The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-04-08
SUGAR COMBINE
WANTS THE EARTH
Beet Growers of Utah Are at
the Mercy of Combi-
nation.
FARMERS URGED TO
SIGN NEW CONTRACTS
This Contract Adds Third More
to Cost of Harvesting
the Crop.
Special 10 The Tribune.

SPANISH FORK, Utah, April T.
Seven thousand acres of sugar beets
will be planted in southern Utah this
year. Beet seed has been shipped to
the several agencies, and planting will
soon commence. The growers, however,
are not satisfied. Early in the season,
it will be remembered, there was a
meeting of local beet farmers held here,
and much bitterness was manifest over
proposed change in the contract, or
rather the signing of new contract
with the company. This contract pro.
hibted the use of the hooked knife,
which tapped and pulled the beets.
The company, the Utah Sugar COM
pany, which controls all this section,
maintained that the use OF this knife
cut the beets and let the dirt IN the
wonnd, which necessitated extra work
at the cutting pldnt here. The farmers
maintained that the prime purpose was
to keep the price of beets down
February Meeting.
A a meeting held here in February
PA beet farmers were present. The
''uIIdCL 'lleV WIS nlSFuSSpu, as also
an additional clause that 10 per cent
of the crop must be sliced The original
contracts between the farmers and the
sugar company run for FIVE years and
this is the third year of the contract,
OF the 2l4 farmers and growers pres.
ent mt the meeting. all but two voted
against signing the new contract. Those
two were Bishop Markham and his
counsellor, Anderson.
hn 80. al latt
read from Manager Thomas R. Cutler
of the sugar company, as follows:
Referring to your question as to
whether any of the -farmsrs of Spanish
Fork, who have signed contracts for a
consecutive number OF years may can
1ectlons 10 raising heets, with certain
provisions contained therein that are OBJ
jectlonable 70. them. baslng such provi-
sions on LehI contract OF the present
year ] beg 10 say that we will cancel
such contracts on one condition-that
condition being that the people of Span
the cutting station at that point this
present season.
Threat Had Effect
This threat of closing down the
cutting plant here had its effect, and
since then most of the growers have
virtually assented TO the new deal
Under this the farmers claim that il
the knife hook is abolished it will cost
them onethird more to harvest the
crop than 1t does now. This knife is
the invention Of a Spanish Fork man.
The implement is made by the Ditson
Saw company. hence there is no rake
of in the way of .tithes; This. it is
alleged, is the principal reason the
company objects to it's use, and many
of the farmers state if the company
was interested in the manufacture of
the implement that there would be no
kick whatever against its use.
Another matter which the farmers
object to is a provision of the company
be sliced, that is buried so as to
keep them from freezing and thawing.
This, the farmers declare. is so the
sugar company can have some excuse
for not taking the full crop.
In addition, the company, it is said,
will insist that the beets, when har-
vested, must be piled up in heaps,
and when loaded into the wagons to be
hauled to the slicing plant; that the
to shake the dirt off, instead of being
thrown into the wagon by forks, as
has been done in the past.
OF course with all the restrictions is
the additional one of the saccharine
test. In this the Sugar company is the
Judge ana jury ana the FARMER gets the
worst end of this
Average Yield,
The average yield of beets per acre
in this section is Is tons. $500 acres
is the amount that was planted last
year. This would aggregate $4,000 tons,
the average price is $3.50 per ton, or a
sum of $236,250 for the crop. To silo
10 per cent of this crop would amount
to S23,625, which the company is not
likely to take. Then according to other
restrictions, adding one-third more to
the expense of harvesting, the beet
grower does not see much in sight for
his labor.
The revolt this year against the ar
bitrary action OF the sugar combine is
minimized. Next year it will spread
because the farmers are tired of giving
everything to the combination.
No difference what the price Of sugar
the price Of beets is always the same
1t is this that the farmer objects to and
next year the revolt which was started
here this year and which, as said, has
been temporarily squelched because the
growers were at the mercy of the trust
will spread all over the beet-prowinp
section of the State. The farmers wifi |
organize and they will compel the re-
moval OF the iron hand which now bears