Vol. I. No. U. 



THE AGKICULTURAL NEWS. 



211 



' The above represents the actual expenses ot nianii- 

 fiictiiring 7!)4,().58 ti>ns of beet.s, yielding products 

 ■which are value(l at !?7,323,S.57. This shows an apparent 

 jH-otit on nianufacturo of ^(;i!t,.S2>< on an invested 

 capital of .*^2(), !).5S,. 51!) which represents almost exactly 

 ti per cent, of money invested. No account has 

 been taken, however, of the deterioration of the plants, 

 known as wear and tear repairs. This on a capital 

 (.f .S2(),000,00n would be at least 10 per cent., or 

 S2,()0() ()()(). If this be taken into consideration, the 

 apparent profit of 3 jx-r cent, on the manufacture 

 vanishes. 



'Now, while it is doubtless true that a few of the 

 factories (luring the census year made j)rofits, it i.s 

 perfectly evident, from a critical study of the only 

 reliable data which we have on the subject that for the 

 whole sum invested, after allowing for wear and tear, 

 there was a deficit instead of a profit. We readily grant 

 that the census year, viz, the year ended Slay '■][, 1900 

 was not a most favourable one, from an agricultural 

 point of view. In fact, if this a.ssumption is not made 

 it is evident that the beet sugar industry of the 

 United States is not on a jjaying basis. But granting 

 this point, it is clearly seen that, taken as a whole, the 

 profits ma<le by the farmer in growing the beets are 

 not gi'eater than the character of his labour and the 

 expenses connected therewith would warrant. 



'The above data show that the total number of 

 pounds of beet sugar made was Ki 1, 474, 100 which 

 would make the actual cost of sugar 41.5 cents per 

 pound. It may be safely stated, therefore, that the 

 minimum cost of the production of'beet sugar in the 

 United States, up to the present time, has not been 

 le.ss than 4 cents per pound. 



'The cost of making beet sugai- is slightly greater 

 than that of cane sugar, and this is easily explained 

 Avhen it is considered that the process of manufacture 

 of beet sugar is more coniplicated by far and more 

 expensive than that required for cane sugar. 



'The actual price paid for foreign sugars delivered 

 in New York is easily obtained by deilucting from the 

 :uarket price the amount of <luty which is collected. To 

 the amount of duty must be added the countervailing 

 duties on sugars imported from German}', Austria, 

 Rus.-iia and France, and other countries pa\-ing bounties 

 on exported sugars.' 



GOAT KEEPING. 



In parts of the West Indies g )ats are carefully 

 attendrd to and reared by the peasantry chietiy with 

 the object of selling their young for ' mutton.' 

 ^Strangely enough, goat keeping with a view to milk 

 jjroductioii does not appear to be largely taken up. 

 The goat is to the poor man what the cow is to his 

 richer neighbour, anrl there are doubtless many families 

 without the ace<.innnodation for a cow or lacking the 

 means of keejiing one, who could keep a couple of 

 goats deriving similar advantages as fi'om a cow, 

 though to a, lesser degree. 



The question of goat keeping versus cow keejiing 



is interestingly- discussed in Tlu- (':>iuifri/ for July, 

 1902, and .some ])ractical points are brought out 

 which should be of interest to the pea.saiitry in many 

 of the West Indian islands: — 



The goat, like the ])ig, is an animal which, if jinijierly 

 managed, should get its jiving in great part from vegetHl)les 

 and house-.seraps which would otherwise be wasted. For 

 instance, tjie peelings cf potato.s, yams, etc., the trinnnings 

 of fruit trees and .shrubs, the mowings of a lawn and the 

 leaves of trees, which are consigned to the manure heap 

 would go a long way to feed one or more goats. The goat 

 is most ,scru]iulous as reganis the cleanliness of its food, and 

 therefore jiotato jirunings and such things .should be wa.slied 

 free from dirt, and lawn mowings should not be trampled 

 upon before lieing served. The great ]ioint in feeding the.se 

 animals consists in giving small <|uantities only at a time, 

 and often. Salt should lie given occasionally. Another rule 

 to be observed in feeding is never to place fresh corn or 

 fodder in the feeding l)ox or trough without clearing out any 

 remains of the previous meal. 



A good milch goat should ha\e a nice, .soft, thin- 

 .skinned udder and [pliable teat.s, of sufficient length and 

 substance to be easily and comfortalily grasjied by the hand. 

 The work of milking is greatly facilitated by letting the goat 

 jumj) on to a bench about two feet high. As a rule goats- 

 shoulil be milked twice a day. Perfectly clean utensils 

 should Ije used, and they should be scalded out with boiling 

 water, and then rinsed in cold water before being left to dry. 

 Goat's milk is .superior to cow's milk, in that it is not 

 only more digestilile and nourishing and therefore specially 

 adapted to feeding infants and invalids, but it is far richer 

 when used on the table. Another important jioint in 

 connexion with it is, that the goat is considered to be 

 practically immune from tulierculosis and therefore the milk 

 may be freely used by infants without any fear of bacilli 

 beint; introduced into the blood. 



INSECTS AT SEA. 



During a sea voyage insects are perhaps the last thing 

 one woidd expect to find, save perhajis those cockroaches, 

 ants, etc., that are so often a plague on board ship. 



Interesting records are occasionally made by travellers, 

 of insects met with far out to sea, that could not have come 

 with or on the ships, and these records are always of value as 

 indicating how insects spread from place to place. 



During a recent voyage of the S. 8. Td/isnian, from 

 New York to Guadeloupe, a large green and black pond-fly 

 was seen to Hy up to the shi|) from the port quarter, and it 

 remained hawking around the stern for some time before it 

 flew otf. 



The .ship was, according to Captain Hansen, 200 miles- 

 west of Bermuda, and the insect would ai>pear to have 

 come either from Bernuida or from the more distant coast of 

 the United States. It nught possibly have subsisted during 

 that time on the well-known sea insect, Ilalobafef, which 

 lives on the surface of tropical seas and has been found in 

 West Indian waters. It is also [wssilde that it had remained 

 un.seen on or near the ship during the five days' journey 

 from New York, but the latter supposition appeared 

 unlikely. 



