Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-05-03
Beet Sugar.

Now that the subject of beet sugar is
engros>ing the attention of so many farm
erS. everything from which Information
can be gained on this point. is of interest.
We extract the following from lecture
delivered before the Oakland, Cal, Farm
ers' Club. by Prof. Partz:
In the year l747, Margraf, a Berlin
apOthecary discovered in a plant growing
wild on the shores Of the Mediterranean.
a certain amount of sugar identical with
cane sugar. He communicated the fact to
the Berlin Academy and recommended
the cultivation of the plant for the extrac-
ton of sugar from ii; but at that period
chepistry was just struggling forth out
J OF alchemy and the time for the realization
of slch plan had not yet dawned. Since
! then from that wild plant has been devel-
. o6ed the present sugar beet. and out Of
that little discovery by Margraf, has
! grGwn one of the greatest industries of
the present day. an industry which has
spread all over Central Europe and is evi.
IDENTIFY destined also to spread over a large
portion of this continent.
In 1913 Achard. another Prussian, re-
vived Margraf's project. He carried on
series of experiments in raising beets and
making sugar on his farm at CaulsdOrf,
near Berlin, and aided by the government,
he founded in 1896 upon the domain Of
Cunern i'm Silesia the first beet sugar fac
tory. In 1899 he presented several lOaves
of beet sugar to the king of Prussia;
however. the enterprise not being remu-
nerative. and giving too little promise of
becoming so, was abandoned.
After Achard had published in l797 his
first report of making sugarfrOm beets,
the English government, frightened at
the prospect of a competition with the
cane-sugar of the West India colonies,
offered him a large sum of money to ac-
knowledge publicly that he had been mis-
taken i'm the results of his trials but he
Indignantly refused the offer. The state
ments of the amount of sugar obtained by
Achard vary between one and three per
cent.
The beet sugar project assumed differ
ent aspect when, by NapOleOn's decree of
the 21st of November, lS0S, the harbOrs of
the European continent were closed
against the products of British colonies,
while England in return, prevented the
products of other colonies from entering
continental harbors: The price Of sugar
rose i'm Germany to over one thaler per
pound, and there, as well as in France,
beet sugar factories sprung up and did a
lucrative business, although the yield Of
sugar scarcely reached three per cent. 1t
| is now in France from seven to eight, in
| Germany and Russia from eight to nine
per cent. A sugary working 800 tons Of
beets in campaign was then thought
qaite extensive; there are now establish
men.s working over $4,000 tons. Great
attention was paid to the agricultural
part of the business, especially to the
raising of the right kind of beets, since
experience had taught that beets were
wanted which were itch in sugar and poor
in salts.
Although the sugar beet will grow in
almost any soil. deep, sandy loan is
best suited to its nature. In fact, good
grain land is also good beet land. In a
country where the summers are hot and
dry. stronger and more retentive soil is
required than where they are cooler and
more humid. Soil charged with mineral
salts must be avoided for they are eager
ly absorbed by the beets and are him
drarce to the extraction of the sugar.
Ii is fit for cultivation nearly all over the
United States, so far as the soil permits.