52 The Sugar-Beet in America 



beets, whereas his neighbor who is a poor farmer will 

 fail miserably. 



In considering the advisability of establishing a factory 

 in a region, considerable attention should be given to the 

 kind of farmers who will raise the beets. 



The factory. 



The first consideration in attempting to introduce the 

 sugar-beet industry in a district is, of course, a guarantee 

 from the farmers that they will grow a sufficient acreage 

 of beets to assure a reasonably long run for a factory. 

 Many of the factories that have failed would have con- 

 tinued had the supply of good beets been large enough. 

 Quality of beets is perhaps more important than quantity, 

 because if the proper quality can be secured, the prices 

 can usually be regulated so as to make it profitable for 

 the farmers to produce the necessary quantity. If beets 

 testing 12 per cent or more of sugar and with a purity 

 coefficient of at least 70 per cent cannot be obtained, the 

 success of a factory is doubtful. The price paid by the 

 manufacturers for beets constitutes over two-thirds of 

 the total cost of manufacturing beet-sugar ; and the cost 

 is relatively much less for good beets than for poor ones. 

 Factories that must work beets from which only 220 

 pounds of sugar can be extracted from each ton are 

 distinctly at a disadvantage when compared with those 

 that can extract 300 pounds with practically the same 

 expenditure for manufacturing, even if the better beets 

 cost considerably more. 



With a given quality of beets, it is very desirable that 

 the quantity grown be as great as the economic conditions 



