Show the beet sugar industry A correspondent to the new fork sun says la part answer to the attack upon the beet sugar industry of this country made by mr edward F atkalns ot boston in the forum permit me to give the result of the year 1896 at the Wata onville beet suar manufactory of california the average yield of beets was 1406 gross tone per acre aad the average product of sugar from the bame was pounds the farmer was paid an average of 1 per ton or 56 per acre for thy beets with the present duty upon imported ra sugar it cannot ba laid down in new york or san francis duty paid at less than 3 cents per pound therefore to pay tor the sugar product of the average acre of beets pro deuced near watsonville Wat sonville cal in 1896 will require or bushels of wheat at 75 cents per bushel or ahe product of 8 acres of land at 20 bushels per acre good land well prepared should aled an averlue of 12 tons of bests per acre or a sugar product of pounds this gives the farmer an average return of 50 per acre and tho reind guear at 8 cents per pound gives the refiner per acre or a margin of 55 per acre for his services fur converting the beba ialo refined euite for alio past beven beare tho average yield of wheat in this connary not exceeded thirteen bushels per nd abo farmers have not received more than 60 per bushel for it at twenty bushels per acre and 75 cents per bushel the farmer only received 15 per acre for hia wheat crop at 50 per acre for bee acre of them yields as large as three and n half of arst claas we tons ot auar annually Corp duco it at pounds acres of ladd well cultivated to bajit Inui pope in the raw state and dut dpn it to new pon or the product of nine and one third million acres of at 15 per acre all consumers must pay freight upon imported sugar from tidewater whereas if produced in all of our country the cost of distribution trib ution will be very much 1 sugar is one of the most valuable and important foods consumed by highly civilized people we should not be dependent upon any other people for our supply our fruit industry demands sugar for its promotion does our condensed milk industry we are producing nearly all of the iron steel glass while lead pottery tin plate rope twine and machinery we con aume eume and shall at no distant day produce at least the sugar we are compelled to import for lome consumption the beet sugar industry like that of tiu plate has come to stay next year the largest beet buiar manufactory in the world will be consuming tons per day of california beets this means mayine the farmer per day for beets if the factory rune days for the season of 1898 it means disbursed to the farmers in a single locality for sugar beet the sugar beet industry has passed the experimental peri mental stage when practical sugar producer aad refiner like mr olaus spreckels invest io a beet daear refinery it is proof positive that the industry is one of great value to the farmer and refiner |