In 1904 an enterprise was started in Janesville that meant much to the whole county of Rock as well as to the citizens of Janesville. This was the erection of a beet sugar factory by Captain James Davidson, of Bay City, Mich. ; this was incorporated as the Rock County Sugar Company in March, 1904, with a capital of $800,000. A site was purchased out of the old Paul farm adjoining the eastern limits of the city on the Emerald Grove road. Immense brick buildings were erected and the machinery installed therein during 1904 at a cost of nearly a million dollars. The farmers throughout the county began the raising of beets, and contracts were also made for the raising of beets in other counties, the beets being shipped in here by rail. The St. Paul and North-^Yestern railway companies both constructed spur tracks to the factory, and it has been in successful operation since November, 1904. Each season's run, or, as it is commonly called by the company, "campaign," lasts from three to four months, depending upon the number of tons of beets handled.