The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-10-17
TEACHERS 10 VISIT THE
SUGAR FACTORY

All OI ING t06CucT0 WuO WIEN W
are to be taken thru the sugar
factory which Is situated half q mile
north of town. Thru the courtesy
Of Manager William Varley, they are
to be shown thru in such q way that
they may be instructed in the process
so they can explain 1t to their pupils
when they wish.
It is Mr.. Varley's wish that the
teachers be taken to the factory In
squads of about fifty, and the fifties
will be subdivided into smaller
groups. It will probably take about
half an hour to show fifty thru, and
this will be commenced on Monday
afternoon at 4 o'clock, and continued
each evening until all who care to
have seen it. If any wish to go the
second time, to learn 1t better, they
will be welcome. The sugar industry
is a strategic industry in this part
Of the world, opening up avenues OF
business in other lines, on which the
prosperity of the country greatly de-
ponds, and it is important that young
people shall study it. The teacher
who encourages her pupils in the
beet sugar industry is doing the
country notable service.
Some Of the important items in the
sugar industry are these:' The
sugar beet is not yet developed to
its highest state. The implements
for handling the crop have been the
subject of much experimenting in
recent years and rapid strides are
being made in perfecting them. The
planter is we'll perfecting them. The
the cultivat0r. but the puller and
topper has not yet been made prac.
tical, and because it is so importnat
and will lift such a great burden
from the hand labOrers, 1t will not be
given up until it is made so it will
work and work under all the handi.
caps that arise in different conditions
of soil. Millions of dollars await the
inventor of puller and topper or
puller or topper.
Beet seed is considered well de.
veloped and high percentage of II
grows, but yet it is planted to thick
that large numbers of the plants
have to be cut out in thinning and
the thinning is one of the heavy
tasks in the business. There Is 9
probability that the beets of some
future day will be planted fal
enough apart and with such perfect
seed that they will need little or M
thinning, and thereby eliminate thai
expense.
A sugar beet planted in a friabl'
soil, will send out root system three
feet in every lateral direction an(
six feet downward, filing the cube
with an almost invisible root system
like cobwebs, and a field of beets
fills the whole seeded annually with
a root system that dies and enriches
the soil by such decay. 1t is one Of
the great soil builders of the world
and rotated with the grains and
clovers, keeps a proper balance Of
the soil elements and makes stock
farm what it should be, furnishing
full balanced rations for livestock
That is why the sugar beet crop Is
what we termed a strategic crop,
much needed in this intermountain
country where we have a mineral
soil lacking humus and the vegetable
elements.
When the teachers visit the
factory they will be told that it is a
800 ton plant, meaning that it slices
daily 500 tons of beets and makes
them into 80 to 100 tons of granu-
lated white sugar and truns out ESQ
to 800 tons of pumace or pulp that
has considerably value as stock food.
The factory furnishes pay roll for
a community from October till Janu-
airy for 165 men, and from spring
till fall most of them find employ
ment raising beets. VIII a
Those matters are worth know
ing and they, are necessary parts Of
the working machine that constitutes
a sugar industry, but they are in
finitely less important than the
broad questions of agriculture grow
ing out of the industry, the dairy
and livestock industry, which the
sugar industry as whole makes pos
sible by building up a harmonious
balance of all the related Industries.