each year, commencing with the
earliest maturing OF bcets, usually in
the early part of July. The planting
is done at intervals and the beets are
supplied to the factory continuously
from the beginning until the end of
the season, which,. in sugar-making
parlance, is called the Campaign"
Three Hundred and Fifty Employees
\ When a campaign is opened and
Fbeets are being delivered and are run
ming through the cleaning and slicing
machines to the full capacity of the
multitude of extractions, reducing pans,
clarifiers and other machines, the force
of $50 people, divided into day and
night shifts, each working twelve
hours daily, carry on the work con-
tinuousy, with no holiday or day of
80 f1,a
have gone to the market as sacks of
snowy sugar.
Men and machines are then ready for
a much-needed rest.
Sweeter to the sugar makers than
their strenuous steamy, sticky work
is their time of rest, when the cam
paign is ended.
In the interim from the close of one
campaign to the beginning of another
a force of men is employed In taking
apart the machinery and putting 1t in
good order for the next seasons work.
To provide against loss of time from
a breakdown of machinery, which
sometimes occurs in spite of all pre-
cautions, the company keeps large
stock of duplicate parts and supplies,
which enables them to make repairs
quickly. AS expressed by a former
workman in the factory, Everything
goes like clockwork till something
breaks, ana Lnell lHeTe > IL " pay
Big Institution
The Chino plant is one of the oldest
of the great factories owned and OPP
Grated by the American Beet Sugar
company. Their other plants, all of
large capacities, are located at Oxnard,
CAL; Rocky Ford, Colo; Lamar, Colo,
and Grand Island, Neb. The main
offices are in New York and San Fran
cisco.
The men in control are Robert OK
nard, president; Henry T. Oxnard, vice
{ president, and j. E. Tucker, secretary
and treasurer.
The Chino plant is conducted by
John T. Schroeder, general manager,
and B. o. Sprague, superintendent.
The capacity of the works is about
$50 tons of beets per day, and this, II
the beets average 12 per cent in sugar,
gives a production of more than 100
Tons, or five carloads of sugar daily.
The plant is now being enlarged by
Traditional equipment. in several de-
partments and the machinery is being
put into prime condition for the rush
Of the approaching campaign.
# Whence comes the Overwhelming
Supply of beets which enables the fac
tory to turn out every day. five car
loads of sugar from their juices?
One can hardly conceive of farming
Operations within reach of a single
Factory that will deliver 100000 pounds
of beets every day. seven days per week
Through the entire season. This is
done, however, by the farms in the
Chino valley.
The American Beet Sugar company
Nusually plants 800 or 500 acres of its
Gown land in beets and contracts with
other parties for the balance of their
supply.
This year the company will plant 700
acres of it's own land and has con-
tracted for $500 acres with others.
The average yield is from fifteen to
twenty tons per acre. If there is only
minimum crop this year of fifteen
tons per acre, the company may have
a five-months' campaign, usng 1920
tons of beets daily. If the percentage
of sugar in these is fifteen per cent
(the average is said to be sixteen per
cent? they will produce 15S tons, nearly
eight cars, of sugar each day. provided
they can handle the entire crop in five
months.
The Surplus
If the Chino factory can not care for
all the beets furnished here the surplus
will be shipped to the factory at Ok
nard.
No attempt can be made in this brief
article to describe the modern processes
of sugar-making which are carried on
in this factory
The old method of extracting cane
sugar by squeezing out as much juice
as possible and throwing away good
portion i'll the "bagasse" and retaining
a considerable residue of molasses
after the sugar is extracted, is ree-
gated to the past by the diffusion pro-
cesses, which wash the juice from
sliced and macerated beets and re-
duction in vacuum, using the syrup
nearly to completion.
The clarifying and bleaching of the
syrup and whitening the sugar are
accomplished more economically now
than in times past.
Clayed sugar is a thing of the past,
cheaper chemical clarifiers having sup
plemented this process.
Much interest attaches, however, to
the old-time methods, and those who
remember the pure unmiXed sweetness
Of genuine crushd loaf sugar will agree
that improvements have made sugar
cheaper but not better.