The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. TUESDAY, OCT. 25, 1887.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2386, 25 October 1887, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

TUESDAY, OCT. 25, 1887.

/■iqual anil exact justice to all men, Ot whatsoever state ot persuasion, religious or political.

'ln- ji former issue, referring to l he cller made liy fUr (iraliam to seriire for the settlers of Waikato . sole for I Mil) seres of beetroot at e mill to be erected in tlio district, we were able in so brief a space to ivfor o'i!v to the question of t i i. • ivrurn to tilt* grower m i he sale n; i,it- roots at lbs per ton, tin' price ottered. I,'hat we think, however, should '-t; quite suflicient to s. ’Mt'e lor the movement a careful e.l,l...delation on the part of Waikato fanners. We showed that tii re was el strly a large margin of p otit at tli,-if, price, and it is worth I ;,. ... 1 1:.,■ ia e\ ery S'-ttler. who has kind of suitable quality, and conveniently situated near to river or r.-iilw ,y carriage, to practically de-r,-r:111 u>■ for himself what that margin of prolit is, and so he prepared a i , mil’s lamee to give such sup- , meiit as will imluce tlie er.v'h',, of a factory and plant. It is tiie cultivation of no new tangled semi-tropical plant that is proposed, hut simply the same cultivation applied to the mangold crop with a little more care in detail. A sio'di' measured acre cultivated with .sugar-beet this year, with a record of operations carefully taken down, will enable any intelligent man to

estimate for himself the direct p/o- 1 lit lie limy fairly look for at the price nffered. But, the profit is not alone a direct one. As] a pieparation for wheat or other "rain, the in muring, working, and growth of the, sugar licet crop ensures a largely increased yield, and a heavier grain, and, as the sugar heel crop wilt lie followed liv two crops of wheat in the rotation, this will add largely to the farmers' gain. In Germany and Branco the growth of sugar licet has tended to the production of very much larger yields of wheat, and' other grain, and the same result has Been found in California. A reference to the cultivation of a, 78.11 acre farm, that of Glanzig in the vicinity of Malle, Prussia, will show how sugar hect is made to work in with the rotation of crops, and that the sugar licet pays indirectly in the increased general production of the, land. Bent roots occupied one third the area of the farm, the. other two thirds being cultivated for wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, beans, potatoes, red clover, Ac. In the, year to which we allude the rotation was as follows :—Sugar beet, 2167 acres; wheat, 739 acres; barley, 1302 ; rye, 902; oats, 614; peas, 178; potatoes, 712; green forage, 837. The wheat the same year averaged 211, the barley 27, and the oats 27 bushels per acre. On this farm are kept as stock 306 cows, 1100 sheep, and 370 working oxen. In addition to this regular stock there were fattened and sold in the year referred to 102 oxen and 121 cows and 31 11 sheep, all of which were renewed for the next year’s fattening. The farm and factory kept from 110 to 200 men employed, the work being mostly done by contract or piece work, at which the men earned from 2s to 3s per day. The sugar factory returned a not protit of £3)3-13 for the year, finding employment for the farm hands in winter when there was little else to do but attend to the cattle.

For the Waikato farmer tlie question simply resolves itself into this : “ Will it pay to grow sugar beets at the price offered, to say nothing of the indirect benefits 1” Let each one try the experiment this season, by putting in a small area, say one aero, or five, or ten, according to the size of bis holding, and keeping a record of the cost. Nor need he hesitate to do so. Risk of loss there is none, for the crop of sugar-beet will be fully as valuable, if not more so, than any other green crop be can grow for the winter feeding of his stock. For dairy cows no other feed, not even carrots, will give so large and so rich a How of milk as sugar-beets. This was proved by Mrs Lewis O’Neill, of Hamilton, whose butter made from sugar-beet fed cows was pronounced perfection itself by the very best authorities, and who could not, when the stock of sugarbeets fell off, keep up the standard of quality, or quantity either, with any other substitute. Its fattening properties are equally valuable, and the longer tho roots remain in store before being used, tho more valuable do they become as food. If every settler who takes an interest in the movement would, according to the size of his holding, sow, this season ten, five, or even one acre of sugar-beets, he would he able to calculate to a nicety whether he could, with advantage to himself, guarantee his proportion of the supply needed to start and keep a sugarbeet factory going in the Waikato. This is all Mr Graham asks. To use his own words “ The farmers will not he expected to take, any part, or have any liability, in working tho mill, hut will only he hound to grow stipulated areas of roots for ten years for the mill.” The farmer, therefore, needs not to consider whether the mill-owners will find a market for their sugar or not. That is simply their business, and none of Ins. All he is called upon to consider is, Can he grow and deliver the beets to the factory for 16s per ton ?