The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1869-09-08
Production OF Igeerroot Sugar
I'm Germany.


the late Mr.. JoeSt had the merit Of es-
tabishing the first mandatory for the
refining Of foreign sugars. aud Afterwards
for the extraction Of sugar from the beet
root, and refining the sugar so obtained.
The business had proved 50 lucrative that
be left very large fortune TO his 1--WE sons.
which yielded them Individually several
thousand pounds Of yearly income. Pre-
viOus 10 his retiring trom the business he
formed the joint stock company BY which
| il is uow conducted Calling Il second
/ time al the mandatory. we were SO for
| tunate as 10 ind Mr. August Joest in the
Office. This gentleman. the youngeS. Of
/ the five sons. in the most frank and the
most explicit manner. replied 10 the ques-
tons put, and We take this opportunity Of
expressing our sense Of the obligations
we are under for the information supplied.
The capital Of the company is two million
thalerS. The thAler is equal TO 2s lid.
English currency; consequently. $500,
600 is the capital invested There are
twenty shareholders. and the Board of
Directors consists OF six persons, The
special director is Otto Kiroeger. The
directors are satisfied when they are able
TO pay the shareholders 10 per cent on
the capital.
When the late extraction Of sugar from
best-root was begun, serious difficulty
had TO be overcome. Farmers refused TO
grow beet-root for the mandatory. The
excuses put forward were, they had never
grown the crop; their fathers and grand
fathers had not grown it. and why should
they Geyiate from what they had been
taught! BY persevering in holding out
Inducements 10 the occupiers of land, and
by renting several farms, the entire area
Of which is about 5000 acres, the company
ultimately succeeded in obtaining the
quantity of beet-root required-which on
an average. is about $4,000 tons annually.
Those farmers who contract to grow
the white SileSian beet-root for the Com
pany are supplied with good seed ct the
prices it is purchased by the Company.
The average price has been about Id per
pound. Occasionally change Of seed is
got from Msgdeburg-the change being
considered necessary to insure good crops.
The growers usually enter into Il contract
with the Company. One Of the condi-
tons is that the land on which the beet
root is TO be grown shall not be MANFRED
for that crop. The land. however, may
have been heavily MANFRED for the prece-
ding one. This is generally the case. es-
peciSlly when a wheat crop had been tax
en- after rape ripened for the seed. The
beet-rOOt raised without manure being d.
rectly applied for that crop, yields in the
mandatory a greater per eentage Of sac
charine matter than beet-roOt grown with
manure; while the saccharine extract is
more easily erystalized, owing to the lin
tied amounts Of suits present. When the
roots have been grown by farmyard or
auXillsry manures, salts are preset in
considerable quantities. By the method
followed larger quantity of sugar is OBJ
tanned from a given weight Of roots. but
the sctual weight Of roots and sugar from
a given area is less than where manures
have been literally put into the ground.
In this respect of nOn-manuriug, the prac-
tiee differs from thai generally observed in
France. There the duty on the sugar is
charged according TO the actual weight Of
sugar produced while in Germany the
duty is payable by the weight Of roots
which enter into the mandatory after
they have been washed and also freed Of
any part which contains little sugar. such
as green neeks, where the leaves had
sprung from the bulb. The land intended
for beet-root is prepared in Spring for the
reception Of the seed. Sowing Is usually
begun by the 10th of April and completed
By the end Of the month. Resolving Is,
however, not an unfrequeut occurrence,
owing to drought, heat, or the attacks of
insects. The seed is deposited on the fat
by drill machine at the rate of s pounds
per acre. The distance between the rows
Is generally fifteen inches, and when the
plants are singled they are left at q dis
lance Of from ten to twelve inches.
1t is desirable that the greatest number
Of plants should occupy the ground consis-
tent with the frequent stirring of the soil
by drill hoes, as the stirring tends to des-
troy the white worm and other insects
which attack the young plants The crop
is taken out Of the ground during the
months Of September and October. The
mandatory operations commence BY the
middle Of September. The crop is stored
in pits cl0sSl Where a pit is to be
formed, the soil is to be dug out to the
depth Of about eighteen inches, aud five to
eight tons Of the roots are put together.
The covering Of earth is seldom less than
eighteen inches, ard when severe frosts |
are expected, two feet Of earth are put
over the roots; bat even this depth Of
earth does not always prevent damage
from the intense frosts which are some
times experienced in Germany.-North /
British AgricuHl1-ist