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Show Review of "A Saga oi Sugai" A new book of special interest to people of this community, entitled en-titled "A Saga of Sugar," has just come to our desk. This book is from the pen of Fred G. Taylor, Vice-President of Utah - Idaho Sugar Company and Vice- President Presi-dent of the United States Beet Sugar Association. Mr. Taylor brings together in one volume a wealth of historical facts about the western beet sugar sug-ar industry through it more than 50 years of struggle and achievement. achieve-ment. "A Saga of Sugar" is much more than one firm's history. To quote the author's foreword, "The story is a tale of struggle, of trial and effort, success and failure, involving the full scale of human emotions, from elation to despair ... it presents in substantial sub-stantial degree the historic fortunes for-tunes of the whole domestic industry." in-dustry." Mr. Taylor is unusually qualified quali-fied for the job of writing this book. For more than 40 years he has been actively connected with the beet sugar industry in many sections of the country and has been personally acquainted with most of the important figures, both living and dead, who have pioneered and built it in that period. He also has the gift of a natural story teller. "A Saga of Sugar" is of parti-! cular interest to the people of, Utah for here, as early as 1852, 1 were laid the dramatic beginnings begin-nings of the beet sugar industry in America. The economic and social philosophy philo-sophy of the early Mormon settlers set-tlers is immortalized in these now famous words of its pioneer leader, Bngham Young, who laid the ground work for this first attempt at-tempt to establish the beet sugar industry in the intermountain west: "My experience has taught me . . . that it is never any benefit to give out' and out, to man or woman, money, food, clothing or . anything else, if they are able-bodied able-bodied and can work and earn what they need, when there is anything on earth for them to do." Acting upon this principle Brigham Young several years later assigned to several associates associ-ates the job of finding new industries in-dustries that could make the people peo-ple of Utah self-supporting. John Taylor, an apostle of the church, then performing missionary mission-ary service in France, accordingly recommended the establishment of the beet sugar industry. The story of this episode with all its pathos, heroism, and its eventual disappointments forms one of the tir illing parts of this book. The author appraises this period with the statement, "It is doubtful that there is another esisode in the history of the industrial development de-velopment of America which, for sheer courage, stamina and physical phys-ical endurance, surpasses the story of the party captained by Do LaMare." It remained for later pioneers, piloted by such men of courage and inspiration as the late President Presi-dent Wilford Woodruff, President Heber J. Grant, Arthur Stayner, E. F. Dyer and other stalwarts of the early nineties to resume the struggle for a western beet sugar industry which was ultimately to succeed with the completion of the Lehi factory of the Utah Sug ar Company in 1891. This pioneer pio-neer factory, the first to be equipped equip-ped with American-made beet sugar machinery and the first to use sugar beets grown by irrigation irriga-tion was the initial result. Based on the success of this Lehi enterprise, other factories followed in Garland, Utah in 190.3, in Idaho Falls, Idaho in 1903, with a score of more of others to come later in the next two decades. "A Saga of Sugar" treats these events as if they were important scenes in a moving drama . . . which they were. These and later struggles and achievements are graphically recounted re-counted in a style that will interest in-terest even those who have no direct connection with the industry in-dustry itself. A particularly significant chapter chap-ter of the book deals with the place which the growth and processing pro-cessing of sugar beets has played and should continue to play in our local and national economy. Says the author: "In the sixty- odd years since the first successful success-ful beet sugar factory was e-rected, e-rected, many sections of the arid West have been literally transformed trans-formed bv suear beet culture and processing. Through its establishment, estab-lishment, there has been brought to these regions one of the most efficient agricultural industries in the world; one which produces a compact and imperishable product, that enables it to profitably profit-ably serve markets at great distance dis-tance from points of production and one that complements other important phases or agriculture." The value of crop rotation on irrigated ir-rigated farms and the use of byproducts by-products of sugar manufacturing by livestock feeders are also noted. While the beet sugar industry needs no apology, Author Taylor boldly attacks as "short sighted" the claim that it is a "hot-house industry." He notes, also, that "domestic sugar, beet and cane, is produced in 330 of the 3,000 counties of the United States." He also quotes government figures fig-ures (1936) to show that "20,072,-653 "20,072,-653 persons lived in these 330 counties, or 16.3 per cent of the national population .... it was found that th,e residents of sugar coutnies owned 4,923,000, or 22 per cent of all automobiles registered regis-tered in the United States. In the same year, all of Cuba had 27,-505 27,-505 automobiles registered, or barely one-half of one per cent of the number operated in sugar counties of the United States." "In many western areas where relatively poor agricultural practice prac-tice was formerly common . . . sugar beet cultuve has produced a revolutionary effect." The book also quotes the late Commissioner of Recamation, Dr. Elwood Mead: "The sugar beet is one crop that contributes more than anything else to a rounded-out, rounded-out, complete agricultural program, pro-gram, gives winter and summer employment, enables the farmer to make the largest and best use of the surrounding grazing land . . . and gives an unusual meas ure of employment for the family on the farm, with more stable income than anything else." "A Saga of Sugar" is 272 pages, profusely illustrated and beauti-fuly beauti-fuly bound. A note from the author to whom we are indebted for our copy advises us that the book has been published in a limited edition, and is not for sale. So, perhaps, you may not be fortunate enough to read this interesting, intimate story of the founding and growth of a great American industry, but if you ever do get the opoprtunity, by all means read "A Saga of Sugar." |
