A year before the Alvarado factory was built, a number of moneyed men of Sacramento, head by Julius Wetzlar, then president of the Capital savings bank, conceived the idea of starting a beet-sugar plant there. After some experimenting with local beets, the Sacramento Valley Sugar company was organized and machinery for a seventy-ton plant was ordered from Germany. Construction was delayed for a year, and thus the Sacramentans lost the honor of being the first in the field. In 1871 they built a factory at Brighton, six miles east of Sacramento, near the American river. An expert was brought out from Germany and work was begun on November 18th. The first diffusion battery used in the United States was employed in the extraction of sugar from the beets. The season of 1871 gave good results, but the following year the crop suffered greatly from the ravages of the army worm. The campaign of 1873 opened on August 5th, lasting until November 22nd. The yield of beets was ten tons per acre, the average sugar content 8 per cent and the total output 982,120 pounds of sugar, including all grades. This enterprise struggled along until 1875, in spite of troubles from drought, army worm, grasshoppers and last, but not least, lack of experience. The plant was then closed and the equipment put up for sale. Briefly, it may be said that at the outset very poor sugar was turned out, and later, when the quality was improved, the cost of manufacture was found to be greater than what the sugar would bring. The final outcome was that the stockholders lost nearly all the money they had invested. About 1874,[32] the California Sugar Manufacturing company was formed. Sixty-eight acres of land at Isleton were bought, a factory structure of brick was erected and machinery installed, the total expenditure being about $250,000. Sugar of good quality was made, but the financial result was disastrous. Isleton land was ill suited to beet culture, as when the Sacramento river was high the beet fields were covered with water. One authority states that the original idea was to manufacture sugar from watermelons, and when it was found that this was not practicable, attention was turned to beets. In 1876 numerous mechanics’ liens were filed against the company. Later, the factory was leased to H. M. Ames of Oakland, who operated it during the campaign of 1880. Two years afterward the entire plant was sold at sheriff’s sale for $10,000. The land and building were purchased by P. H. Gardiner of Isleton and the machinery went to a San Francisco junk dealer. This venture is said to have caused financial distress to many of the farmers in the vicinity.