The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-09-04
The Sugar.beet.

The sugar-beet will grow N .l,
any part OF the temperate zone anag A
land that is best suited to it K NV W
which wheat will grow readily. ~, n
land that is clayey, but not too III; a''Ei
land that is rich, light and sandy ~ Y
beets penetrate the soil from e;,h, ~
twelve inches, and their weight i III.
one and a half to four pounds nv
seed is sown in the spring, and when.a
plants come up they are thinned 81, '
one plant in about every twelve ips %
As soon Us they are sufficiently gmss
they are worked with cultivator G q ~
now work corn. They are harysstss
in September or October. cows -
fed upon the leaves and upon II.
pulp that remains after the extraetoa =
the sugar, and the result Of such fpedms
is said to be the production Of ye,v y
perior milk and butter, or highsss.
beef, and of barn-yard manure a ar as.s
rich kind. The product of beef un,s,
judicious cultivation is from 80 to n
tons to the acre, and the Weld Of s,v,,
is about 8 per cent. A case is ment;ou.
ed of French farm of 832 acres Il.
sale of produce from which anountelm
$4,000 a year before beet culture was 4.
troduced, but which, six years after ths
first beets were planted, yielded over
SAC, 900 Il year.
OF course, the very best results can
not be looked for at once. American
farmers will have to learn by experience
how to grow the crop to the greatest ii.
vantage. 1t took nearly half century
to establish this great industry in En-
rope upon firm basis; but our farmers,
perhaps, will hardly have to wait 50 Ions
for the best success, because it will be essy
for them to avail themselves of the q.
perience of the French and German
growers. France now grows about L.
| 100000 of tons of beet sugar every wear;
and not only does she supply her own
people, give employment to capital, IA.
borers, and land, but she makes hand.
some profit upon her sugar exports.
This is the result of the resolute deter
| mination of the first Napoleon in lSl!
to have the experiment tried in France
under promising conditions.
That it is equally well worth tryin.
here is certain. The demand for sugs
is increasing and likely to increase tn
people of this country consumed, in tn
year 1876, 5000 tons, or 1865, 0O0,0 0
pounds of sugar. OF this huge amounl
only 172, 4S0, 900 pounds, or less than !
per cent, were produced athome, chief
in Louisiana. The remainder, l,56l
$50, 545 pounds, was imported from q
ba and other Spanish possessions froI
Porto Rico, Brazil, the British West Il
dies, the Dutch East Indies, the Frenc
West Indies, China, Mexico, Engan'
Germany, Belgium, and other eountrie
In value the sugar imports represe
nearly one-sixth of all our imported me
chandise, the value of imported sugars
1873 being $Sl, 1S7 ,504. 1t is the sug
imports also that give most trouble
the Customs Department OF the Cover
ment, the disputes about the quality q
so forth being endless. II is quite wit
in the bounds of possibility that the III
may come when we shall pay to ouro'
agriculturists the vast sums OF mon
that are now expended for sugar in ne'
ly all quarters of the globe by Ame
cans; and it may happen here, as i }
happened in France, that besides y
plying the home demand we may h
a surplus for export. American eaf
prise and ingenuity, operating upon a
as fertile as any in the world, and vii
favorable climate, surely can achieve
much as has been accomplished BY
peasantry of Philadelphia .
lettn.