36 



THE IRRIGA1ION AGE 



The protest in part follows: 



''Our government may feel inclined to 

 aid Cuba. Should it determine to do so, 

 with full sympathy for the Cubans as can 

 actuate any other citizens, the American 

 cane growers protest against the form that 

 the Cubans demand that this sympathy 

 shall take. We are willing to contribute 

 our share to aid Cuba, but we should not 

 be called upon to give our all. The meth- 

 od singles out from all Americans the vic- 

 tims whose substance shall enrich the 

 canefields of Cuba. 



"We protest against their demands be- 

 cause they will result in establishing a 

 rate of tariff on agricultural products from 

 Cuba for all time, and which will continue 

 to injure us so long as the tariff shall last. 



"We protest because the course sug- 

 gested benefits a foreign state, numbering 

 less than 1,500,000 people, while it de- 

 stroys the greater part of the invested cap- 

 ital and renders almost valueless the land 

 of the best portion ot a state of this union, 

 Louisiana." 



The protests further asserts that the 

 present price of sugar threatens the des- 

 truction of cane growing in this State and 

 concludes: ' ; We trust that consideration 

 of this protest will prevent any govern- 

 mental action on the lines laid down by 

 the Cuban delegates; we trust so in our 

 interests, as well as in those of our fellow 

 beet sugar producers, our vegetable and 

 fruit growers, and our tobacco planters of 

 the United States." 



PROGRESS OF BEET SUGAR CAM- 

 PAIGN. 



The Holland sugar company of Holland, 

 Mich, began slicing beets this year Octo- 

 ber 10. Up to and including December 20 

 this factory had sliced 22,000 tons. The 

 quality of the crop is better than last year, 

 and it seems that beets are improving ev- 

 ery year. The farmers are becoming more 

 and more familiar with beet growing, and 

 are getting better results. The prices have 



been the same as last year, and the daily 

 output for this factory is 300 to 350 tons 

 of sugar. The present campaign will end 

 about the first week in January: The 

 beets placed in silos this season turned out 

 well. They have not been damaged by 

 bad weather or heat. About half the pulp 

 is taken by the beet raisers themselves for 

 stock feeding. This they get free of charge. 



The remainder is sold to outside farm- 

 ers. The factory secured beets from about 

 3000 acres the present season. The 

 growers are favorably impressed, and next 

 year the yield promises to be increased 

 about 25 per cent. So far as can be de- 

 termined there will be no advance in prices. 



The campaign of the Wolverine sugar 

 factory at Benton Harbor, Mich., began 

 this year, Oct. 28, when the first beets 

 were sliced. Up to December 20. 12,000 

 tons had been taken care of. The crop is 

 of better quality than the 1900 crop and 

 about the same as 1899. The price per 

 ton this year was 50 cents more than last. 

 The daily output of the factory is 175 

 barrels of sugar. The sugar campaign of 

 this factory closed January 1, after a very 

 successful run. No silos were used and 

 the beet pulp was sold for feeding. 

 About 1,000 acres of beets were harvested 

 this year with excellent prospects for an 

 increased area next year. The prices for 

 the 1902 crop have not yet been fixed. The 

 industry had a slight backset here from 

 the fact that the beets used by this factory 

 were contracted for by the Central sugar 

 company, whose factory was to be erected 

 at Shelby, Ind. It was not built, so beets 

 were shipped to Benton Harbor. Many 

 farmers lost interest in the beets and be- 

 gan to neglect their crop so that the yield 

 was not as large nor was the quality as 

 good as it might have been. In most 

 cases the land available for beet cul- 

 ture in this part of the state is well adap- 

 ted to the crop and by another year the 

 industry will be pretty well on its feet 

 in this section of the country. 



