Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 35, Number 270, Decatur, Adams County, 15 November 1937 — Page 10

PAGE TWO

Phenomenal Growth By Central Sugar fit

Slicing Capacity Os Plant Raised To 1400 Tons Now

When First Started Average Daily Slicing Turn-out Was Only 510 Tons. The history of sugar refining in Decatur dates back to 1912 start-; jng with the Holland Sugar Coni pany which was organized in 1899 and the factory at Holland, Michigan, erected that year. In August, 1911, the Holland and St. Louis Companies were consol-; idated into the Holland-St. Louis! Company with C. M. McLean, president and general manager; Cass T Wright. vice-president, and V.' C. Hubbard, secretary and treasurer. It was this consolidated com | pany that employed the Larrowel Construction Company of Detroit, Michigan, to build the Decatur plant, which was finished in time to process the crop of sugar beets grown in 1912. Sliced Only 510 Tons The Decatur plant was originally built to slice 700 tons of beets daily. The mill started operations on October 20, 1912 and sliced 69.9 t tons the first day. The run continued for 55 days, slicing a total of 28,411 tons of'beets, approximately 510 tons a day. This first year the mill produced 5,401,985 pounds of sugar,. which was approximately 165 pounds of sugar per ton of beets. The mill was operated by F fl. Hubbard who was the first manager employed by the Holland-St. Louis Company. A cooperage shop was erected the first year in which barrels were made, since the only container then used for packing sugar was a barrel ho’lding approximately 300 pounds- The cooperage shop was operated up until about 1920, although some sugar was still packed in barrels as late as 1929 and 1930. Originally all pulp was dried by means of nine steam driers, the fire drier being installed by James [ E. Larrowe a few years after the mill was completed. The original plant bad but one lime kiln, the second kiln being added in 1923. A Steffens house was added to the mill in 1917, and in order to take, care of the Steffen's waste water.' potash evaporators, and a potash drying plant were added The drying plant was destroyed by fire in 1918 and never rebuilt. The original boiler room installs tion was eight McNull hand fired 300 horse boilers. In 1925 these were replaced by five 500 horse ConneUy boilers with complete stoker ■' Capacity increased , Ijiuaug the years from 1912 to' 192* ’it any improvements were afidbd the sugar factory and its rated slicing capacity increased from 700 to 1,050 tons daily. In 1926 a joint operating agreement was entered into with the Contfifental Sugar Company of Toledo, Ohio, and new officers elected consisting of: C. O. Edgar, pres ident; T. G. Gallagher, vice-presi - dent and general manager; A W. Beebe, treasurer, and C. M. Me-' Lean, 1 "chairman of the board. These officers held office until Feb-ruary-20. 1930, when T. G. Gallagher and the Detroit Trust Company were appointed receivers for the' company by the Federal Court. The plant at Decatur was operated by the - receivers during the season: ot 4939. In 1931 and 1932 it was: idle. ..... The largest number of tons of beets sliced by the Holland-St. Louis plant was 92,689 tons in the j year 1930. This year also saw the. largest production of sugar, 21,-’ 962(500 pounds. In only two other ! years did the mill produce more than 20,000,000 pounds of sugar. These were the years 1920 and: 1’924. ■ The lowest sugar content for the beet crop in the nineteen years of its operation under the old company was in 1925 when the sugar content averaged only 12.15%. The highest quality beets were in the years 1929 with a sugar content of 16.79. and in 1924 with a sugar content of 17.84.hi Farmers Pledge Aid The sugar beet industry at Decatur was reestablished mid the mill put back into operation by D. W. McMillen in 1933. As soon as it was learned that Mr. McMillen had secured the Decatur plant, more then 2,000 farmers met in Decatur to pledge their support and co operation to the beet sugar Indus try, and at this meeting a new SOSO sugar beet contract was offered to the beet growers of this area. Mr. -McMillen assured the growers that he would improve the plant as rapidly as possible and

Deep Rock Wells Give Large Supply Os Water To achieve sufficient water to meet the needs of the new soy bean extraction plant, the Cen-’ : tral Soya Co. has driven four deep rock wells. Each of these is more than 400 feet deep. Each well has its own pumping equipment and can deliver 300 gallons per minute, making a total water delivery capacity of 1200 gallons per minute. o GERMAN SOY PLANTS SEEN I H. C. Offutt And Norman Kruse Visited Foreign Plants Before Buying Adhering to the policy of the McMillen organizations, in keeping constantly abreast of developments. Mr. D. W. McMillen asked Mr. H. C. Offutt, president of the Indiana Engineering & Construction Co. and Mr. Norman F. Kruse, technical dir--1 ector ot the Central Boya Co. to visit Germany early this year to scrutinize soy bean processing i methods in that country. They found many plants process- ! ing various oil seeds, some of the older ones using a batch procedure and the more modern plants using ; a continuous process. After carefully examing the varied processes Mr. Offult and Mr. Kruse reached the conclusion that the HansaMuhle method of extracting oil from sojl beans was the most efficient ant satisfactory. Accordingly thar recommended the purchase of this equipment. Mr. McMillen determined that such a plant would increase the efficiency of the Central Soya Co. and materially aid in supplying the demand for soybean oil meal. The equipment was ordered. To prepare for it. new buildings had first to be constructed. When 1 the new machinery arrived from Europe in August, the buildings were prepared to receive it. Installation progressed rapidly and operations of the Hansa Muhle extraction plant, the first of its kind in this country, began this Fall. The observers for the McMillen organization, reported that in Germany as in most all European counI tries, vegetable oils are important factors. Most of these oil seeds are imported. Many of them coming from Manchuria. The resulting products being used in the making of margarine and other food sources. ! eventually make it one of the best ! sugar factories in the eastern part lof the U. S. The growers in turn pledged themselves to grow suffij cient beets to give the factory a profitable run each year. The mill has had an average production of well over 20 million pounds of sugar for the five years | of operation since 1933. Mr. McMillen started operations by building a complete new beet yard with the most modern beet : handling equipment that could be installed. This was followed byradical changes and improvements in the mill itself which greatly increased its slicing capacity and improved its efficiency. Improvements j and refinements in the mill have continued until it now has a slicing 'capacity of 1,400 tons daily, and produces the finest quality of sugar made in America. Sugar And Mol 1^ — Shown here are some of the can ing process molasses is separated t

Sparkles Like Crystal White Sugar . J-X -fl • - w 2-, ' .•j - ♦ T* ft 1/M ' i.--sb IrW* F' 0 1 I |* * 4 mH - | / 'JE > ‘ bl » H I Oh- i-r * i ■ Here is part of the business office of the Central Sugar Co. Like its product, the office is a model of ' sparkling efficiency.

i Get 70 Tons Os Pulp Daily From Sugar Run Beet pulp which results from 1 sliced beets after the sugar has been soaked from them is dried to make an important dairy feed in- 1 gredient. For this purpose the Cen-: tral Sugar Co. consumes 30 tons of: coal daily in drying its output of 1: 70 tons of pulp. CRUSH BEANS IN EXPELLER Oil Produced At Rate Os i 61.000 Pounds Each 1 Operating Day t ,- One of the methods ot extracting f oil from the soy beans by the Central Soya company is the expeller method which is carried out in a continuous operation for the best ■ results in high grade oil and meal. ' Beans are first brought from the large storage elevators where they i 1 are dried down to eight per cent i in the first step of processing 1 which produces approximately 61,- ' 000 pounds of oil and 180 tons of I meal every 24 hours. I After coming from the elevators, the beans pass through an auto1 matic three-bushel scale, which re- ' j cords the number of bushels- Apt proximately 7.500 bushels of soya > beans pass through the scales ;' daily. From the scales the beans go to f the grain rolls where they are cracked, preparatory to sending I them to steam driers, where the II moisture content is cut down to t two per cent. i The next step conveys the cracked beans to the 12 large expelling i machines which operate continuously filled with 600 bushels of i-' beans, force-fed into them. At this i! tinje the beans have been heated to s a temperature of 220 degrees fahrenheit, and a vertical screw presssl es the oil from the beans. The oil t flows to tanks which leads to silt ter presses for the final cleansing e of the oil. It is then sent through y to storage tanks ready for ships ment. i- As the oil is pressed from the i- beans in the expeller. cakes of s meal are formed. Only about four e per cent of the oil is left in the g cake. This drops out of the expelld er, and is taken on conveyor belts ;- to the hammermill where it is ground for feed material. lasses Part Company SUH U J Ls T* -.4? Lx utrlfugal machines where by a whirl - trom crystallized sugar.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15. 1937.

EASY GROWTH OF SOY BEANS FINDS FAVOR Manner Os Planting And Resistance T o Pests Helps Popularize Crop Due to the hardiness of the plant and its ability to mature in from | ninety to one hundred and thirty days, the soy bean is admirably a- . dapted to the crop rotation program in this area. The soy crop may be planted, cultivated and harvested by machinery developed for the usual grain .crops and in very much the same ‘J type of routine of operations. The growing and harvesting of soy beans requirds less animal and man hours of labor than corn and only slightly exceeds that required for wheat and so fits into the farm calendar at times other than those of heavy drafts on human and animal work in the production ' I of the usual grain crops. Thorough preparation of soil before planting the soy beans is, ! tests have clearly shown, of more importance than the type of soil. In general the soil should be prepared as for corn but the soy .’like > corn, responds to an extra preparation of the seed bed. Most authorii ties contend that discing alone, after fall or spring plowing, is not. > , sufficient and that harrowing, es- ; ■ pecially if the seeds are to be ■ broadcast, is necessary to insure ’ good germination and to keep down : weeds. , Land which has been plowed ear- - ly and prepared properly for soy - beans and cultivated cleanly dur- ' ing the growing season furnishes without further preparation an ex- .' cellent seed bed for wheat. 1 Soy Beans Easily Sowed I No matter whether the seeds are r I ’ broadcast or planted in rows, most authorities recommend a shallow I cultivation with a weeder or har- . ‘ row before the seedlings break f ' through the ground. The new r plants are tenderer than those of », corn and are usually cultivated by , | the ordinary com plow, if planted s : in wide rows, or by the sugar beet s type of cultivator, when planted in narrow rows. ■ Soy beans are generally cultivated until the blooming stage of growth is reached. this time ■ foliage is such that sufficient shade * is available to control the growth of the. interfering weeds. When grown on land giving good ■ yields of corn, or when grown fol- | lowing ebrn. as is frequently done. I soy beans should produce a good crop without direct application of fertilizers. Experts recommend the use of fertilizers only on sandy soils nt low fertility. Grasshoppers, beetles, leaf hopII pers and green clover worms, who | habitually feed on legumes, have I shown no special liking for soy I beans, although there are some I who suspect that they will when I the soy is grown more extensively I and word of a better food gets a I round in the insect world. The I usual method of spraying crops “ has proved satisfactory in all in . tested territories. (Chicago Journal of Commerce)

Soak Sugar From Beets In Sixteen Huge Tanks — After sugar beets are washed and ' sliced at the Central Sugar Co. they are heated to break down the sugar cells and emptied into huge tanks where warm water is circulated a- ' bout them to dissolve the sugar. Sixteen such tanks are employed at i the local plant for this process. Each tank holds four tons of beets and 1200 gallons of water. BEAN FLAKES MADE READY New Milling Building Cracks And Crushes Beans For Extraction The preliminary stage is preparing soy beans for the new extrac- , tion plant of the Central Soya Co. is conducted in the new 90 foot i high building at the extreme east | of the plants. Here the beans are heated and dried and are fed automatically to cracking rolls of which there are three two-pair units. From these cracking rolls the beans are carried to four double flaking rolls where the beans are reduced to flakes, from there they are carried to the extraction plant where oil is dissolved from the flakes. Four elevator legs handle the beans as they are brought from the large storage bins to the milli ing preparation building and taken from there to the extraction plant. The preparation building is 30 feet wide and 75 feet in length and has storage capacity for 18,001* j bushels of soy beans. o Cod Liver Oil (Jivas Vitamins A And I) McMillen Feed Mills, Inc. use large quantities of concentrated ■ cod liver oil. The cod fish are ,' caught off the coast of the Scandinavian countries, their livers sep-

Madison County Women Enjoy Lunch After Plant Visit :: - ■FT •• 1 Some 600 members of the Home Economics Clubs of Madtsou County visited the McMillen plants early last month. The photo shows only a part of the group enjoying lunch at the Decatur Country Club.

BEET LIFTING OF IMPORTANCE IN NET CASH Careless Work At Harvest Season Can Result Great Loss To Grower Dr. J. Arthur Brock, educational secretary of the Farmers and j Manufacturers Beet Sugar Association in speaking of the current beet harvesting season suggests: “It is timely to call attention to the fact that the degree of care ! exercised in harvesting and deliv- : eritig the crop will be reflected in the net profit received by the I growers as a result of their 1937

i sugar beet growing operations. •'Faulty lifting is one of the principal profit-reducing factors. In other words, if the grower fails to have his lifter properly adjusted ' and equipped with sharp points it is physically impossible to lift a crop of beets without breaking a certain number of beets in every row. While we are prone to minimize the loss resulting from breaking off a beet we find, upon estimating the money value of a beet, that every broken beet means an actual loss to the grower. ••Incomplete lifting is another reason for reduced profits. For example, if only five beets are left in each row, of 208 feet, the grower will lose the cash value of 570 beets per acre. "Improper loading of the beets : results in a material loss every year. In short, if the farmer resorts to overloading his trucks or fails to arrange the load properly ; before leaving the field a number of beets are bound to fall from the trucks. "In view of the above facts ev-

Trucks Haul Sugar From Plant : j ' 'ftp. ' -,-*7! ' j t t fl F-- - . f 1 I - A A steady stream of trucks calls at the sugar warehouse for Sparkling 1 Crystal White sugar. In demand for every use where pure sugar is re- • j quired Crystal White is popular with manufacturers and housewives 0 alike. 1

'* arated from the fish and the oil extracted from the livers. This oil is then shipped to this country I where it is refined and thoroughly ) tested for vitamin content. The I top grade oil is concentrated into 6 j a vjery potent oil containing a' p large unitage of vitamins A and D. [. Scientists who have studied the >- storage of the A and D vitamins

Beet Conveyor Busy At Lrr r > , •< ■ " Em 1 ■C ' 1 ‘ rs ttns# This photo taken at the sugar be. t truck di U m, conveyors which raise the beets from the receiving » in the beet storage yards. g plt lor

Vast Amount Os Sugar Refined In Local Plant Although the Central Sugar Co. produces Sparkling Crystal White sugar in quantities like 21 and 22 million pounds annually this a- ' mount of sugar is less than one- ; sixth of the total sugar consumed per year by the state of Indiana alone. During the last five years ap-1 proximately 194 million pounds of : sugar have been refined and distributed by the Decatur plant. When statistics show that eight hours of labor are required to produce each 190 lbs. of sugar this means that more than eight mil- ; lion hours of employment have been provided to Indiana workers by the operation of the Central tgar Co. during this time. ery grower is urged to lift, load and deliver every sugar beet he has produced."

in the liver of the Cod fish have discovered that this is the effect of the ultra-violet ray action of the sun and water upon the food \ consumed by the cod fish. Cod liver oil is a very efficient source of Vitamins A and D, which is indispensible for the protection of health and promotion of profitable production in poultry.

FOOD VALUE P FOUND HIM i IN SOYM Nutritiie Propel JE3 Milk I’rom Beans Part" With Animal Th- m - j n '»at .C"t’ 'trntiEm/i lh> 'S cm Ehess 'ls L..ilhk point: mndin ; Ejn ''"C'/.a-: ill- "suliint pcKe ret ler. -k", : .-d The cloths ne* are prefemi Wod&y »-y Soy milk is used in the th t tor ail i ""king I' lrp'.ises. it tIH "ii th, "tryaßpely and is di" i hi» t ingredient mid bev- rages used eii.j ijused uwii ia By n iiii i'aid. »hnh follMlßthe D of M Ad" i - who by a p ■with 'C.r aiik-wy I.’IV by tireoß S milk : 'I., p.-w.l-r>tl form. ®.|® Soy Ik is n ported k' Ilf "ill mi:" isities tn he twlM'S| for in- only source S toiiii m diet of babies, aJ| as being adequate for IMa A’h in (hildren. reports that invariaWjj®aß "liiained f,.,.,|ii._ -"V milK cow's milk. Profesttß IIWb E: milk stomach than cow's milk feed p. assimilation shcrti i 1.. ''htmc travelers reb | Tur balm s .!• always brought I' | met this milk. Til" Sl, y milk aF a prodni - nnproveiiieiit in sulfmin-; tmio summer and I'm tam fmms of inteitl»<BW turbatu ' s was early ado** Harvard lucm soluble and f< I ■ üble vitamins, necesuff » I ««< fant feeding, in the studies made at Chang Peiping Cniversity 4» I the - I of I pr age weight curves ■ breast-fed babies in S X" ■ -J Plenty ot' Vitamtoh |1 In Master Mix || The recently H G is I h ■Mix Feeds M wb ,.y drip Itl mined from ‘•‘"j ■ skimmilk, dried m I t debydt.o din. i; d"" 1 " preveaW.M ingfodn' l " ’’’ h( . pn.motH"'■ rapid growth l> W tl)|1 p(l > ■ meal is l> l ' n,lu ‘ bP et H’« I I cessing of P o| k ' pro ducl of I Dried whey is a J’’ P M d I I the cheese inda- -J aMl j. I , tains lin tof l3 ' 11 ' ggirnß® ■ a nt amount. W-. afe by | and dried htmm nd I products ot dal y ® also contain la 8 duc ts id I m.-toflavi” Th" » I included m lu f' in proper pt' o de ter» I ance with reqmmw l | med after extensive | research. I ‘ If