Beet Sugar Factory

Beet Sugar Factory

Interest in It Is Growing in Ann Arbor

A GREAT BOOM TO CITY

Would Follow Its Establishment Here.

Three Thousands Acres of Sugar Beets Needed.-A More Profitable Crop to Farmers Than Any That Is Now Being Raised.

The business men and capitalists of Ann Arbor are waking up on the beet sugar question. The large profits which are being made by the factories now in operation are certainly tempting, but the best thing about the project is that it makes a market exceedingly profitable to the farmers and keeps a vast amount of money in circulation where the beet sugar factory is located. In fact no factory excels this in benefit to the city where located. For not only is the amount of money spent for abor spent here, but also the money expended for material. The beet sugar fever at Bay City really amounts to a craze. Not only have two large factories been organized but Bay City capitalists have taken a large share of the stock in the Saginaw enterprise and the stock in this was all gobbled up before many who wanted shares could get them.

A beet sugar factory needs 3000 acres of beets to keep it running and the raising of the beets in Bay county has netted the farmers there over and above expenses from $20 to $57 per acre. And a factory using up 3,000 acres of beets could not manufacture enough sugar to supply Washtenaw county. One large grocery firm in this city says they expend from $7,000 to $8,000 for sugar each year and that another grocery firm buys a larger amount than this. This will give a faint idea of the large amount of money sent out of town each year for sugar all of which could be saved here and spent and respent in the various channels of trade.

Prof. C. D. Smith, superintendent of the experiment station at the State Agricultural College, and who has been designated by the secretary of agriculture to look after the beet sugar industry in Michigan said in an address at Adrian this week:

The market is in no immediate danger of being overstocked by the increased production of sugar. The Bay City factory is this year making a phenomenally long and successful run, yet it will scarcely produce enough sugar for Saginaw and Bay counties. The fact of the unlimited demand was an important one to the farmer, as he was thus assured a good market for his produce. Another point worth remembering is that a factory alone cannot make sugar, but is dependent almost entirely on the farmers for the raw material, thus insuring them a good market for their produce.

Beets will do well on any soil that will raise a good crop of corn and potatoes except stiff clay and heavy muck. On stiff clay the beets grow crooked and branch out, requiring too much time to wash them at the factory, thereby detracting from their value ; while on muck they grow too large and do not yield a proper percentage of sugar. Beets weighing from seven to eight pounds each will yield about seven pounds of sugar to 100 pounds of beets, while those averaging about three pounds- the proper size- should yield from 12 to 15 pounds per 100. In order to have a factory pay, the beets furnished must yield at least 12 per cent sugar.

The ground should be well worked before the seed is planted, aud all weeds removed by means of a harrow. Care should be exercised in procuring seed, the best of which is grown in Nebraska and Germany. Seeding should be done in the middle or latter part of May. When the tops are four inches high they must be thinned out, so there will be but one plant to every eight inches in the row. This is the hardest part of the work and great care must be exercised, it taking one person from seven to eight days to properly thin an acre. The speaker advised those who were looking for a soft snap to steer clear of raising beets.

The harvesting is done by the means of a machine with blades that go along beneath the surface and loosen the beets after which they are pulled up, the tops and all the beet exposed above ground being cut off and thrown away when the beets are ready for transportation to the factory. Care must be exercised in cutting off the tops of the beets as all the part exposed contains more or less salt which prevents the sugar from crystalizing.

One great essential in establishing a factory is a sufficient supply of good water. The factory at Bay City uses something like 2,000,000 gallons per day. There must be a sufficient supply of limestone and coal must be cheap because of the large amount used. To be operated profitably, it would require about 3,000 acres of beets yearly, and it would require farmers who would stick by the industry, and not become easily discouraged, in order to make the venture a success.