Daily Republican., 1879-10-21
BEET SUGAR.
The Manu- factory Of Heet sugar at
EjVerHide,

Jumping on the 230 7. NJ. train yes
terday, a representative OF the kEPuB-
LIcAN paid to the conductor his twenty
cents fare and in few minutes was let
out at Riverside station, five miles from
the Wilmington depot, and about q
mile up the Delaware from Edgemo)r.
Riverside, SO named from its location
on the side OF the river, is the site Of
the beet sugar manufactory inaugura-
ted by a company Of Wilmington gen
tlemen, at the heaG of whom is Mr..
Lea Pusey, who has given the subject
Of beet raising and the manufacture of
sugar from the sugar beet considerable
attention. The more he studied into
the matter the more was he convinced
that there was money in the enterprise
not only to the producer of the beets
and the manufacturer of the sugar, but
also to the consumer of the sugar.
After several years of experience in
which many of the farmers of Delaware
tried the culture of beets, Mr.. Pusey
became fully satisfied that the soil of
Delaware was peculiarly adapted to the
raising of beets, and that farmers en-
gaging in that enterprise could clear
more money per acre from their land
than from grain, and as much as from
fruit. The question of successful cn!-
ture of beets being put at rest, Mr..
Pusey, as we have already said, headed
company of gentlemen to manufac-
turs sugar from the beets which the
farmers raised.
Looking around for convenient and
eligible site. convenient for transpor-
taton, they choose the location referred
to, where they bought five acres of
land from George G. Lobdell, lying
east of the 2. w. & B. Railroad, and
extending down to low water mark in
the Delaware river. This place has
the advantage of being convenient to
both water and railroad communica-
ton. The railroad company has put
in long siding at the station and will
no doub. in the course of short time
erect station house. The water
communication will be attended with
some difficulty for some time to
come yet owing to the need of
piers which will not be built this
season at least. Beets however
sent by water to the manufactor-
ry will be trapshipped in sloops or
flats to the shore.
The company has erected a substan-
tial brick pilastered building TO by 40
feet and three stories high adjoining the
railroad, in which they are now busily
engaged in placing the machinery re
quired in the manufacture of sugar.
The machinery is somewhat novel, in
tricate and ingenious and withal costly.
The most of it has been shipped from
the State of Maine, it having been
used there for experimenting purposes
until the company owning it was fully
convinced of the success of their enter
prise, engaged in a larger scale and sold
the machinery with which they com
menced business. The most of the ma
chinery pertaining directly to the man
ufacture of sugar, was manufactured in
Europe where it is patented.
The Riverside mandatory will be
operated by 90 horse engine which
can be increased to 80, the boiler of
which was made by Hilles & Jones of
this city, aud which is being put in
place. The machinery for manufacturing
sugar is somewhat difficult to describe
by a novice in such matters and there
being but Mr.. Pusey himself, and possi-
bly, one or two others connected with
it, who could fully describe it, we were
difident about trespassing upon
valuable time, and besides that, was
the fact that the whole thing was only
an experiment yet, in consequence of
which commendable reticence was eX-
ercsed.
What strikes the eye of q visitor up
on entering the second story of the
building is an iron mill in which the
beets are cut up into small pieces, af
ter which the beet substance is relAov-
ed into dozen Of huge boiler shaped
diffusion batteries where it is steamed
by d rotary process, the steam passing
from top to bottom. These batteries
are about seven feet long and two feet
in diamater and are hung in the third
floor of the building, the battery being
attached to each end. From these the
compound is then put through other
processes OF straining, tiltering and en-
pressing the saccharine juice from the
mushy pulp. The juice is then put in
to evaporating pans, placed in a huge
evaporator 40 feet long built outside of
the building, whore it is reduced to the
consistency of molasses in which shape
it can lie marketed or its conversion
into sugar from this point is easily
made if desir sd.
The manufactory is supplied by wa
ter in part from spring on the farm of
Mr.. Lobdell, on the west side of the
railroad. but it the spring fails toyield
a sufficient supply, water will be
in from the river and filtered
before using. The company have dug
a well twenty feet deep by ten feet in
diameter in the cellar of the build
ing which, if it does not in addition to
the spring, yield sufficient supply.
will be used as receiver of filtered wa
ter from the river.
1t is expected that the mandatory
will be opened about the first of Novem-
ber, which is the TINA when beets reach
their perfection. The company have
engaged the bpets grown on about
hundred and twenty-five acres of land
owned by different parties through the
State, some of them down in Sussex
county.
They expect to realize about $500
or probably 5000 tons of beets from this
number OF acres the general yield being
about is tons to the acre when properly
cultivated. At $4 per ton delivered at
~ -. ,a,rust railroad station makes a