1912.] 



A Co-operative Sugar Factory. 



ioi 5 



of its working in the three seasons during which it has been 

 in operation. 



1909-10. 1910-n. 1911-12. 



Beet handled in season 65,000 tons 87,000 tons 119,000 tons 



daily ... 1,038 ,, 1,333 » 1,400 



Price 21s. 8d. per ton 25s. id. per ton 28s. 4c?. per ton 



Members 644 704 720 



Shares 3,150 3,368 3,430 



Some three hundred of the members have only a single 

 share each. In 1909-10 the quantity of beets received 

 per share was 21 tons, in 1910-11, 26 tons, and in 1911-12, 

 34 tons, the maximum allowed being 35 tons. 



On the original 3,000 shares the farmers paid £8 4s. per 

 share, making a total of ,£25,000. Four per cent, must be 

 paid on this. The cost of the factory was ,£135,000. The 

 balance was found by means of "shares, mortgages, bankers 

 and members." 



The farmers are justifiably proud of their up-to-date factory. 

 Its manager is the son of the late manager of the biggest sugar 

 factory in the country, the premises of which adjoin the 

 co-operative enterprise at Dinteloord. The factory is to be 

 enlarged, at a cost of from ;£io,ooo to ,£14,000, to a total 

 capacity of 1,700 tons daily, and may therefore become the 

 biggest sugar factory in Holland. 



I found about 3,000 tons of beet piled up outside the factory, 

 the stacks reaching as high as the houses that had been built 

 for the accommodation of the director, chemist, accountant, and 

 engineer, for in a "campaign " which goes on day and night 

 all responsible persons must be on the spot. One of the three 

 electric cranes is alone capable of transferring 400 tons of 

 beets in a day from the barges to the concrete slopes of the 

 storing place. There were convenient facilities for weighing 

 both the railway and the farm wagons of beet, before and after 

 their loads were shot out. The weight of the barges is also 

 taken before and after unloading, by calculating displacement. 

 In order to estimate a consignor's sugar percentage a sample 

 is taken of every four tons lifted out of the barges, of every 

 single wagon load when the beets are received by rail, and of 

 every eight loads when they arrive by road. 



As the novice never realises the quantity of water needed by 

 a big sugar factory, it may be mentioned that at Dinteloord 

 some 1,200 tons a day are used. The daily consumption of 



