STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 373 



that jirnoimt, or five thousand ponds. This, at fifteen cents a pound, 

 would be worth seven hundred and fifty dollars — the product of one 

 acre ; while the product of one acre in France would only reach one 

 hundred and fifty dollars, after paying the freight and duties on the 

 importation to this country for a market; the duties, on an average, 

 being about thi'ee and a half cents a pound. 



Again, the cost of land in this State is really nothing compared to the 

 cost in France. The above facts would seem to present sufficient induce- 

 ment to determine capitalists to embark in the enterprise of producing 

 sugar and molasses in California. But the State Legislatxire, realizing 

 the great advantages of producing these articles to an extent sufticient 

 to supply our home consumption, has created an additional inducement. 

 In eighteen hundred and sixt^^-two, thc}^ passed a law which, among 

 others, offers the following premiums for sugar: 



"For the first one hundred bags of sugar, containing one hundred 

 pounds each, produced from sorghum, five hundred dollars ; for the same 

 quantity produced the next succeeding j^ear, two hundred and fifty dol- 

 lars; for the same quantit}^ produced the second succeeding year, one 

 hundred and fifty dollars; for the same quantity produced the third 

 succeeding year, one hundred dollars; for the same quantity of sugar 

 produced from sugar cane, the same premiums, and upon the same con- 

 ditions, shall be paid ; and also for the same quant ity produced from hcet root, 

 the same jjremiums, upon the same conditions." 



• 



Manufixctories for the production of beet sugar should be established 

 in the vicinity where the beets are raised, that the refuse pulp and leaves 

 may be fed to stock on the ground, and to save transportation. In this 

 manner, land may be made to produce a crop every year and be con- 

 stantly improved in productiveness, and at the same time, made to sup- 

 port a yovy large number of cattle and swine. Upon this subject it is 

 remarked by M. de Lavergue, in his recent work on French agriculture: 

 " It Avas feared in the first instance that the cultivation of sugar beet 

 would lessen the production of cattle and wheat, by occupjn'ng the best 

 land. But this fear was ill-founded, at least relative to the best culti- 

 vated regions. It is now demonstrated that the manufacture of sugar, 

 by creating a new source of profit, contributes to increase the other 

 j)roducts of the soil. The extraction of the saccharine matter deprives 

 the root of only part of its elements. Its pulp and foliage supply the 

 animals Avith an ainindance of food, and the returns of the sugar works 

 enable them to add commercial manures which indefinitely increase the 

 fertility of the soil. In eighteen hundred and fifty-five, the City of 

 Yalenciennes, the principal seat of the manufacture, was able to inscribe 

 npon a triumphal arch these significant words : 'Produce of Avheat in 

 the arondissement before the manufixcture of sugar, nine hundred and 

 sixt3"-one thousand one hundred and seventy-three bushels ; number of 

 oxen, seven hundred. Produce of Avheat since the manufacture of sugar, 

 one million one hundred and fifty-eight thousand tAvo hundred and fift}^- 

 six bushels; number of cattle, eleven thousand five hundred.'" 



Since the above was written, aa^c have received the annual report of 

 the Commissioner of Agriculture at Washino-ton for eighteen hundred 

 and sixty-four, and in it Ave find the following remarks upon this subject : 



"The manufacture of sugar from the 'sugar beet' is attracting con- 

 siderable attention in some parts of the Avest, and it is hoped Avill prove 



