Paul R. Hepler Papers

The collection contains research materials produced and collected by Paul Hepler on the subject of growing sugar beets in Maine.

The collection had been re-foldered at an earlier date by Library staff; folder heading have been left as found with information added for clarity if needed. The collection begins with sugar beet and potato research reports, 1964-1972, by Professor Hepler, as well as his correspondence about sugar beets, 1963-1976. The remainder of the collection contains research materials on sugar beets, arranged alphabetically by subject. The files include materials from various sugar beet, fertilizer, seed, and machinery companies, as well as reports from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Of particular interest in the collection is information about Maine Sugar Industries, Inc., and the financing of its processing plant in Aroostook County. This company had received money through the Aroostook Development Corporation to construct a sugar beet processing plant at Easton, Maine, in 1967. The Development Corporation had obtained state and federal guarantees and loans to finance the project. Farmers in Aroostook County in conjunction with Maine Sugar Industries attempted to establish sugar beets as a viable cash crop but failed to do so, leading to the failure or the company and foreclosure proceedings against it. In 1970 a Special Interim Legislative Committee was created by the Maine legislature to examine the failure of this effort and the Maine sugar beet industry in general. Professor Hepler's study of sugar beet growing in Maine was of particular relevance to the Committee's work.