MICHIGAN BEET SUGAR IN 1900. 387 



very impoitaut. In the first place, iu the innuediate vicinity of the fac- 

 tory, and near all railroad stations within 40 miles of the factory, it has 

 appreciably increased the selling- jirice of the farms. At Bay City there 

 is now a greater activity in real estate transfers than has been witnessed 

 in many years, and vacant houses in and about the city are very scarce. 

 Farms have sold at a price per acre far in advance of offers of five 

 years ago. A host of conversations with leading business men and 

 farmers about Bay City lead me to believe that the net advance iu real 

 estate values due to the establishment of the factories cannot be less 

 than 15 per cent, while cases are on record where specific farms have 

 been sold at an advance, in one case of 25 per cent, and in another, a very 

 large farm, nearly 50 ]»er cent. Land rents for growing beets at from $5 

 to $8 per acre. About the other factories in the State the same appre- 

 ciation of values is noticeable. About Holland, for instance, the rent 

 of land for growing beets has gone from $G ])er acre i)er annum to $8, 

 i|10, and, where the land was especially well located and of good quality, 

 to as high as |12 and $15 per acre. At Holland there are canning fac- 

 tories and pickling works, which compete with sugar beets, and draw 

 heavily upon the supplies of transient labor. I have visited Kalamazoo, 

 and the other localities where factories are located, and find that this 

 rise in the price of real estate has in nearly every case followed the 

 erection of the factory. 



In the second place, the by-products of the factory are gradually being 

 used for feeding live stock, and for fertilizers. In Bay City the supply 

 is so large that as yet but a small per cent is thus utilized. Near that 

 city, however, I may cite the enterprise of Mr. W. A. Wilder, who fed 

 last year several carloads of pulp to his dairy cows, and to young stock 

 which he was wintering. The young stock were fed nothing but pulp, 

 straw and a little hay. They had no grain. They are now in 

 fair condition, ready to turn on grass. His dairy cattle received 

 corn silage, hay, grain and beet pulp. The steers ate one and one- 

 half bushels per day of the pulp, while the supply to the dairy cows 

 was limited to less than one bushel per day. I found a growing feeling 

 among the farmers of Bay City in favor of the pulp, and many teams 

 are engaged uj) to late this spring in hauling it away. Many other 

 cases may be cited where the pulp is fed extensively, and still others 

 where farmers are preparing to ensilo it next year, expecting to rely 

 uj)on it laigely as succulent food for dairy cows and i)igs. 



The slaked linie is being used as a fertilizer on lands that need it 

 near all the factories. I'nfortunately, the molasses, rich as it is in 

 })otash, is at present entirely wasted. 



So far, from the very nature of things, no American seed has been 

 used on a commercial scale by our factories. The imported seed in 

 189J) was in some cases ver}' unsatisfactory. The repeated tests we have 

 made of the seed coming into the State this year show it to be of a very 

 much better quality, A systematic effort ought to be made at once 

 to begin the growing of seed. This industry employs a great many 

 men, and will demand the highest type of talent to insure success. 



While at the outset it was necessary to employ experts in the various 

 divisions of the factor^' work, and these experts had to be brought in 

 from without the boundaries of the State, and even from without the 

 boundaries of the United States, I am glad to report that Americans 



