Hello list: Does anyone have confirmation that our ancestors raised sugar beets along the Volga River area. I know that when my father came to the US he went to the thumb area of Michigan to work the sugar beet fields. I know that they raise sugar beets in Germany. In the 1798 census there is no mention of sugar beets. I know that our ancestors raised the small black watermelons and they cooked them down to get the syrup which they used as their sweetener for their tea. Thanks for your input. Paul Koehler, village coordinator for Stahl am Tarlyk and Bangert.
Paul, I think that is a great question. I was looking at a page from "Early Tales of Akron, Michigan" today, and it said "hundreds of people of German-Russian descent (who had grown sugar beets back in Europe (sic - Russia) and had immigrated to Nebraska were located to Sebewaing (Michigan) to help the area residents rapidly learn all the techniques of raising and processing sugar." I am sceptical they raised sugar beets in Russia: if so, where were they processed. I'm even more sceptical that thev GRs taught locals in Michigan's Thumb how to process the beets into sugar. My impression, after reading several books on the subject, is that the sugar refineries hires GRs, recruited first from Nebraska, then directly from Russia because they had large families and worked very hard. I would love to know if they did grow sugar beets in Russia. Bill Pickelhaupt Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] Sender: [email protected] Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:56:44 To: <[email protected]> Subject: [GV] sugar beets Hello list: Does anyone have confirmation that our ancestors raised sugar beets along the Volga River area. I know that when my father came to the US he went to the thumb area of Michigan to work the sugar beet fields. I know that they raise sugar beets in Germany. In the 1798 census there is no mention of sugar beets. I know that our ancestors raised the small black watermelons and they cooked them down to get the syrup which they used as their sweetener for their tea. Thanks for your input. Paul Koehler, village coordinator for Stahl am Tarlyk and Bangert. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message