CULTURE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 169 



The importance the manufacture attained in California is shown in the following 

 statistics of beet sugar produced, published in 1874 by the State Agricultural Society : 



Pounds. 



1870 500,000 



1871 800,000 



1872 1,125,000 



1873 1,500,000 



But nothwithstanding these figures, which are certainly flattering to the industry, 

 there has not been a factory in operation in the State since 1876, and the capital in- 

 vested in the manufacture, nearly one million dollars, has been a total loss, the causes 

 of which may undoubtedly be traced to conditions determined in the department dur- 

 ing the present year by the study of European history and practices to be manifestly 

 unfavorable and decidedly deleterious to the successful prosecution of the industry. 

 We refer more particularly to the meteorological conditions prevailing during the 

 season of growth, which, as appears from the relations worked out, have a clearly 

 defined influence for good or for evil, for success or failure, in the culture of the sugar 

 beet, and it is an interesting fact to note that at none of the localities where the ex- 

 periments made have been attended with failure are the prevailing meteorological 

 conditions found within the limits determined to be favorable to or governing the ex- 

 tension of successful culture. 



The experiments made up to this time received no aid or encouragement either from 

 the State governments or from the general government, with the exception of the pro- 

 vision that no machinery purchased abroad and imported for manufacture of sugar 

 from the beet in this country should be subject to customs duty, and the limited assist-* 

 ance given by the Department of Agriculture, in contributions of seed of the bet- 

 ter varieties for experiment, and such information on the subject of the culture of 

 the root and the manufacture of sugar as could be obtained by the means at hand ; 

 but this limited assistance was not of a character to produce any very marked effects. 



In 1870 to 1871 the States of New Jersey and Massachusetts made legislative pro- 

 vision exempting from taxation for ten years from date all capital and property en- 

 gaged in the beet-sugar industry, but no practical results seem to have followed this 

 provision. In New Jersey, however, Mr. Joseph Wharton, of Camden, has during the 

 past three years devoted a portion of his estate at Batsto to some very intelligent ex- 

 periments in the culture, which, as regards the quantity of the product, have given 

 unsatisfactory results, and only tend to show that the climatic conditions of the sec- 

 tion, possibly combined with the light character of the soil, are not such as to render 

 the permanent establishment of the industry in that locality possible. 



In 1876 the Canadian Government offered a premium of one cent per pound for all 

 sugar manufactured from the beet-root, the total sum paid to any one individual com- 

 pany or corporation not to exceed, however, $7,000 per annum. 



This premium stimulated the culture of the crop and the establishment of factories, 

 which have continued in active and profitable operation. 



The State of Maine followed the worthy example of its near neighbor, and in the 

 same substantial terms; the Forest City Sugar Refinery at Portland hastened to 

 take advantage of the premium offered, and the experiment on a small scale in the 

 manufacture, by the company, as had been the culture by the farmers in 1878, re- 

 sulted in such brilliant success that the company have this year so enlarged the ca- 

 pacity of their works as to enable them to work 150 tons of roots per day, and have 

 secured from the farmers a crop from 1,250 acres of land. Their success has also ani- 

 mated the people of Massachusetts, who have organized a company for work at the 

 locality of Child's experiment of 1838-'39, at Northampton, Mass. 



In 1876 and lb77 Delaware appropriated $300, and in 1878-79 $1,500 to be expended 

 in premiums, &c, to stimulate the culture, and the result has been the establishment 

 of the Delaware Beet Sugar Company at Wilmington. 



