The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1908-08-14
100000 WORTH I
IS RAISED HERE
each IL MONTHS
Benefit to Farmer, Manufac-
turer and Consumer Is In
calculable.
Increased Value of Land, Better
Roads, Better Mercantile Conditions,
Cheaper Sugar and Other Benefits
Accrue.
From Detroit Journal.

From Detroit Journal.
Few men in this state are more
widely known and none more highly
respected than A. w. Wright of Alma.
Through a long honorable business
career his name has stood for sound
judgment and conservative methods.
He founded the Alma college and has
literally assisted in its maintenance;
was one of Michigan's greatest lum-
bermen; was instrumental in building
the C. S. e M. railroad and a consid-
cradle portion of the Ann Arbor; is
the head of the Advance Thresher Co. ;
| is president of the Peerless Portland
Cement Co.; is prominently connected
with some of the greatest wholesale
and retail mercantile establishments
| in the United States; is director and
| leading stakeholder in several banks,
trust companies and insurance COM
panies; has done more than anyone
else to create the city Of Alma and is,
withal, the largest individual farmer
| in Michigan. He is a splendid exam
pie of the highest type of business
man that this country has produced.
Alma is in the center of beet sugar
district and Mr.. Wright, better than
anyone else, can speak authoratively
on the benefits of this industry to a
| community. In an interview with a
| representative of The Journal, ne
spoke with a clearness and directness
that would carry conviction to any
| hearer. Said he:
| I'm Gratiot county there are two
sugar factories. The one at Alma has
| been in operation nine years and the
one at st. Louis four years. During
this time the two factories have used
| 5000 tons of beets, three-quarters of
which, or practically 100000 tons, have
been grown in Gratiot county. For
| these beets our county farmers re-
ceived nearly $2,750,000. These facto.
ries are now using 100000 tons of beets
| yearly, $4,000 tons of which are grown
in Gratiot county. The annual value
of that portion of the crop now grown
in Gratiot county is about S425,000. AS
| we cannot see that our other agricul-
| tural products have been at all de.
| creased by the introduction of the beet
crop, the establishment of the indus
try in Gratiot county means an annual
| increase of nearly half million dol
| lars in our farm products. You can
rest assured that the general effect
of such an influx of ready money is
most marked throughout the entire
section. From my personal knowledge,
/ can say that many farm mortgages
have been paid by the proceeds of the
| beet crop and the register of deeds
| tells me that the records in his office
show that the number of such dis
charged mortgages has greatly in
creased since the cree ion of the two
sugar factories in our county. / un-
derstand the factories are having less
and less, trouble every year in secur-
ing their acreage and that from rs to
80 per cent of their patrons remain
with them from year to year. There
is no friction between the farmer and
the factory and our farmers are rec
ognizing the fact that the beet crop
is furnishing them with their surest
source of ready money
"The contracts under which we grow
the beets are written during the win
ter months and the price for the crop
is specified in the contract. The only
risk the farmer runs is that of eli
matte conditions. We have found,
however, that beets are as hardy a
crop as we can raise and that we can
get some returns on our beets when
other crops are a total failure"
DO you find that growing beets in
jures your soil for other crops?" was
asked.
Not at ALL We believe in crop ro-
tatiOn and the same soil produces n
crop of beets but once in four years.
The intense cultivation we give the
beets improves the soil for other crops
and we find from experience that we
are getting better results with our
corn, oats, beans, wheat and clover
There is marked improvement
throughout our county in soil condi-
tions methods of farming and the
general appearance of farms and farm
buildings"
rs the population OF Gratiot county
largely foreign"
by no means. There are few coun-
ties in the state that are as distinctly
American. We have no foreign colony
in the county. Moreover, there is no
large city in the county from which
we can draw labor. Nevertheless,
neither the Alma nor the st. Louis
has been obliged to bring
much help into Gratiot county from
the west. We have taken care of our
own beets and been compelled to hire
very little extra labor. This, think, |
is owing to the fact that the average