The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1913-03-07
BY f. R. Hathaway. Secretary of tht
Michigan Sugar Co.

BY F. R. Hathaway. Secretary of the
Michigan Sugar Co.
When one reads that the sugar
factories in Michigan have, this season,
sliced 1,l50, 900 tons of beets, for which
they have paid the farmers over g.
600, 900. and have produced from these
beets from 100000, 900 to 10000, 900
pounds of sugar, the figures convey
very little meaning. The average per-
son fails to grasp the significance Of
such figures. If we were to translate
these statistics into those that one can
more readily grasp, we might say that
if these beets used by the factories in
Michigan in making sugar the past
season, were loaded in freight cars,
with the minimum load of twenty
tons to the car, they would make a
solid train load Of beets 545 miles in
length, or nearly double the distance
from Detroit to Chicago. If the money
paid the farmers for these beets was
changed into dollar bills, and these
bills placed end to end they would cover
continuously, the four rails of double
track railroad from Detroit to Bay City,
and the two rails of single track rail-
road from Bay to Mackinaw; or to use
another illustration, the money paid
Michigan farmers this sesson-for beets
would carpet a 25 acre field with one
dollar bills.
If the coal used this season in the
sugar factories of Michigan was loaded
in cars with 30 tons to the car it would
make continuous train load of coal
reaching from Detroit to Jackson.
If the sugar made from these beets
was loaded in box cars, with 10000
pounds to the car. it would make a
continuous train load Of sugar So miles
in length, or If packed in barrels, and
these barrels were placed end to end, it
would make row of barrels reaching
from Grand Rapids to Bay City to
MRckinaw. The value of this sugar
delivered in the cities in which it is
marketed is $1,000, 900 greater than the
combined capital of all the banks in
the city of Detroit
Such are the figures with reference
TO this seasons output of beet sugar in
Michigan. Jutging from the acreage
already contracted for next season next
falls crop will greatly surpass this
| lAr
that this entire business has been de-
veloped in Michigan within the past
ten years, he begins to comprehend the
Importance of this industry to the state.
If man is a benefactor, who makes
two blades Of grass grow where
one grew before, certainly those
men who, in single decade, have
created an agricultural and manu-.
featuring industry, which adds $13,-
000, 900 year to the resources of the
state, have reason to feel proud of the
iesults of their efforts.
| Throughout the beet districts of the
state, farm mortgages have been paid;
farm buildings have been erected; bank
accounts have been created; land
values increased; business conditions
improved, and general prosperity en-
HANGED by this industry. No one has
been crippled, every citizen of the state,
whether he raises beets or lives in the
city. has been benefited Dy virtue of
securing his sugar at lower price than
he would have obtained it had not this
industry been established in Michigan.
The freight bills paid by the Michigan
sugar factories to the railroad com.
panies this season, approximate $2,-
600, 900. Collections throughout the
beet districts, in every line of mer-
camille pursuit have been improved by
the distribution of this vast amount of
ready money within the borders Of the
state.
Aside from paying their full share of
local and state taxes. the beet factories
OF Michigan have been furnishing
enough molasses to a chemical com.
pany, located at Bay City, to produce
alcohol for the arts and sciences which
pays into the national treasury SO, 000,.
900 year in internal revenue tax
From every factory good gravel and
stone turnpikes have been built radiat-
ing into the country, until, in the beet
districts, we now have the best high
ways found in the state.
Not least among the benefits derived
from the industry is the indirect
influence it exerts upon every other
agricultural crop. Instead Of impover-
ishing the soil, beets improve it's
fertility. The system of rotation,
adopted by good beet farmers, has re-
suited In increasing the yield Of oats,
wheat, beans, potatoes, corn and clover
per acre. The land near the beet
Y