The Detroit times., 1911-10-09
|0AD|1|0N OF THE
SUGAR INDUSTRY
!. IN MICHIGAN

/he Detroit Times Is happy In the
&'cbratlon OF It's twelfth birthday
mis- issue OF the paper is the birth
day present which Il offers TO Detroit
Ihe same year which marked the ad
<1ht OF the Times chronicles the be
<|nnlng OF the beet sugar industry In
Michigan. This paper and this Michi
Eao Industry are each ewtlve years
1|1. Both are Just ready to enter
<heIr teens.
81 The Times has had an opportunity
% observing and recording the growth
oi the beet sugar industry in Mich
<an and has no hesitancy in saying
fhaf the development of that indus
try during the past twelve years is
the most important fact in the agri-
culfuraI life OF the state during that
neriod Twelve years ago Michigan
was sending 100000 out of the
state each year for the sugar which
IT'S people consumed. The value OF
the sugar crop harvested in Michigan
this year viii be fully $l5,OoO,O 900.
This makes difference Of $25,OOO.OOO
Ii striking the states balance sheet
IL the end OF the year.
Twelve years ago there was one
fnctory in Michigan. Today there
are sixteen. Formerly farmers were
loath to raise beets. Now every
factory in the state has all the beets
II can possibly handle. The number
or factories In Michigan has not ma
fsriaIiy increased during the past
ave years but the slicing capacity OF
these factories has increased during
THE time fully rs per cent, and plen-
" OF beets are being secured for this
ENLARGED capacity. Forty thousand
Xichigan farmers have turned their
Intention to this new line OF agricul-
tire. and for this years crop will re-
ceive fully $S.000,000.
The Times has seen the value OF
beet lands adjacent to the factories
Increase from $50 an acre to $3.50 an
acre. and has seen the rental value
or such increase from $500 per acre
10 $1,000 per acre. II has seen
mortgages paid. farms bought. barns
built, and houses erected from the
proceeds OF the beet crop.
Twelve years ago Saginaw Valley
devastated of its timber, faced a
future With little hope. Today it is
the garden spot OF Michigan. Farms
III that section command a better
price, are under a higher state OF cub
ovation. and have better buildings
than in any other part OF the state.
The merchants declare that their
sales are better and collections easier
III the Saginaw Valley than else
where No matter where you go in
the beet belt OF Michigan the clti-
<efls fnnite in saying that the beet
sllkar industry has worked the trans
FORMATION.
The merchants or Detroit nave
raped direct benefits from this in
dustry. Their sales have been In
treased and they have been enabled
to get their money for the goods solo.
Ihe railroads, too. have benefited by
TIE industry. The sixteen factories
intMichigan will, this year, pay the
railroads OF this state, over $500, 900
fof hauling freight to and from the
factcries.
During these twelve years the ulti-
mate consumer OF the sugar in Michi-
gan has shared in the benefits re-
shifting from the establishment OF the
Industry within the state. The sugar
produced in Michigan is equal in quail
AK 10 that made anywhere in the
world. IL has usually been sold in
mis- state al from zoe per hundred
pounds to 25c per hundred pounds
less than the price of Eastern sugar.
This season the benefit to the con-
fumer is most marked. Every factory
~ the state has sold all the sugar
~ can make during the month of Octo-
her at about PC per pound less than
the high September price of Eastern
fngar II is interesting to observe
mat the only time during the twelve
years In which the people in the
United States have had to depend alb
eolutely on the supply of foreign
sugar Is the interval from the first OF
August to the middle OF October Of
this year. For these months the price
has been higher than any other time
1nfing the past twelve years As
<oon as the domestic sugar reaches
the market the consumer will be re-
IIeved Of this burden and will be Civ
en- his sugar at reasonable price.
The occasion for the recent and pres
emit high prices Is that the Cuban crop
Tie past year was some 100000 tons
ehort, while the crops of duty free
|nsar which come to the United
States were only normal This forced
tte refiners to 60 to Europe for 400,-
200 tons Of sugar which they were
obliged to buy at time when the
European prices were high on account
of q prospective shortage OF 1900. 900
TONS In the European beet crop. Those
#h0 think II would be a good thing
10 destroy the domestic beet and cane
Industries OF the United States may
we'll consider the condition that
would prevail at the present time II
there were no domestic sugars Ia re-