Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-05-16
THREE AND HALF
BILLION POUNDS
OF BEET SUGAR
THAT'S AMOUNT THIS INDUSTRY
TO PRODUCE IN q. S. DURING
FIRST YEAR OF WAR

tfrAF~ReA
furnish American consumers $500 O00,-
600 pounds of sugar. This, according
TO the estimates Of the office OF price
administration. viii make the industry
the largest single source Of supply in
1919 with enough sugar to fill the ra-
tioning demands Of 100000 con-
sumerS.
The current sugar scarcity. and the
consequent need for rationing. are
largely a result Of the lack OF ocean
shipping, which has slowed down the
usual flow of supplies from off-shore
I insular and foreign sugar producing
areas. Other contributing factors are
I the total loss Of the Philippine sup
/ plies of sugar. the diversion Of a part
/ of the Caribbean production to the
! Allies. and the increased use OF sugar
! in the manufacture OF industrial
alcohol.
I More Than Doubled
In commenting on the present sit
uation, the United States Beet Sugar
association points out that the pro-
duction OF beet sugar since the last
war has more than doubled and that
important advances have been made
along the scientific front More than
$50 research projects are now In prog
reSs. all Of them looking toward i'm
proved techniqueS in farm and factory
operations. Since the beet sugar in
dustry Is essentially an agricultural
enterprise which draws its raw mate /
rial from tens Of thousands OF family /
size farms, betterment OF agricultural I
processes Is a matter OF paramount
Importance. The sugar beet itself. once
weed storing only 100 pounds or less
Of sugar to the ton, is today-thanks
to the science of genetics-a large
smoothly tapering root yielding three
times that much sugar Moreover. GER
tain strains Of beets have been de-
veloped to meet the various regional
handicaps Of climate and plant dis
ease.
During the period Of the beet sugar
industrys development in the United
States, the national attitude towards 1t
has seldom been more than tolerant
This was because Of the belief that I
its labor requirements were inordinate
Critics, however. have been unaware
that the production OF a pound Of
beet sugar requires no greater expen-
diture of human labor than the pro-
duction of a pound OF sugar from
tropical cane Thus sugar from beets
imposes no economic penalty by rea-
son of its labor requirements. Rather,
since sugar from any source requires
relatively heavy expenditure Of labor,
the cost is greater where the labor
Is paid the highest wages, as In the
case Of the American beet sugar in
dustry, contrasted with the tropical
cane production.
The nature Of the beet crop itself
has made mechanization Of much OF
the farm work a stubborn problem
Developments within the most recent
years, however, give promise Of early
success in performing with machines
the hand operations usually associated
with sugar beet culture. Sugar beet
seeds are multiple-germ balls, and
each ball sends up a number Of seed
ings. These seedlings must be thinned
so that only one plant from each seed
will grow to maturity. Until recently
no method but hand labor could be
found to accomplish single spacing
Now. however. machines have been
developed for splitting the seed-balls
into single-germ units, and other ma
chimes viii space the single seeds at
regular intervals in rows In the field.
The method gives every indication Of
greatly reducing. and perhaps elm
mating, the hand-labOr requirements
in this phase Of beet production.
At harvest time the sugar-bearing
roots Of the beets must be cleanly sep
arated from leaves and leafy crowns.
Year after year machines have been
built and rebuilt in an attempt to lift
the roots from the soil, to cut off
the crowns without waste of sugar, and
to separate the topped roots from dirt
and clods. Only within the last two
years has a machine been devised
which satisfactorily displaces hand
labor In these operations. Further re-
finements Of these machines will be
required and the price must be brought
within the means Of the average
farmer But the problem has been
solved. The job can be done.
In many developments, the industry
mas joined hands with the department
0f agriculture, with state agricultural
colleges and the extension services
Plant breeding research, annually OF
wider scope, has long maintained an
Upward trend of yields Of sugar per
acre cropped. Moreover, research Is
lsed successfully TO cope with new and
I'D problems Of plant diseases and
insect attack.
Research for the improvement Of
attractive processes also has been pur-
ued with vigor Broadening of lxnowl-
dge within the field OF applicable
has brought refinements and
extensions OF processes TO diminish
ugar losses, thereby making a greater
proportion Of the crops sugar content
valuable for human consumption.
dost important of all, research has
lrought about the almost perfect
lurity Of the final product as a food.
research has brought
bout a steady progress in the mechan-
IN Of operations, by substituting pre-
ision for human Judgment and me-
hanical power for human power; and
y obviating the need for many costly
accessory to the making Of
lgar.
From a small, insecure beginning
hitch, after numerous abortive at
smpts, was first established in a single
sa1iforvfort cr,fay-r,vsfra IN, 1910 fhni