SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY.

Te Aroha News, Volume XII, Issue 1786, 13 November 1895, Page 2

SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY.

MEETING OF SETTLERS.

A meeting of Te Aroha settlers interested in the growing of sugar beet in this district was held -iu the Public HaU on Monday evening. O wing to the notice being so short the attendance was not large. The object of the meeting was to receive a deputation from the Waikato Farmer’s Club, consisting of Capt. Runciman and Mr J. . Gane, who came to discuss the question of'sugar beet culture with the settlers in this end of the Waikato.

Capt. McKenzie was Voted to the chair, and«briefly explained the object of the meeting, and called upon Capt. Bunciman to give his address. Capt. Runcimen said the Waikato Farmers Club had received an offer from, a Mr Lewenberg, representing foreign capital, and they were prepared to spend a sum of money from *£60,0(%t0 £IOO,OOO. in ‘tidin of a sng&r Waikato, which woulfl.be WpalJlo . of cnjshifigabout- 400 .tons of -beet per day, but before the company would erect their machinery they wanted some reasonable guarantee as to the amount of land that would be put under cultivation; they, asked for at least '2,500 acres for five years, but would:.takefas much more as possible to get. They would pay" £ 1_ per ton for the- beet delivered at fh'e factory,' which would be on the line of railway, and. in a. central position on the Waikato tfVetv of-seed ,®ad manure Capt. Runcimen said the company would provide seed and manure if the settlers .wished, to b<> paid for when the roots were delivered, Buncimen-said that in his opinion a better than this never been made to any body of memin' any district. The offer was straightforward and honourable one. Capt. Bunciman ;vfent on to say. that from.'xVhat. ’he knew of the Te Aroha lands he thought it was just suited f° r the production of sugar beet;. In the Whikato he had grown 20 tons per acre, and he saw no reaspn why the same result could not be obtained here. He certainly woul 1 have no hesitation in saying the crops would average from 15 to 20 tons per acre, and the company would undertake to take ail roots grown from the seed which they supply whether large or small. This was a very different offer to the one that was offered in the Waikato some 10 years ago. Then they were only offering 15s per ton for roots of certain weight, over 3 and under slbs weight. This Company will

take the whole crop, no matter what weight or what percentage of saccharine matter if grown from the Company’s seed, the grower; - not to be responsible for failure of crops. Capt. Runciman quoted figures to show hbw easy it would be to produce a crop of £2(K .tons, said that in one acre there is .jroouifor .5,000 plants/average Bin. Jipurt, atijj if “pleats average lib ehehthat would give a yield of 22 tons 7cwh" and this, would bo quite possible to obtain. If the. farmer counted: the cost, of .every itoih, manure, seed and labour, ’ it wo.uld amount to i£B per acre, taking a poor crop of only 1? tons that would leave £7 per acre net'profit. A field 1 of 50 acres would mean a gross return of LI 600.' The Cap lain said he was not a public speaker but a practical man, and he would be willing to answer any questions bearing on this subject. ■ Mr Gane then addressed the meeting and said that farmers as a rule; were • very conservative- and- slow to.look at new, questions, : As one Waikato farmer speaking Of this proposed industry was heard to say ‘ I hope the industay will go ahead, but I hope : I shau!t grow.beet.-’ He (the speaker) thought theitime had arrived when the. settlers of this district should'combine' for their mutual advantage and turn their attention to more profitably Borins of husbandry. . gqiiifce willing:t6:.gr6w potatoes with. a. prospect of having a bad market five years out of six. Mr Gane instanced save: a! cases where, potatoes had been gib wn in Waikatq\jand sent to Auckr land for sale, and scarcely realised the expenses,, and .stilf people* groyt potatoes.. What the Waikato wanted was a market for its produce. ‘ The Dairy-" ing Industry was a good one, which had done much foi settlors, ho knew;., that it was a little 4 off colourjusfcjnow but he hoped it would soqa refcqyCr itself and no doubt it would, but was a definate offer where a' fdreign" syndidate .were vprepared -to; circulate about per' annum amongst the farmers of Waikato. They had come to teach u* how to get sugar out of the land and that was the commodity the ,farmer needed just now*-?:(Laughter). They wore not asked to find any! part of the capital for machinery. ' etc., but only to gro w the Sugar Beet, which the Company undertake to buy at about 4s per ton above the commercial value of the roots, this was because the . ..company expected to earn the £50,000 bonus offerod by the G>vernment'for the first 10,000 tonß of sugar from beet root grown in ; the colony, "and 1 tlib'- 66inpany - were giving the setfclersvthe benefit of this by the extra price. In California under similar conditions to four own the Augar beat indusliy is assuming large proportions. In 1892 no loss than V2,006,000ibs of this were pror duced, and it is exp ected in a few years to produce 2Q,QQotons There -js bne Advantage in the cuUiva- r .tidn ofbeet root.it dors not - impQY6r>ish the soil. Mr Gane said the industry would be a permanent one, and who could estimate the advantages which would follow the circulation of L30,000 annually throughout the entire district,. It would altogether relieve farmers _fr< m then? present encumbor;ancßS, and place them in a much better ■position than theybad.over. had before.. 'There would be no fear of over pro-=’ duction or of. opposition, as there are only two districts in the colony suitable for its production, and the Waikato is much the best. He (the speaker) contended that the establishment of th's industry would be more periuanent than a gold mine, as the benefits would be felt by all. He hoped this ; district would take up the matter enthusiastic-, ally, and if all worked together there would be no doubt of the Success of the venture; _ Several present asked .questions, which were readily answered by the deputation. c-; : . V Messrs Farmer and Davenport were appointed to canvas the district for support; and Mr Spooner undertook •to receive promises of support at the &jsws office.. - • r :/■: Mr Hetherington said he. would grow the beet. Last year he grew from 16 to 18 tons per acre without manure. Promises of nearly 100 acres were obtained in the room, and it is.Jexpecthat at leasfc.soo acres will be grown in the district. v •; *" Votes of thanks to the deputation and the chair closed a most interesting afid enthusiastic meeting.