The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1880-01-01

about l.739. .5O0, 900 pounds Of sugsl
annually. OF this {, 500 0O0. 900. or Say
IS per cent. is imported aud Is per cent
supplied At home. The aggregate valu,
OF all on. sugar imports for the yesl
1877 WAS &S1 200 900. These figure,
are Of fearful significance. When il i.
remembered that this vast SUN Of mo.
| ney 10 paid ont for . product that coeld
be as veil made at home, the policy
becomes suicidal. Is it not shout time
that the farmers II the United States
were awaking 10 the importance oi
turning this golden harvest into theil
own s,oseh ,uses: Surely there is nc
apparent reason vby the United States
shocld OF be sb's to make susar from
beets a..well as France and Gosuany,
since all their nstural conditions are
siniiar
Bot the history Of this Industry in
the United States, up to . recent pe-
Rad. IL nothing more than . record oi
failures. The chief cause Of the many
failures his been q want OF practical
knowledge aud skiil in . business new
to the sgriculturist and manufacturer.
Prominent among early attempts that
provei unsuccessful. except to develop
mist.krs for others to shun, was one in
Hampshire county. Mass. about the
year 1887; one 10 Livingston county,
H.. begun in 1863 and one in Wis
consin in 1867.
Yet thc.e reverses did rot deter 9th.
ers from e'n,,arking in the enterprise
aud pushing it forward to success. AT
present there is bert gu gar msnufsc-
tory in successful operation at Port
land, Maine, aud two others in CAlifor-
MIA one ct Alvar.do and Smother at
Sequel. . small village in Sants Cruz
CT unty. four miles from the CITY II
Santa Cruz. There may lie others uu-
known to the writer.
The factory At Portland, Maine. CON-
menced operations 10 the winter Of
1878. aud made 200. 600 pounds Of sugar
from $50 tons Of beets. one-half Of the
beets being kiln-dried. The beeta
yielded 91s per cent. Of white refined
sugar. Mr. Ernest Cement, tho general
superintendent Of the works. in writing
OF their opcr .tiOns. rays: :" Everything
worked exc-llchtly. though We worked
only one week; but we fousd that the
fuel and labor expended in drying beets
was fully compensated in the saving in
working them into sugar" He further
s.ys that the company will strain this
year (,he letter is dated Feb. %. 1879
every nerve tO contract with farmers
"frr $1,000 tons Of b, e.s, and it we
should obtain these. am sure we would
make 80 per cent. dividends. The
Company was organized with capitsl
stock Of SEQ. 1000.
The factories in Calif'rnis appear to
be prospering That .. Alvarado has
a working capacity Of 81 tons Of bcsts
day. from which are extracted II, 500
pounds Of sugar. It's daily expenses
are $40 80. aud the value OF the sugar
produced. 1t 10 ccuts per pound. 10
siaSo; leaving $4s9 50 as daily profit.
The reputed cost Of the establishment
was S200.0DO. It gives employ mcnt to
about one hundred mon ia the factory
alone. Its bet supply is sufficient to
operate i've 0: six months in the year.
There are several methods Of ex.
tracing the sugar from the root, but
space will not permit lengthy des-.
cription. The following extract from
the San Francisco Asrchdnt describes
the process, employed at Alvarado. aud
may partially sati,fy tho curious:
"Thc beesa being weighed. are un-
l.,adcd ia a pile alongside the washing
machi.c. which consists II 4 perforated
iron cylinder revolving in . trough Of
water. The be-ts arc fed into this cyl.
ind.r. which is slightly inclined. 20 a.
TO make the bets. ~hils turning, move
towards tho lower end. where they
come on: AS white snd clcar % IL they
had been scrubbed with hard brush.
Thence they are taken by an elevator
to the story above where they arc fed
10 the cutting macaine, which 10
series of knives revolving at . speed Of
nine hundred . minute. The next
step is the separation OF the sugar from
the beet. The pulp from the cutting
knives j, put into the didasioo battery,
which consists Of seves upright cylin-
dsrs. connected one with the other.
They are esch sbout seven feet high.
and two and half in diameter. When
these are filled heavy pressure of
steam 10 introduced, which forces tho
juice out Of the beet and froo one
cylinder TO the other, and finally ont Of
the last one. till there il nothing left
but the refuse matter. The liquid 10
wc- h.k.u o., Hl,a 1:,u> go -k>.A - &