BEET CULTIVATION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1826, 27 April 1888, Page 3

BEET CULTIVATION.

The Pr 6lden v of the Gore Farmers' Olub (Mr H S. Valentino, M.H R ) read a psper on eugar beet cultivation m the Town Hull oa Saturday, wh«n the pubic were admitted ; ovar 60 farmers were present, | The pftper pet fnrt-h the desirability of mixed farming, (hat. tho famers m tb< neighbourhood had benefited by the eruh'iabment of the dairy factory, and the seitinfi; up of another factory was now or 1 the tspta * the capital required oon'd bn

kept mesntlras m abeyance. Thy question wae — can we grow the beet? There was no drubtsboot tli9 climate. Have we the men? The olony had saff'red from m competent farmers, ?»Dd for the cultivation of the beet great cure and the nttrntion of intelligent farrarra wps ieqaired. The latter from the Frenob Couaul wh ; oh appeared Id the papers was sanguine, ano they had to add Scotch caution. The beet was remunerative Itself, and improved the land for other orops. la 1869 a f«ct >ry was opened m Suffolk, England, hut had to be closed ; it was reopened li 1884 and prospered. Sir Franc s Boulton, who was a leading spirit m the matter at Hntno, was then quoted at large as to soil, preparation manuring, sowing, cnltivatlon, gathering, and sorting, and upon continuous cropping —the best turn to take being between two s( raw crops— a heavy cropof-wheat followed it. The coat of prorinc'ior* and the yield m England were then detailed, showing a handsome profit — average eetimata of profit £4 3s 6d per acre. The value of the beet for fefding purposes was also considerable. Our Beetroot Act of 1884 was then referred to. The matter of tbe erection of a factory was at present of little moment ; that could be depended upon if the sugar beet was forthcoming. A factory capable of putting through 250 tqns m 24 hours was estimated to cost £40 000, and a syndicate, preferably an Fnglish one, would find the ways and means. In Germany and Franco tlie cultivation waß at present a great industry. In California, Mr Spreckles had promoted it, that cultivator had no doubt of its superiority 1o sugar cane and he had a factory which turned over 350 tons m the 24 hour 8. Ho had a factory which 70 farmers, cultivating from 5 to 80 acres, held two-thirds of. Keet was the greatest industry m that r-tuto. In Germany the farmers generally hold two-thirds of the factory The average price of the Feed, wbich should be kept two yeara before sown, was 6d to lOd psr Ib. and 101 b would do nn acre The yield m Otago and Southland should be 25 tons to the acre Ihe manures and the labor depended on the soil. The French consul had ssnt to Mr Valentine 701 b m varieties, which he would be glad to distribute among parties willing to teßt the cultivation. Mr Valentine answered several inquiries ond was accorded a hearty vote of that)ks for his pap r, which was listened to most attentively throughout, — Own correspondent (' Southland Times,")