SUGAK PRODUCTION IN U. S. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 53 



in 1912 and 1913 and nearly one-half (or 15) of the cane-sugar fac- 

 tories. The area under cultivation in Spain in 1911 was 41,000,000 

 acres, of which approximately three-tenths of 1 per cent was used for 

 sugar beets. The statistics for production of beets are available for 

 only one year, 1912, and was 1,452,991 tons, of which 1,302,871, or 89.7 

 per cent, was used for sugar. The yield of beets per acre that year 

 was 9.9 tons and was sold at a price varying from $5.70 to $6.70 per 

 ton, or a total farm value exceeding $9,000,000. 



The number of beet-sugar factories has decreased from 55 in 

 1905-6 to 45 in 1913-14, of which 25 were idle in 1905-6 and 19 in 

 1913-14. The beet-sugar industry in Spain and the United States 

 was placed on a paying basis about the same time and the growth of 

 the industry has made rapid progress in both countries, but much 

 more rapid in the United States than in Spain. The production of 

 beet sugar during the five years 1909-1913 as compared with 1899- 

 1903 shows a gain of 77.3 per cent for Spain and 320.7 per cent for 

 the United States. The beets used for sugar in Spain increased 

 from 11,790 tons in 1896-97 to 1,478,114 tons in 1913-14, and the 

 sugar produced increased from 920 tons to 186,680 for the same 

 3^ears. The average annual quantity of beets used for sugar dur- 

 ing the decade 1903-4 to 1912-13 was 865,070 tons, with an average 

 production of 102,777 tons of sugar. The quantity used for sugar 

 varied from 929,787 tons in 1903-4 to 1,302,871 in 1912-13, and the 

 production of sugar for the same years varied from 104,947 to 171,839 

 tons. The percentage of sugar extraction per weight of beets increased 

 from 11.28 per cent in 1903-4 to 12.92 in 1909-10, but decreased to 

 11.33 in 1912-13, or an average for the decade of 11.67 per cent. 

 Comparing the 5 sugar campaigns 1899-1900 to 1903-4 with the 

 campaigns of 1909-10 to 1913-1914, an important increase is shown 

 in sugar extraction. The sugar produced during the latter period 

 increased 77.3 per cent over the former period, as against 36.7 per 

 cent for beets used for sugar. The average per cent of extraction 

 during the first period was 9.73 and 11.94 during the second period, 

 an increase of 22.7 per cent. The average production of sugar per 

 ton of beets during the five years 1899-1900 to 1903-4 was 196 pounds, 

 as against 254 pounds for the five years 1909-10 to 1913-14, an in- 

 crease of 29.6 per cent. During the campaign 1913-14 the factory 

 producing the largest quantity of sugar was located in Zaragoza. 

 This factory usecl 130,528 tons of beets and produced 18,419 tons 

 of sugar. The average daily consumption of beets by this factory 

 was 1,346 tons, from which 190 tons of sugar were produced. The 

 harvesting of beets and manufacture of sugar in Spain begins in 

 August and ends the following February, a season of approximately 

 200 days. The average length of the sugar campaign for all factories 

 was 72 days in 1912-13 and 79 in 1913-14. 



