BEET SUGAR FACTORY IN NEW MEXICO. 



25 



wonderfully adapted to the cultivation of 

 the sugar beet, which here attains a higher 

 perfection, both as regards the percentage 

 of saccharine matter and the yields per 

 acre, than anywhere else in the United 

 States or Europe. Sixteen per cent, sugar 

 and twenty tons to the acre are average 

 results secured throughout the valley, 

 while 20 per cent sugar and thirty 

 tons to the acre are by no means excep- 

 tional attainments by the Pecos valley 

 farmer. Single beets have been analyzed 

 yielding as high as 23.75 per cent, sugar. 

 The significance of these results will be 

 understood when it is learned that the 

 average elsewhere in the United States 

 and Europe does not exceed 13 per 

 cent sugar and twelve to fourteen tons 

 per acre. Moreover, from the practically 

 winterless climate of the Pecos valley and 

 the absence of destructive frosts, beets 

 can remain in the ground throughout the 

 winter without harm to their saccharine 

 value. Instead, therefore, of being com- 

 pelled, as elsewhere, to handle the season's 

 crop in from sixty to eighty days, the 

 Pecos valley factory can run at least 150 

 days, producing a proportionately greater 

 amount of sugar and yielding a propor- 

 tionately greater profit upon the capital 

 invested. The Pecos valley, therefore, 

 possesses very manifest advantages in the 

 manufacture of beet sugar, and there ap- 

 pears ample basis for the belief that it 

 will be the center of a very considerable 

 development of this industry in the near 

 future. 



The factory now in course of erection 

 in the Pecos valley is located at Eddy, 

 New Mexico, in the center of the valley, 

 and is only the seventh to be established 

 in the United States, while in Europe 

 there are about 1,450. It will have a 

 capacity of 225 tons of beets per day, and 

 will produce from 7,000,000 to 9,000,000 

 pounds of refined granulated sugar each 

 season. The farmer and the factory will 

 share in the profits of the business. At 

 $4 per ton, which is the price paid for 

 beets delivered at any station on the Pecos 



Valley Railway, the farmer should clear 

 all the way from $35 to $75 per acre on 

 his crop. Two thousand acres will be 

 raised the present season in this val- 

 ley, and it is not an unreasonable ex- 

 pectation that this acreage will be increased 

 tenfold within the next three years. 



The results achieved in the Pecos valley 

 place it in the foremost rank of the world's 

 greatest irrigation systems. An ample and 

 unfailing supply of water for irrigation 

 has been applied to a soil of marvelous 

 depth and richness, and these are supple- 

 mented by a climate warm and sunny and 

 eminently friendly to plant growth, with 

 the result that the wonderful transforma- 

 tion from arid waste to verdure-clad field 

 and garden is rapidly taking place. Of 

 the 300,000 acres or more that will ulti- 

 mately be reclaimed under this great sys- 

 tem, 75,000 acres are already in the hands 

 of settlers, fully one-half of which is under 

 cultivation. Most of the grasses, grains, 

 vegetables, berries and fruits of the tem- 

 perate zone grow in utmost luxuriance in 

 this garden spot, as do also the fruits of 

 the temperate and semi-tropical climes, 

 with the exception of the citrus. The 

 range of products is remarkable ; the 

 apple and the semi-tropical grape alike 

 attain highest perfection. Many of the 

 most valuable forage plants, and espe- 

 cially alfalfa, yield enormously, making 

 the raising and fattening of cattle, sheep 

 and hogs a most profitable industry. In 

 short, this fertile valley, with its mag- 

 nificent water supply insuring unfailing 

 crops, would seem to offer the largest 

 opportunity to the farmer and horti- 

 culturist ; while its climate, which is dry 

 and warm and sunshiny, is not only de- 

 lightful practically throughout the year, 

 but is also notably healthful and health- 

 restoring, curing or alleviating many 

 chronic diseases, including consumption 

 and nervous prostration. The Pecos val- 

 ley is destined to become one of the noted 

 health resort centers of the United States, 

 ranking with Colorado and California, and 

 surpassing these in some respects. 



