SUGAR BEST INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10520, 13 August 1897, Page 6

SUGAR BEST INDUSTRY.

At the Waikato Fanners' Club meeting, held at Cambridge on Monday evening, the committee appointed some time ago to draft a petition to both Houses of Parliament urging the claims of the proposed beet sugar iudustry for assistance in the form of a bonus, as provided in the Beetroot Sugar Bill of 1895, submitted the petition, which was approved of. Copies of it are to be sent round the several districts for signature. The following is the text of the petition :—

To the Honourable the Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled : — The bumblo petition of ilie undersigned residents of the Waikato anil Thames Valley district showeth : 1. That during the past ten years various experiments have been made by our settlers in growing and analysing sugar-beet, in collecting statistics thereon, also.regaroing the capital required to establish the industry, and generally as to its suitability for the district.' 2, That the soil in the Waikato and Thames Valley, over an area of 50 square miles (with some exceptions) has been proved to be good beetroot-growing soil, and will produce from 15 to 20 tons of sugar-beet to the acre, and this of the high avenge of 15 per cent, of saccharine. 3. That this area is well provided with the necessary railway and water transit. 4. That some 18 months since, 631 settlers signed a bond agreeing to grow annually, for fife years, 2991 acres of sugar-beet, provided a syndicate erected Iho necessary machinery, thus showing that the settlers have faith in and are willing to support (he industry. 5. That beet-sugar manufacture would creatly facilitate the working of the dairy induitry, the by-pioJucts making excellent cattle food. P That the Assets Realisation Board own some 300,000 acres of land in this district, most of which would greatly benefit by such an industry, and much of it is well suited to grow sugar-beet, and without some such aid to settlement, it is likely to remain, as at present, practically useless. 7. That the labour incidental to growing :<,OOO acres sugar-beet will be very great, and should prove a boon to the working class. Further, this work could mainly be performed byelderl<° men and lads, ' the former a difficult class to provide for. Again, the estimated annual labour cost of working the factory is £12,0 m. 8. That such an industry will provide a fixed cash return for a product the district Is eminently suited to grow; will also materially promote close settlement, and thereby increase the customs revenue, and add some £20,000 per annum to the railway returns. 9. That New Zealand now imports annually about 30,000 tons of sugar, at a cost of, say, £100,000, the whole of which can be profitably raised from our own soil. 10. That the beet-root sugar is fast monopolising the sugar markets of the world, so that once firmly established here, it would most assuredly become a permanent industry. 11. That owing mainly to the bonus and bounty inducements offered by other countries and colonies, capitalists .will not invest the money (estimated at £200,000) necessary to start the industry in this colony without a larger bonus than Parliament has provided under The Beit-root Sugar Act, 1881. 12. That with such assistance as provided in the Government Beet-root Sugar Bill as introduced in 1895 session by the Hon. J. O. Ward, we are assured the necessary capital would be subscribed and a valuable and permanent industry be thereby established in the colony. Your petitioners therefore, humbly and earnestly pray that you will, at an early date, be pleased to give their case your full and favourable consideration, and so amend the Beet-root Sugar Act, 1854, as to enact the provisions contained in the Government Beet-root Sugar BUI above referred to, and which was introduced to your honourable House in 1895. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray. ■' ~

The American Agriculturist of June 12 says:—Our advices from fruitgrowers indicate that in many instances orchardists, discouraged by the low prices last year, are permitting insect peats to run riot. Now that these may be easily conquered through the practical application of insecticides, inch neglect is unwise in the extreme. If farmers and fruitgrowers fear another ' burdensome supply of apples, this can be prevented in a much better way. Keep your orchards clean, thin vigorously, although this requires time, and eventually find' good sale tor a smaller quantity of choice fruit. 1 It it altogether top early to become, scared over the prospect of another: record-breaking and price-depressing crop of apples. ~"" v It is said that evaporating apples pays the small Dutch farmers of Wayne County, N.Y. There are many such who own 10 to 15 acre farms. They use'stnall evaporators and dry 25. bushels fruit per day. While the men ' are < working ■ on \ the' farm, the women evaporate' the fruit. Many women have thus paid for the farms while the men ; find it hard to nuke ends meet from ordinary i farm stlee. ", ' '■ ■■ k - ••- '-- •' V' '