Rocky Ford enterprise., 1913-01-03
Sugar Factory Campaign Ends
Continued from First Page.

sugar cane industries of this country
totaled $II7,ooo,ooo.
The cane sugar industry Jared badly
this year on account of the Mississ-
ippi River flood the entire production
including molasses and sirup being
valued at only $34,ooO.ooo.
Beet sugar is comparatively re-
cent product of this country. and can
scarcely be said to have existed 20
years ago.-The production during the
| I2th census year (I8oo) amounted to
SI,72o short tons. while the 1912 pro-
duct aggregates 100000 short tons
tons valued at $4,000, 600 The growth
of this industry and the plans for its
increase indicate that beet raising for
sugar purposes is much desired by
farmers for. profit and cultural benefit
| to the land.
There are now in operation 90 fac
tories in " states, which used during
the past season 5,o62,333 tons of beets
produced on 1887 acres, and the in
| dustry has become one of the main
| stays and chief supports of agricul-
| ture. under irrigation in the scmi-arid
states. Yet this industry produc es
practically only one-eighth of the
home consumption. The importation
from entirely foreign territory now
approximates 100000 short tons an
nually. A home beet sugar produc-
ton sufficient to cut off this produc-
ton would not affect the home cane
sugar industry adversely. because that
has SO nearly reached its limit that
any possible growth it may have from
now on will not equal the annual in
crease in the country's consumption,
which as considerably more than dou-
bled in the past IS years; and now is
greater per capita than any other
country except England.
| With our present low average OF
"a short tons OF beet sugar per acre
it would require 100000 acres to
produce the 100000 short tons now
imported; or, as the acreage harvest
cd the last year was slightly less than
$4,000. it would need the production
of 100000 acres under beets to equal
the entire home demand. condition
TO which for more han so years econ
omists have looked forward.
In the 10 states adapted to growing
beets there are about "a million
farms. and 278,7IO,622 acres of i'm
proved land. Therefore if every
farmer in those states could cultivate
acre of sugar beets, some of the
cane sugar from non-contiguous ter
ritory would have to seek another
market. Or if one farmer in four in
these states would plant 4 3-acre
patch and give it the care that could
readily be bestowed upon so small a
plot, it would be unnecessary for us
to buy foreign sugar. Two-thirds OF
one per cent of the improved land in
the states adapted TO sugar beets
would accomplish this result, and
more than that acreage lies idle. abso-
lutely unused, every year. Any one
of the states OF Illinois. Iowa. Kan
sas. Missouri. Minnesota. Nebraska
or Ohio could produce all this sugar
and then have the beets come only
once in ten-year rotation; and sew
eral of the others could do it alone
on 5 year rotation. The devotion
of Nhe necessary 100000 acres to
the production of the sugar required
for our own consumption would have
an utterly insignificant effect in re-
ducing the acreage OF other crops.
and in fact. the growing of the bcets
would actually increase the total
yields of other crops, because of the
effect OF the beets upon the soil, for
the thorough working of the soil
necessary to grow a profitable beet
crop increases the yield of everything
else grown on the same ground in
succeeding years. and the beets need
occupy the soil but one year out of
ten.