6 BULLETIN 473, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



ably tend to reduce the European beet-sugar output to local require- 

 ments and to increase considerably the production of cane sugar. 



UNITED STATES. 



BEET SUGAR. 



Two countries, the United States and Spain, are practically the 

 only countries that produce sugar in considerable quantities from both 

 beets and cane. The beet-sugar industry in the United States is of 

 comparatively recent development. There are two distinct epochs in 

 the history of the industry in this country, the first 1830 to 1888, the 

 second 1888 to the present time. One is characterized by its failures, 

 the other by its success. The first sugar factory was erected in 

 Philadelphia in 1830, but like subsequent enterprises it was unprofit- 

 able and was soon abandoned. Efforts were made about every seven 

 years to revive the industry; experiments to locate the territory best 

 adapted to the industry were made in all parts of the country; 

 bounties Avere granted by some States; but success was not achieved 

 until 1888. As shown by the census in 1909, the industry has been 

 localized in three groups of States: Group I embraces the States of 

 Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington; Group II, Colorado, 

 Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and Utah; Group III, Illinois, 

 Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Dur- 

 ing the last decade one State in each of these groups exceeded all 

 the other States in that group, and these three States, California, 

 Colorado, and Michigan, combined, contained three-fourths of the 

 total area under beets and produced three- fourths of the beets and 

 sugar. 



The first official record of area devoted to this crop was made for 

 the census for 1899. The area harvested that year was 110,170 acres, 

 which increased to 360,433 x acres in 1909, or more than three times 

 the area of the preceding census. Three-fourths of the area of beets 

 harvested for each of these two years was located in three States, 

 California, Colorado, and Michigan. The area increased in Cali- 

 fornia from 41,242 acres in 1899 to 83,000 in 1909, and in Michigan 

 from 40,247 acres to 112,232. The growth of the industry has been 

 greater in Colorado than in any other State, as the area in that State 

 increased from 1,094 acres in 1899 to 121,698 in 1909. The area of 

 the United States devoted to the growing of sugar beets in 1909 was 

 less than one-tenth of 1 per cent of the area under cultivation. The 

 area of beets harvested increased from 242,576 acres in 1903 to 

 555,300 in 1912, or an average of 364,733 for the decade. The in- 

 crease in area has been gradual, as is shown by the annual average 

 of 228,000 acres during the five years 1901-1904, 374,000 during 1906- 



1 Estimate by Department of Agriculture gives 420,262 acres. 



