The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1878-11-08
BEET SUGAR.
An Industry the United States Should
Carry on.
Mercantile Journal.

An Industry the United States Should
Carry on.
Mercantile journal.
In 1924 France produced a total of |
$1,000 tons of beet sugar in over 100 fac |
tories. In 1887 the product was $1,000 |
tons. France since that time has doub- |
led the product of beet sugar in every |
ten years. In 1920 the product was only |
two pounds for each inhabitant; in 1865 |
it was IA pounds per capita. Since 1865,
except in the immediate vicinity of the
sea-board, no sugar is seen or used in
France except the beet sugar. The same
is true of Germany. This is almost the
only sugar used in Paris, Vienna, Ber-
lin, Dresden, Leipsic, or Munich In
1887, the yield of beets per acre was IL
tons; price So per ton. In 1865 the yield
was 16 tons per acre; price 1925. The
percentage of sugar contained in the
beets in 1887 was ten per cent; in 1865,
liz per cent. The cost in 1887 was
cents per pound; in 1865 it was reduced
to 4 cents per pound. Thus it has re-
quired nearly half century to establish
this great and valuable industry on the
continent of Europe on such basis as
to defy competition, and we now have
the benefit of their experience. 1t has
been the result of careful and continued
attention to thus increase the products
as well as the percentage of the sugar in
the beet, and thus by studying carefully
its natural laws, and by the application
of chemical knowledge and mechanical
ingenuity to extract the sweet therefrOm,
10 purify it and to render it suitable for
the most fastidious tastes. The sketch,
while relating mainly to France, applies
also to the rest of continental Europe
France only led in the race. Such is a
brief history of the growth of the in
dustry up to 1865, and since that time
its continued success is shown by the
following statistics: Total product of
beet sugar in 1858, 100000 tons; total
product of beet sugar in 1868, $50, 900
tons; total product of sugar beet in 1873,
952, 900 tons. 1t may be considered as
one of the established industries of the
temperate zone, and only awaits the
judicious application of capital and Ia
Dor to establish it on any suitable soil,
and in any proper locality The perma-
nent effects produced on agriculture in
France by the cultivation of the beet
sugar have been astonishing. In cane
sugar districts no other crop is to be
| seen, while cattle, sheep and hogs are
| few. In the beet sugar districts of Cen
tral Europe, on the contrary, the fields
are crowded with the greatest diversity
of crops, such as beetS, wheat, rye, oats,
barley, etc, as well as all the cultivated
grasses. No farmer there needs to be
told which system is the most enduring.
On a great public occasion the following
significant inscription was placed upon
a triumphal ARCH
Before the manufacture of beet sugar
| the reimbursement of Valenciennes pro-
| duced 500, $50 bushels of wheat, and fat
| tened 700 oxen. Since the manufacture
| of beet sugar was introduced, the arrOn-
basement of Valenciennes has produced
l, 157, $50 bushels of wheat, and has fat
tened II 500 oxen.''
A farm of S32 acres in France, the
product of which, with the ordinary
farming, amounting to $4,000 per an
mum, with six years of beet sugar cult
| walton, produced $4,000 per annum.
p! Another farm of 295 acres produced
1925 bushels of wheat, $500 tons of
beets and fattened $50 head of cattle per
annum. The farmers attributed their
success as cultivatOrs entirely to the i'm
mense amount of barnyard manure the
beet-pulp gives to the stock, enabling
them also to effect an improved condi-
ton of the soil. The improved and in
creased amount of profitable culture of
| the land consequent upon beet culture
| is now universally acknowledged, and
wherever the beet is cultivated lands adj
vanced in value and wages take the
same direction Cows fatten upon the
leaves and pulp, and produce more and
| better favored butter and milk than
when fed on grasses; so that the pro-
duction of sugar from the beet adds to
| the supply of bread, butter and meat
and these-the leading necessities of
mans Observation-Disclosures and aid each
other.