Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1893-03-23
SUGAR BEETs

lieved possesses about the same con-
sistency as putty, and is conveyed at
once into the yard, to be used the fol-
lowing season as a mild fertilizer. The
process of mixing, carbonation. and fl
tration Is then repeated with second
set of machinery, less lime being used
this time.
This finished, the juice is treated with
sulphur fumes, filtered by means OF me-
chanical filters tbags being used In
stead Of folded cloths) passing into the
qdadruple effect, four great boilers In
which the larger part OF the water con-
tanned In 1t Is evaporated by the use OF
steam. With a repetition OF the sui
phur treatment and mechanical filtra-
ton the chemical part OF the manufact-
ure ceases, and the liquid, now called
thick juice" Is ready for crystalliza-
ton.
This syrup Is boiled in the vacuum
pan, a receptacle containing a copper
coil heated by steam, until the proper
crystals are obtained. which, with the
uncrystallized sugar, forms the Amasse
cutie" an unprepossessing mixture,
which the centrifugals are able to rem
der into white sugar In the brief space
OF few minutes. These machines make
about a thousand revolutions a minute,
the centrifugal force driving the molas-
ses through the porous walls of the re-
ceiver, leaving a solid layer OF crystals
clinging 10 the side. After being sprayed
with water, the damp sugar is released
and conveyed to the drier, an immense
tumbler whose heated walls remove all
moisture. 1t gradually works to the
other end, the crystals falling like spray
from q mountain waterfall as they
mako their rough Journey ana, arriving
there, drop through various-sized sleeves
into chutes under which yawn the open
mouths OF sacks. These are filled, and
the sugar Is ready for the market.
The entire process OF converting the
raw material into the finest grade of table
sugar has thus gone on under the same
roof, and the beets which were yester-
day in the farmers wagon are to-day
sacked and branded extra fine" and
loaded in cars for shipment. Not all
beet-sugar factories refine their prod
uct, but in America IL Is d stinct adj
vantage, partly because Ut their re-
moteness from the great refineries and
| partly from commercial reasons. There
are now in this country six plants, the
locations being Alvarado. Watsonville,
and Chino, in California; Grand Island
and Norfolk, In Nebraska; and Lehi In
Utah; the last four OF which were es-
tablished IN 1890 and 1891. All have
been able thus far TO cope with the dis
advantages that lie in the path of the
industry In the way OF the solution OF
| the agricultural problem, and the bust
ness may be said to have gained al
ready strong foothold.
When 1t Is considered that more than
half thousand OF such factories, each
costing several hundred thousand dol
lars, would be required to supply the
sugar that we consume annually, 1t Is
not difficult to see that millions OF dol
lars now sent abroad year after yea
would be retained here, to say nothing
Of the labor afforded to thousands o.
workmen, the advantage to a communi
ty OF possessing factory that uses raw
material whose production Is benefi
to the immediate neighborhood, anC
last, but not least, the Improvement II
general agriculture that must necessa
rily result from the pursuit of the yer!
careful methods required in the culture
: OF sugar beet.
But though still in its infancy II
America, the manufacture OF bee
sugar Is not new departure for US:
Is only It's success that is recent. Tn
{ long list Of failures dates back as Ia
i as 1880, which is about the time that
| was placed on permanent footing Il
France, and for nearly half centur
} It's pathway was strewn with wrecks
r Eight years later an attempt was mad
3 ct Northfield, Mass, the experimen
l of drying the beet being tried, but tn
) endeavor was unrewarded with success
3 Two decades and half then passe
t before any move toward revlving the In
\ dustrv was made. when q plant wa
: located at Chatsworth, Ill. It manage
to struggle along several years, bu
I finally went to the wall. 1t was move
= to Freeport, and later to Black Hawl
Wis, with only failures as the result
At last 1t found itself in Fond du La
In the same State. Here Its establish
ment was attended with a measure
success, but the enterprise being hau
pered by insufficient capital, and II
opportunity occurring to increase I'll
latter, IL was once more removed, tn
time to Alvarado, Cal. Again disaste
and Soquels was chosen for site, b.
] after a time abandoned. Then the ia,
tory at Alvarado was revived and su
cess, which continues to this date, WI
reached. Later on, the plant at Wa
sonvllle was erected.
There is vast belt stretching fro
the Atlantic 10 the Pacific, and Of !
mean width, which invites the cultu
of the sugar beet and promises succe
almost from the start, IL experiment
thus far made can be relied upon. 81
and climate are there; careful cultu
= will come when farmers realize that q
AZ brain must be used in tillage. As !
In sunbeams, the great illumination Is
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