THE IRRIGATION AGE. 9 



acteristicof him he said, "we will commence at once to get ready," 

 and he then proceeded to arrange for beet sugar seed and commenced 

 experimentation personally and induced a large number of his friends 

 to join him in the work. 



His care and forethought bore fruit when several years afterwards 

 the Oxnards, with whom he kept in touch, became ready to extend 

 their operations; for when the American Beet Sugar Company was 

 ready to locate its factory in the Arkansas River valley, of which the 

 Oxnards made careful investigation as a result of Mr. Swink's efforts, 

 the way had been made easy. The Arkansas valley farmers were ready 

 and nothing was needed except to secure land and farmers' contracts 

 for the requisite acreage of sugar beets, which Messrs. Swink 

 and Golding and other of the leading spirits at Rocky Ford, Lamar 

 and other points in the valley readily got, and the necessary shipping 

 facilities and rates which, the Santa Fe railway with the enterprise, 

 business sagacity and cordial co-operation with the people of its terri- 

 tory, characteristic of its management, promptly supplied, and the pre- 

 sent magnificent factory of the American Beet Sugar Company at Rocky 

 Ford, costing over a million dollars and consuming daily a thousand 

 tons of beets, was secured. 



In 1900. the first year of its operation, 8000 acres of sugar beets 

 were planted and the product consumed by this factory. In 1901 this 

 area was increased to If). > acres and the limit of the present facto- 

 ry's capacity has now been reached. 



At the last session of the Kansas legislature an act was passed 

 providing for a bounty of a dollar a ton on sugar beets containing 12% 

 or more of sugar, raised in the state. This wise measure has caused 

 the farmers of western Kansas to give considerable attention to this 

 new line of work and during the season of 1901 about 300 acres of 

 beets were raised in western Kansas, mainly in the counties of Finney, 

 Gray. Kearney and Hamilton and shipped to the Rocky Ford factory, 

 which when the writer visited the factory last fall had shown about 

 the same content of saccharine matter as those raised at Rocky Ford 

 and Lamar, namely from 15 to 22%. 



The beet sugar industry, although new. has now got well started 

 and unless Congress should unwisly take off or reduce the duty upon 

 sugar there is no question but that this industry will attain great pro- 

 portions in the next few years, and it is ultimately not improbable 

 that the United States will produce sufficient sugar to supply home 

 com sumption instead of importing the larger portion to meet the 

 home demand as is now the case. 



The Havemeyer sugar trust is reported to be using all of its pow- 

 erful influence to secure the removal of the present duty on sugar, or 

 at least to get a very great reduction thereof. 



