The Glenwood post., 1907-02-23
FARMER REVIEWS
BEET pROBLEn
Says Farmers Have Been Treated
Fairly and Generously by Sugar
COmpdny---GiveS Examples
to Prove the Same
SILOING WILL INCREASE PROFITS

W. I. Branson, one of the largest
beet growers in the Loveland district.
takes exception to the views of Hon,
W. B. Ebbert on the differences be-
tween the growers and the factory
men in the following letter sent to
the Denver Republican Thursday
Like many of my brother farmers
l have awaited with much interest
the report of the Hon. W. B. Ebbert
setting forth his views respecting the
merits of the contrc versy between the
Beet Growers association and the
sugar company. | say the Beet
Growers association. because it is
but small portion of the northern
Colorado beet growers that the present
controversy exists. | have lived in
northern Colorado a great many years.
| am one of the large land owners in
the Loveland district and | am told |
am the largest beet raiser for the
Loveland factory, hence | feel it is
question in which l am vitally in
terested it is my duty to the farmers to
express my views in regard to the con
troversy; at any rate | will take the
liberty if l can get some one to pub
ish my views
Last year | raised 300 acres of
beets and am going this year to raise
$50 acres, not by proxy, as some of
our large land owners do, for | farm
myself From this plain statement of
facts you can certainly see that l am
interested in obtaining as good
price for my crop as possible-quite
as much so as Mr. Bumstead or MI
Preston, two of the most radical op-
ponents to the SLIDING contract. When
the I.oveland factory was built l
pledged my support to that factory by
raising beets at f4 so per ton. | grew
beets on that basis for three years,
and when the price was increased to
IS per ton increased my acreage and
bought more land, knowing that |
could pay for land at most any price
in reason with beets at So per ton.
Before the factory came | offered to
sell 320 acres of my home place, the
choicest land | own, for Sl1, 200, in
cluding the growing crop, but was
unable to close the deal at that price.
I made more clear net profit from the
300 acres of beets I raised last year
than ! offered to take for the farm,
and had done as ] agreed to with
the sugar company the past season
and sliced one third of my crop | feel
| would have been about "a, 600 ahead.
The reason that subsequently refused
to silo my crop was because | was
misled by the rumors that were atloat
in regard to the heavy shrinkage on
sliced beets, which l have since
learned was absolutely without foun-
datlon and to which | will refer lat
er want to say to the farmers, in
which statement | believe most of
them will bear me ont, that | have
always been loyal to their interests
FIST and last and all the time, but
am not going to turn my back on an
enterprise that we induced to come
into our midst and that has made my
land four times its original value, and
all other land tributary to the factory
by wagon or rail, and that is now
simply asking us to work with it in
handling the crop to avoid loss and to
the end that it may be enabled to
maintain the present price on beets of
IS per ton. Mr.. C. s. Morey's letter
that appeared in the Sunday issue of
the leading Denver papers was GER
tainly a frank and fair explanation of
the position of the sugar company to
any unprejudiced or fair minded man
His assurances in this article. as
well as the favorable assurance of the
local manager of the Loveland factory
that the siloing feature of the con
tract was simply for protection not
only to the factory but to the farm
er AS well, was certainly true state
ment of facts from my point of view,
and that the farmers who read this
explanation should take hostile view
is more than l can understand. Mr.
Ebbert in his article stated that he
was beet raiser in the southern part
of the state, and If am rightly in
formed, is raising from 300 to AGO
acres of beets, or having them raised
on his farm and that he Is SLIDING
from 40 to go per cent of the crop
according to the practice in that local
ity and the fact that he is continuing