390 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



THE AdKICrLTUKAL STATUS OF THE SUGAR BEET INDUS- 



TKV IX MICHIGAN. 



PKOFKSSOU .1. I). TOWAU. AOIUCULTURIST OF THE MICIIIGAX KXPERIMEXT STATION. 



Ill csTablishiiijj; and conducliiijj^ a beet sugar plant iu a community, 

 an iiidustiy is formed that is of universal interest to an extent as great 

 as any modern industry can possibly be. It not only is of extreme 

 great interest to the farmer and the factory, but it brings 

 the farmer and the factory into business relations with the 

 men of every class and industry of the community. The farmer 

 who grows beets for a beet sugar factory must so modify his system 

 and the labor at his command as to be able to concentrate a very large 

 amount of labor in a ])arti(ular direction during certain portions of 

 the season. To accomjjlish this he must employ more labor than is 

 commonly found in the rural districts. In the growing of the products 

 to which the ordinary farmer is accustomed there is but one object in 

 view, and that is to grow the largest possible amount of the product, 

 regardless of the quality. In the growing of beets for factory purposes, 

 the (piality or percentage of sugar in the beets is a factor in their pro- 

 duction of importance equal to that of large tonnage. These two points 

 the securing of labor for the liusy periods in the i)roduction of the crop 

 and the selection of the soil and management of the crop to produce 

 the highest percentage of sugar, may be mentioned as the two most im- 

 portant points for coiisideration on the part of the farmers. 



It is the practice for the sugar company through their agents to go 

 among farmers previous to tlie year's campaign and secure written 

 contracts for the growth of the necessary crop for the factory. 



The wording of these contracts is such that the farmer is pledged to 

 grow his certain acreage, selling the product to the factory at a stipulated 

 price, determined by the percentage of sugar and purity of the beets. 

 Owing to tlie fact that numerous swindling agents have traversed 

 the country in the past procuring written contracts from farmers, the 

 average farmer is somewhat averse to signing his name to any paper 

 that will bind him to a thing with which he is not thoroughly familiar. 

 The sugar company invests a large amount of money in the establishing 

 of a sugar plant, and without some security of the production of a 

 crop of beets with which to run the factory no corporation would feel 

 justified in expending its money in the building and equipping such a 

 large institution. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that the fac- 

 tory know and have in a secure form the exact number of acres that 

 it may depend upon for its season's cami)aign. The contracts are care- 

 fully worded so that no penalty shall be inflicted on the farmer who 

 fails to produce the crop except that the factory retains a certain 

 claim upon it after the beet seed is sown. 



THE SEED. 



Another clause in the contract is one relating to the seed. Every 

 factory requires its farmers to use the seed furnished by the factory, 



