, 1881-06-04

supposlng the description of soil TO be IA
vourable, ~depends-1st, on the temperature:
End, on the amount Of sunlight 3rd, on
the degree OF moisture. and its pres ence at
the time when most required by the plant.
Climate is a great consideration to the
growth Of succulent plants, and, as a rule,
an abundant supply o fmoisture is required:
vet on soils too humid the beetr0ot grows
large, but with much less sugar in it.
Another argument in favour of cane
is its superior power Of witbstanding
drought, which in the case OF similar
weather with q beet crop you'd result in
a total loss. Our climate is IS a rule too
dry, and also too uncertain in the quantity
of rain that falls. to allow Of beet being
aver generally adopted as a crop to super
sede cane.
Another objection ia that beet-root
cannot bs grown continuously upon
the same lond with profit, but must form
one cror in a rotation. I have no data
as to what the cost of WOO king an acre Of
beetroot would amount t, IN this colony
nor has it yet been cultivated upon a
sufficiently large scale to admit Of even an
approximate calculatioU. Beet cultivation
was commenced and a factory established
some years since in the neighbouripg
COLONY OF Victoria, but operations were
suspended after the second season, the
results rot being sufficiently satisfactory !;
and the company has since been dissolved.
In this instance the juice did not contain
as great q quantity of sacchariEe matter,
but contained a much larger PERCENTAGE ct
saline impurities than the Juice obtained
in the beet-growing districts of Europe.
No claim has yet been made upon the
Victorian Government for any portion
of a sum Of $4,000 granted for ''the en-
enlargement OF the Manufacture of beet
root sugar grown within Victoria.7 Tais
SUN was to have been awarded at the rate
OF .elO per ton to the producers Of fifty
tons or more of bect~oot sugar.
The area ia which 4he culture Of thu
beet has proved a commercial success
1ppears to be cjrcumscrjbed. as lis %cultjvS.
ton ald manufacture have been uasucctss-
fully attempted in EngIanI. I%reiani, New
jersey, California, Canada, and Vctoria.
Owing to the smaller quantity OF sac
chariue matter IT, beetroot than ia sugar
cane, aud also owing TO the more cOmptex
com nations in which it is found, it
requires greater Ingenuity aad a more care
tul application Of scientific principles in
the extraction OF the sugar. Putting on
one side the question Of profitable c%altivA-
ton this fast alone in caue-sugar producing
counttits would 10 most instances prevent
its cultivation, for the producer would
have to erect ali the complicated and
expensive apparatus of a beetroot sugar
refinery, in addition to that required for
the extraction of the juice, and then to
work the plant only during crop time
say for 100 day'-and attempt to compete
with European sugar reineries, which
would be to enter upon a severe and
unnatural competition which no probable
yield would justify.
In fact the planter instead Of an ordinary
cane sugarproducing plant will have
established q sugar refinery, which work
ing only quarter time will be so heavily
weighted hat it must be hopeIessly beaten
in the race, and the p offs from beet
culture, If any, will be absorbed by the
losses in refining. BIT in addition to this.
u larger amount of both scientific and
practical knowledge is necessary. The
beetroot manufacturer must not Only be
a thorough practical agIiculturist, but he
must also be a good chemist, and tsmi-
liar with mechanics aud engineering, in
order to carry out Improvements suggested
L. III