The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-04-11
THE SUGAR-BEET IN NORTH
CAROLINA.
Review Of Recent Experiments.
(Contimued from last rcel..l


sugar. grape sugar, and bret sugar
OF these three. grape sugar alone i
not chrvstalIzabie. although il is the
most abundant and widely distribu-
ted in nature Of the three forms uf su-
gar. There is no difference III chrmi-
cal composition between cane sugar
and beet sugar. II l. claimed by some
that we can form a very fair estimate
Of a nations civilization bv it, on
sumption OF sulphuric acid. Baron
Liebig considered the consumption OF
soap "a atTording an accurate means
of Judging OF this, aud too, Ill IS
claimed by some political economists
that the consumption of sugar Will
give "a very fair idea OF the wealth
and prosperity tanI hence the civiliza-
tom of a people" So we see that in
investigating the sugar beet. we may
be LAYING tine foundation of great
wealth TO oar State. The con>llnp-
ton of sugar in the United States du-
ring the year 1876 was I25.269 tons,
Ol men -.u'iJ IpliS VIII I'iI Nv W.
mestic beet and sorghum. The sugar
supply of the commercial world IN
1870 was , ~ 623 tons. of which 10
per cent. q. 3s3.049 tons was beet su-
gar made in Europe
Here follow some statistical tables.
showing the consumption Of cane Su-
gar and beet sugar. OF which we give
only the sum total in tons. Of can
sugar, the commercial supply for the
world. i'll 1915. was LILO, $50 tors. OF
which the greatest amount. 100000
tons. came from Cuba. the only quo
tatiun from the United States, Louis
lana. producing 15,G00 tons of beet
root sugar there were produced l,3lI.-
623 tons. Of which the greatest amount.
462, 259 tons, came from France, the
United States not being quoted at all.
Thus we see that OF the whole amount
of sugar reported from the market oi
the world for 1870, VIZ. 3.4J1.t23
tons, 1.jl..6 23. tons. nearly onc-half
was obtained from the beet. These
figures are based upon high authority.
To such an extent has the manufac-
ture of sugar from the beet grown
since the discovery of Marggraf IN
1141, of its existence there. OF the
struggle that beet-root sugar main
tanned in Europe against cane sugar,
DIR. LedouX APPLY remarks The ez-
pertinent spread through Europe the
first factory was started in 1896, with
many a failure, many a lesson gained
through the loss of enormous fortunes
invested now taxed, now protected
Napoleon | granted one million Of
Francs to encourage the manufacture
of beet sugar by the Governments,
with constant Improvements in cult
walton and machinery. until at the
present day, nearly one third Of the
cane sugar used by the civilized world
is obtained from beets."
Let us now look at the
CULTIVATION OF THE BEET.
Under this head DR.. Ledoux has ar
ranged his translation of DR.. Stane-
mers Lehrbeech der ZuckeriaduStrie,
Compendium of Sugar Industry. DR..
Stanemer is one of the most eminent
living authorities on the sugar-beet,
and on this account is it that DIR. Le-
doux has thought best (as it really Isl
Ito give a some what free translation
of the valuable chapter on the"
'.CTLTTvATION OF H BEET
|. The Soi.-How is one to tell
whether the soil on his farm, or in a
certain will produce sugar-beets yield
ing a renluneratlve per centage of
sugar" The manufacturer of beet
sugar desires a large per centage Of
crvstallizable sugar in the beets lie
purchases. The crvstallizable sugar is
what he wants. and though the press
AXE pulp with the juice extracted is
of great value as food for cattle, Yet
he values the beet according TO the
amount of crystaliizable sugar therein.
OF the soil DIR. Ledoux quotes DR..
Stammer as saying:
Although neither by chemical
anaIvsis nor hv examination of the
physical properties, a we tell IN
every case that a certain soil Will OF
will not grow the beet successfully
Vet experience has shown that. IN gen
eraI. successful culture requires a soil
loose: deep, rather Q rich IN humus:
more loamv and linley than sandy
with porous subsoil, and a warm.
sunny exposure. OF course not deli
cient in any OF the necessary lngredI-
ents of plant food, which may easily
be the case. when the potash and phos-
phoric acid have been too largely
drawn upon.
The recognition of a suitable soil foi
sugar beets presents greater dltllcal-
ties than for many other plants, foT
tLey obtain most of their lndl>penSa-