TIIK 15EET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



AN OREGON FIELD OF SUGAR BEETb. 



This crop made nearly 14 tons per acre, in spite of 1898 being a poor season and the tirst year beets 

 were grown on this land or by this farmer They averaged IG'/j per cent, sugar of 83 purity. 



J. Ogran of Waupaca, Wis., paid a tree peddler $1 per Ib. for sugar beet seed guaranteed 

 to be of exceptionally rich quality. Samples of beets grown from this seed contained 

 only 8 to 10 per cent, sugar in the juice with a purity of 68 to 71. These are some of the 

 poorest analyses made at the Wisconsin station that year, most of the other samples run- 

 ning from 12 to 18 per cent. This shows conclusively the importance of seed of the best 

 varieties." 



The importance of good seed in sugar beet cultivation cannot be too strongly em- 

 phasized. The United States consul at Magdeburg writes that because of the absolute 

 superiority of German beet seed, not less than 100,000 bags of it were bought by French- 

 men last year. It sells in Saxony at 8 acd lOc per Ib.. which is a moderate price, cou- 

 .-idt'ring that it takes at least four years to get the seed into market. Second-class see.l 

 is sold there at 5 and 6c and is mainly shipped to Russia and the United States. This 

 inferior seed produces a beet that will yield 1 to 2 per cent, less net sugar in the 

 factory Thus, if it takes 55 tons of seed to produce 50,000 tons of beets, the consul flg- 

 iii' - that the saving on first cost of cheap seed would be some $3000, but the beets there- 

 would yield $30,000 worth less sugar. In other words, the best seed would earn 

 $27,000 more for the factory than poor seed under like conditions. 



Hor.vriFs TO mi: STCAH INWSTKY. 



The enormous and rapid development of the beet sugar industry in Europe is 

 partly due tc the way in which it has been stimulated by direct subsidies from the gov- 



