SUGAR-BEET CULTIVATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1042, 3 February 1911, Page 8

SUGAR-BEET CULTIVATION.

AN ADJUNCT TO SMALL FARMING. Tho hopes of-those who desire to see a beet-sugar industry established in New Zealanu will bo stimulated by. the visit ? i G -,, S - 'DfeiV-a Californian; who has been all las life intimately associated with, the production of sugar from beet. no arrived in Wellington yesterday bv the Aorangi. Mr. Dyer's father was the founder of the beet-sugar industry in C'aliroruia and his. family now controls jio fewer than ten large factories. Having an expert actjnaintunce in every detail with.tne.cultivation.oi , . beet:and-with tho subsequent "manufacture, Mr. ilyer is now under a twelve months' engagement to the Government of Victoria, lie has been re- | tamed to advise ss-.to.the best,means of putting the best-sugar industry -in that State upon a sound looting. •With Mr. Dyer, when a reporter called upon him yesterday, wero Mr. J. \. loung (Mayor of. Hamilton) and Mr. W. '■.both', of whom have been actively engaged;.Mr..'Graham for thirty years past and Air. Young for a third of that period,; in the attempt.to popularise tho cultivation of sugar-beet in New Zealand. -At the request of these gentlemen Mr. Dyer has agreed to visit the Waikato and he. will altcwards report -upon its suitability as a homo of sugar production. The growing of sugar-beet Mr. Dyer described as, in general, essentially a business for small farmers working in co-operation with big factories. In the United States thero are instances in which cultivation and manufacture are carried oh by tho same proprietary concern, but in the majority of cases a capitalist erects a sugar plant and obtains his supplies of beet from independent growers. In California the cultivation of beet involves' an expenditure of •£0 per acre. A fair* average crop is twelve tons per acre. The main crop from a ten-acro patch will sell at the sugar mill for about ,€l3O.- In addition the crop returned a number of valuable by-products. There could be no question, Mr.-Dyer remarked, that beet-growing would form a valuable- adjunct to the business of the small farmer whether engaged in stock-raising, dairy-farming, or agriculture.

Speaking of factories Mr; Dyer said tho great thing was not to build them too large. The available- supply of.bect should be more than sufficient to keep the plant fully employed during the season. The capital' charge' of establishing factories was heavy and for this reason tho business was less suited to co-operative working "than dairying. Most of the American factories were proprietary concerns and it was found tljat. where factory-owners and growers'"workeil"' , a'micably together, recognising that their interests were identical, the results were excellent.

.'' Since tho inauguration of the beet-sugar 'industry in the United States, Mr. Dyer stated, production frbm this source has come to greatly exceed that from cinegrown within the boundaries of .the union and to equal the amount produced from cane in the Hawaiian Islands. Moreover, the beet-sugar , industry is rapidly expanding. lii conclusion Mr. Dyer declared that he had found Messrs. Graham and Young well posted as to tho main facts concerning beet-sugar production—a fact that augured, well. f6r the successful establishment of the industry in New- Zealand.'