BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. X15 



fill supplies of water from September till spring, are of prime im- 

 portance. For the practical operations of the factory, a good 

 foreman should be obtained from some existing establishment, 

 and the services of a good chemist, having experience in this busi- 

 ness, should at once be called into requisition. The factory some- 

 times depends on surrounding farmers for a supply of roots ; in 

 this case a certain number of acres (500, more or less, according 

 to capacity) should be guaranteed at the outset, and knowledge 

 of the best methods of culture be freely disseminated among the 

 farmers, by discussion, by pamphlets, etc. But perhaps the best 

 way, when practicable, is for the manufacturers to produce their 

 own roots, to a large extent at least. By proper management in 

 rotation of crops, feeding of the refuse to stock, etc., a consid- 

 erable profit may be realized from this method. Under ordinary 

 circumstances, the system of having the roots furnished by the 

 farmers will be found the easiest to manage. The compensations 

 to the producer of the roots, should always be according to the 

 amount of sugar, and never be regulated by the bulk of roots 

 furnished. For the aim should always be to the production of the 

 best of roots, with the highest per cent, of sugar attainable, which 

 is for the benefit of both cultivator and manufacturer. 



One excellent feature of this business, which should commend 

 itself to rural communities, is the fact that the manufacturing sea- 

 son is mainly during the fall and winter months when farm opera- 

 tions are usually at a comparative rest, which admits of the 

 employment of the farm help in the factory, to a certain extent. 

 This plan will tend to retain in the district a set of permanent 

 farm employes, so desirable to secure. What was mentioned at 

 first should be urged again in conclusi<)n, — the general influence 

 of beet-sugar production on the agriculture of the section. With 

 a rotation of grain, grass, and sugar beets, and all the beet pulp 

 for fodder, and other refuse for fertilizing, a high state of culture 

 may be reached. In the sugar, the money crop, no fertility is 

 removed from the soil, its constituents all coming from the atmos- 

 phere. Beet pulp in connection with hay, etc., is excellent cattle 

 food. By its utilization, and the feeding of the other crops on the 

 farm, stock-raising enters into the system as a profitable feature ; 

 the only manures necessary to purchase being an equivalent of 

 the mineral matters carried off" in the carcasses of the animals. 



