The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-10-11
SUGAR MAKING IN KANSAS.
Mr. Coburn Gives History of Use OF
Cane for That Purpose.

F. D. Coburn. secretary of the state
board of agriculture, this morning gave
out a statement concerning the history
of sugar making in Kansas. After re-
viewing the success attending the rails
ing of sugar beets in the Arkansas val
ley, Mr.. Coburn says:
"a quarter of a century ago Kansans
were optimistic that through the ut1l1z-
alton of the common sorghums grown
so profusely the state would become
famous sugar center. The pioneers in
this movement, while able to make a
fairly good quality of sugar, could not
do so at profit, largely owing, as II
was then thought, to the inadequacy OF
the methods used for extracting the
sugar, leaving perhaps half in the plant.
New interest was awakened, however,
by the application Of new processes that
promised to obviate this and other diff
fcuIties. Lack of money to develop the
possibilities of later processes was the
obstacle that now confronted the indus
try, but this was in part at least sur
mounted by the governments making
appropriations for several years to DEM
onstrate their practicability.
I'm 1887 the legislature took note of
the industry by providing for bounty
of two cents per pound, upon all sugar
manufactured in the state for five
years, the maximum amount to be paid
in any one year being limited to $4,000.
This was afterwards amended, making
the maximum amount $4,000 a year.
extending the period to seven years,
and decreasing the per pound bounty
to three-quarters of one cent. This law
gave impetus to the building of sugar
factories, and in 1889 there were ten in
the state. one each at Fort Scott. Medi-
cine Lodge, Attica, Conway Springs.
Meade. ArkaIon, Liberal, Minneola,
Ness City and Topeka, although the lat
ter was destroyed by fire in that year.
In 1889 the factories operating pro-
duced 1.293,274 pounds of sorghum-sugar,
on which the bounty aggregated $25.S65.
The largest production was in 1890,
amounting to 1871. $50 pounds. and the
bounty was S27,43S. State bounty was
available frCm 1887 to 1898 inclusive, and
the total amount paid in that time on
sorghum sugar was Sa4.2T3. In the first
of these bounty years it was found that
.607 pounds of sugar were manufac-
tured, and in the last 934,112 pounds, the
output of 1893 being from the factories
at Fort Scott and Medicine Lodge.
After the discontinuance of bounty,
statistics of production were no longer
collected. The demise of the industry.
corded. and what at one time had
promised great things was relegated to
the scrapheap of Improbable ventures.
An interesting feature in connection
with the sorghum sugar making is the
fact that through the enterprise of one
of the officials of the Medicine Lodge
factory sugar beets were first expert
mented with in Kansas for sugar maxi
ing. The experiment seemed to indi-
cate that suitable beets could be grown,
but different machinery. something that
could not then be provided, for lack of
funds, would be required.
with the establishment of sorghum
sugar factories. as might be naturally
expected, came an extension in the
areas devoted to the growing of sac