STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 223 



Before erecting a factory anywhere I must be guaranteed that at least 

 two thousand five hundred acres will be planted in beets every year for a 

 definite number of years. I must also be assured of sufficient supplies of 

 wood, water, and lime in the neighborhood, and good transportation facili- 

 ties. It requires from fifteen to twenty pounds of beet seed to plant an 

 acre of ground. The seed costs 10 cents per pound in Germany, and would 

 probably cost 12 cents per pound here. I am importing twenty-five tons, 

 which are now on the way, and some of this will be distributed gratuitously, 

 in small packages, to those who desire to experiment on their farms. But 

 I shall expect in return that those who do make such experiments, from 

 seed that I give them, will send me samples of the beets that they grow, 

 and the soil in which they are grown, for the purpose of analysis. It must 

 be remembered that the large beets are not the best for making sugar. If 

 the soil be very rich the beets should not be planted more than jour inches 

 apart in the rows. If the soil be of good quality the beets should be six 

 inches apart in the rows, and eight inches apart if the soil be not so good. 

 The rows should always be fourteen inches apart from one another. 



A factory will cost about $325,000, but, for the first one, some of the 

 machinery must be imported from Germany. Subsequently I anticipate 

 no trouble in its being manufactured in this country. A site of from thirty 

 to forty acres is necessary wherever each factory is erected, so as to give 

 ample room for the large quantity of machinery and buildings, also for 

 the prompt handling of the great number of wagons that will be delivering 

 beets at the same time, so that the wagons may not be delayed and the 

 work of the farmers impeded. 



It is impossible yet to determine where factories should be located. I 

 have received invitations from all sections of California, Oregon, and 

 Washington Territory to visit different localities, and I will endeavor to do 

 so as quickly as possible. From the foregoing remarks, however, you will 

 be able to form an idea of what is essential to the erection of a-factory. 

 Such information as I have indicated, if forwarded to me in conjunction 

 with samples of soils and beets, will materially assist me in locating the 

 sites for future factories. I am, sir, 

 Yours very truly, 



CLAUS SPRECKELS, President. 



