46 THE SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



many respects typical of what rhe sugar industry can do for a community. A few 

 years ago this was a vast ranch, which Richard Gird had purchased and conducted 

 as a cattle and horsa-breeding establishment, on the liberal scale characteristic of 

 California's early days. With the decline in live stock, however, Mr Gird recognized 

 the necessity of devoting his property to the production of some crop that could be 

 utilized at a profit in the vicinity. Instead of going into citrus fruits or other spe- 

 cialties already established in that region but in which he feared overproduction, he 

 looked into the beet-sugar industry, raised beets for a number of years on various 

 soils, determined their sugar content, and in due time was able to demonstrate that 

 on this spot could be raised the largest yields per acre of beets richest in sugar. All 

 this involved a vast amount of original and costly work, and thus it took two or 

 three years to find capitalists and get them sufficiently interested to put up the 

 money needed. The outcome was the establishment by the Chino Valley Beet-Sugar 

 Company of the immense plant illustrated in part on Pages 30, 45 and 47, in which the 

 Oxnards are the controlling spirits. 



Mr Gird had to contract to furnish the factory with at least 5000 acres of beets for 

 several years and this at a time when there was not another house to be seen from 

 the homestead on the vast ranch. But with a market assured for a new, certain and 

 profitable crop, Mr Gird at once offered liberal inducements to settlers, land was sold 

 in small blocks on easy terms, people flocked to Chino, until it has now become a 

 thriving community in a well-built town, surrounded by farms of from 10 to 30 acres 

 or more, each with its comfortable home and well to-do family. All this where cattle 

 and horses roamed the unbroken prairie previous to 1890. And so well was the 

 enterprise conducted that when Mr Gird wished to retire in 1896, he was able to sell 

 the balance of the ranch to an English syndicate for $2,500,000. 



The factory really began operations in 1891, when less than 2000 acres of beets 

 were grown, and the average yield was only seven tons per acre, or a total product of 

 13,000 tons, for which the farmers were paid about $51,000. During the season of 

 1895, five thousand acres in this township were devoted to beets, while the product 

 from 2500 acres more were hauled by rail about 75 miles from the Orange county dis- 

 trict. The factory that year converted 83,000 tons of beets into sugar, for which the 

 farmers were paid nearly $362,000. Most of the beets are grown within two miles of 

 the factory, the longest wagon haul being eight miles, and the shortest half a mile. 

 Over twenty million pounds of refined sugar was actually made and sold, exclusive of 

 a little raw sugar and all molasses, etc, or an average of 249 Ibs of refined sugar ob- 

 tained and sold from each ton of beets, or 2747 Ibs from each acre of beets. The land 

 about the factory is peculiarly fitted for this industry, as seed can be planted very 

 early on the uplands, and then in succession on the lower lands. Thus the factory 

 can begin to work up the early crop in July, and in the absence of frost can run until 

 the latest seeding is harvested in November. All pitting and storing of beets is thus 

 saved a most important consideration. The season of 1896 was the dryest in 20 

 years, but the factory milled 63,000 tons of beets before closing down about Nov 1, 

 part of the crop not being accepted. Chino fields furnished nearly 50,000 tons. 

 With the usual rainfall, 80,000 tons of beets was to have been expected. The full 

 >details of the last campaign are not available at this writing, but here is a table giv- 



