382 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Sanilac 



Schoolcraft . 

 Shiawassee. . 



St. Clair 



St. Joseph... 



Tuscola 



Van Buren. . 

 Washtenaw . 



Wavne 



Wexford.... 



Counties. 





11 



4 



31 



1 



1 



4 

 4 

 9 

 9 



1897. 



ga 



C.S 



18.15 



16.89 

 17.53 

 12.16 



18. M 

 13.82 

 IG.IO 

 1(;.12 

 14.. oa 



a 



■e-t. 



86 



83 

 83 

 76 



89 

 80 



84 

 84 

 79 



sa 



„ no 

 H 



1898. 



sa 



« bo 



15.19 

 15.91 

 18.01 



15.19 

 18.11 



6.46 

 13.10 



60. 



88 

 88 



88 



80 

 88 



« 2 



52 

 hO 



1 

 16 



1899. 



ga 





15.80 

 17.69 

 14.72 

 15.72 



15.72 



16.10 

 13.44 



c 



86 

 83 

 81 

 84 



81 



86 

 79 



A glance at the above table would lead one to supi)ose.tha^ the aver- 

 age quality of beets in the State was much poorer in 1899 than in 1897. 

 It must be remembered that the plots in 1899 were never less than a 

 quarter of an acre and usually from one-half acre to five acres in area. 

 In selecting the beets for analysis average beets were taken in 1899, 

 while in 1897 selected beets were sent. Moreover, the season of 1899 

 was far less favorable to the development of sugar in beets than was 

 the season of 1897. 



The work of the station having shown that most of the area of Michi- 

 gan was adapted to the production of a fair yield of beets of more than 

 average content of sugar, the bulletins showing these results having 

 been widely scattered, the next step was the location of sugar factories 

 at suitable points. In selecting these locations, other factors than the 

 character of the land and of the land-owners in the vicinity had to be 

 considered. Prominent among these factors were pure water in large 

 quantity, cheap coal and pure and abundant limestone. The question 

 of the water supply is one of transcendent importance. A sugar factory 

 uses several million gallons per day. The water used to soak the sugar 

 from the beets must be free from such salts as would hinder the crystal- 

 lization of sugar. The large amount used renders it impracticable to 

 hse w'ater containing impurities, expecting to remove those impurities 

 by any treatment whatever. Fortunately Michigan is well watered by 

 springs, rivers and lakes containing water free from deleterious salts 

 and sufficiently free from organic matter to obviate the necessity of fil- 

 tering. It is ])ossible, therefore, as far as the water supply is concerned, 

 to locate a sufficient number of factories in the State to utilize as much 

 of the soil for beet production as will ever be devoted to that purpose. 



A bed of soft coal underlies the central part of the lower peninsula. 

 It is now being worked at Saginaw, Bay City and the Saginaw Valley. 

 Cheap coal supply is therefore provided. 



Outcrops of limestone of satisfactory purity occur at several points 

 in the State, and the work of the nine factories through the last cam- 

 paign has shown that this factor can be supplied at low cost to all points 

 of the lower peninsula. 



The Experiment Station has made a host of analyses of water arid 

 limestone to determine their value for sugar-making purposes, the net 



