The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-05-04
THE SUGAR BEET.

~ IN q Clelc 81 Tc6utTity Us GFCuaCt+C" - "N
Hauaiian Kingdom a Profitable and Success
Jul Enterprise TO the Manufacturer and a Source
Of Employment for tie NatiUe Population.
But comparatively a small space Of time has
ELAPSED since the French chemists and agricultur-
lists. stimulated by the large rewards offered by
Napoleon.) commenced by experiments which
eliminated in the utilization of the beet root
(beta yulgaris) as a source 0. sugar.
This monarch, actuated by jealousy toward
England and an earnest desire of rendering france
commercially independent Of her. steadily en-
Outraged every effort to produce sugar from a
source grown on French soil, and any expert
ments tending TO bring about such Il result
received his ready patronage and material aid.
The first cake of beet sugar manufactured IN the
world was for q long time preserved IN a glass
case az the Palace of Fontainebleau, and was
proudly exhibited by Napoleon as one OF his
greatest treasures"
Since that time this root has acquired a world
wide fame, and the manufacture of sugar from
it has been extended to the uttermost parts OF the
earth. The very defective and necessarily waste
full mode Of manufacture employed at hrst, and
whereby only two to three per cent. of the sugar
was recovered, has been so much improved upon
by the perfection of machinery for the process and
the aid of chemical science, that within the last
few years manufacturers have been able TO extract
from six to eight per cent. crystallIzed sugar, and
there Is yet ample room for Improvement, tor the
skilled planter may extract every particle of the
sugar from the pulp and obtain as much as from
the like quantity OF cane but this last result can
only be attained by careful selection of the class
Of root best adapted for the object III view, and a
higher state Of cultivation than heretofore adopted;
and It Is concerning the culture of the root that
we propose to notice in this article, and although
our ideas upon the subject may be crude, we
trust they Will at least induce some reflection that
will ultimately lead TO beneficial results.
The English merchants and planters interested
in the Nest India Eucra trade early fnraSa " what
an influence the French discovery would have up
on their monopoly, and strenuously endeavored by
all means in their power, honorable or otherwise,
10 suppress this new industry, and offered a fab
ulous sum Of money to an eminent continental
chemist who had been mainly instrumental in
bringing about It's succees) if lie would write a
paper to the effect that he had been in error,
and had too hastily arrived at the conclusion that
the nlGRgie fcuTzhe or diSSette could be utilized as
Il source of sugar To his credit be IL said, he
honored his profession, and refused the bride.
The planters at length obtained the aid of an Eng
lish chemist, (the most eminent OF his day. who
endeavored but IN vain, to write the enterprise
down. That their fears were well founded was
from that evident, for 40 beet sugar improved in
quality, that from the cane decreased in price,
and has had u downward tendency ever since lex
cept in time Of war;. Competition also made it
necessary for the West Indian and Cuban planters
TO apply more perfect machinery, and to apply
fertilizers to their exhausted lands this involved
- AhASS oAhN , oAA 49, NV hA6Ab NaA1h 40 FD III
in force encouraged only the production of a low
grade of sugar, (high duties were levied upon
that above a certain grade) many planters IN Bar
BADGES, Antigua and Cuba succumbed to the force
Of circumstances the extraordinary pressure
brought to bear on the pocket, and they went where
the wood bine twineth.' That beet sugar Is
every day becoming more used and that to the ex-
cluslOn Of cane sugar no one can deny that 1t is
cheaper cannot be doubted, for to-day we are in
formed that beet sugar manufactured In Germany
ODD nnVNnl in - -, nAn p fhn hn.T NlAt-ns SO -
can be purchased in Honolulu at less rates than
the latter. TThe writer is in error, as to this fact.
The German beet sugar imported here is refined
white, the Hawaiian sugars are unretined. The
former rules at 10 cents-the best latter at 7 TO 9
cents in Honolulu.-Ed p. G. A.
In a recent number of the Alta California an
article came under our notice in which the intro
duction Of the beet sugar manufacture in Alya-
RADIO, Cal, was described. The innovation is a
success. With care and judicious management,
the application of scientific principles In the
manufacture. it cannot fail TO be otherwise than r
success. The necessity of a change in the agri-
cultural system of California was made apparent
by the almost total failure of the wheat crop last
year throughout that State the vast valleys of
San Joaquin and Sacramento at harvest time
being as barren as the Arizona deserts. A change
not only in the agricultural system but in the
crop was imperative in order to prevent hopeless
poverty and permanent sterility of the soil.
Wheat had been raised year after year in direct
opposition TO the law of nature frequently with
out ploughing the ground it was LETT TO ~ volun-
teer , two years in succession by the most ncgli-
gent of farmers the exhaustive nature of the
cereal produced just such an effect as might have
been expected the lands are deprived of all their
rich elements, viz: phosphates of lime and mag
nesia, islicate of potash and the alkalies rendered
barren and totally unproductlve TO wheat farmers.
Had any steps been taken TO restore to the soil
the elements of which it has been so recklessly
despoiled. the results would not have been so de-
plorable as they are; but no provision was made
for this until latterly, when the more careful
farmers (~rendered so by necessity adopted q
system of - summer following by which method
the soil was so exposed to the air and rain that
the alkalies in it were rendered soluble and
brought to that state in which they could be
readily assimilated by the plant. The succeeding
crop in each instance after the land had under
gone this preparation, proved by its more abund-
dant yield and the finer quality of the grain
produced that the end justified the means.
1t is becoming an established fact or rather
principle, that we cannot overwork land any more
than. we can OverNork a mule or any other ami
NAL, unless we feed it well, and looking at the
vast area of agricultural lands of the Pacific
States as q gigantic animal which we have by
sheer neglect and reckless disregard of conse-
quenees allowed to grow thin and weak, the time
has now come when we must feed IT up with rich
and appropriate food in order to prepare it for
that great work that the continued increase in
the population of the Pacific States assures us it
will have to perform If ultimate poverty is to be
averted and independence from the outside world
secured. In order to accomplish this We must
gradually prepare it for a liberal diet by n spar
ing allowance of green food easily assimilated and
of easy digestion. The beet root furnishes this
much to be desired relief. During its cultivation.
the tired land rests as 1T were. as the root is not
exhaustive when compared with the cereal, and
when the refuse from the sugar mandatory is re-
turned to the soil in the form of manure, it en-
riches rather than impOverishes it, and by the
judicious mixture OF guano (not-nitrogenOus) sui
phate and urate of lime, the exhausted land will
gradually be restored II 10 its original richness.
In Alvarado, Cal. the animal is being fed, and
ere long the manufacture of beet sugar will ex-
tend throughout California. Oregon and Nevada,
sufficient of the article will be produced for home
cnnsnmntinn and in dne time some To snare