THE BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY. 131 



at least 10,000 acres of good beet land could be controlled within a radius of not more 

 than six miles, so that the beets can be delivered by wagon. This saves an immense 

 amount of expense in railroad freights. Moreover, the factory cannot get quite as 

 good results from beets grown at a distance as from those close at home that are 

 delivered by wagon with the least delay after harvest. 



An abundant supply of pure water is imperative and perfect drainage is absolute- 

 ly necessary. 



Plenty of pure lime rock, containing a very small percentage of silica, is required. 

 Also coal, coke or oil for fuel. All these bulky materials should be available at 

 the least expense for freight as well as first cost. 



No factory should be built with a capacity of less than 300 tons of beets per day 

 of 24 hours, and it should be so designed that the capacity can be increased in future 

 at the minimum of expense. The cost of operating such a plant is 25 to 50c per ton of 

 beet worked less than for a factory with half this capacity. The limit of size beyond 

 which profitable economies cannot be obtained seems to be about 1000 tons of beets 

 per day, as the latest improved large factory Salinas mill is practically three sep- 

 arate outfits of 1000 tons capacity daily, but under one roof. 



It has been suggested that branch plants be established for making a crude prod- 

 uct to be transported by rail to a central factory, where the process of manufacture and 

 refining might be completed. Such plants for making a crude product would, of course, 

 cost a small sum compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars required in a large 

 beet-sugar factory. Up to the present time, however, all experience with existing 

 methods is against this proposition. Only the larger factories are able to run to-day 

 in this or other countries, and many small factories in foreign parts have had to close 

 their doors during the past few years of lower prices and increasing competition. To 

 meet these conditions, it is imperative that the factory operate on a large scale and 

 in such a way as to reduce to a minimum the expense per ton of beets or per pound 

 of sugar. It costs relatively but little more for the experts and labor to operate a 

 plant capable of working up 600 tons of beets per day than one of half that capacity. 

 The beet is such a bulky product that every possible means must be taken advantage 

 of to keep down the expense of handling or working it. There are many pretty the- 

 ories about what might be done, but the average investor or farmer realizes the ne- 

 cessity of sticking close to the latest improved methods that have demonstrated by 

 actual experience to be money makers. 



Of course improvements in sugar manufacture are even more likely to be made in 

 the future than in the past. There has been much talk of late of the new process of 

 crystallization in motion, the Seffens process, osmosis and several others, but it costs 

 enormously to introduce them and it is a question to be decided in each case whether 

 the result pays in dollars and cents. American genius may yet solve these and many 

 other problems, including the matter of small factories, refining, etc, but meanwhile, 

 those who are in the business for revenue will let the "other fellow" do the costly 

 experimenting. In order to compete with the sugar trust, our American beet-sugar 

 factories have been equipped with refining outfits and thus realize the refiners' prof- 



