288 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



called the ' Germania Sugar Company,' and have six hundred acres of 

 land in cultivation with beets this season." 



The following is their estimate of the profits of working one hundred 

 tons of beets per day, according to the yield of sugar, and with a capital 

 of two hundred thousand dollars : 



At 6 per cent. 

 At 7 per cent. 

 At 8 per cent. 

 At 9 per cent. 



73 per cent, profit. 



91 per cent, profit. 

 109 per cent, profit. 

 127 per cent, profit. 



In referring to this same enterprise, the Commissioner of Agriculture 

 says as follows :* 



" A promising beginning of beet sugar making has been commenced at 

 Chatsworth, Illinois, aud fine samples of the sugar may be seen in the 

 museum of this department. It has, of course, met with difficulties, sur- 

 rounded by new circumstances, with high rates of labor, and interest on 

 money, which will all, I have no doubt, be eventually overcome. Many 

 individuals and companies stand ready to engage in the business when 

 its success upon our soil is fully demonstrated. Then in the West, as in 

 Europe, flourishing villages will spring up upon prairies that are now 

 without population or improvements ; and an impetus will be given to 

 all other business by the successful manufacture of a raw product taken 

 from adjacent fields, involving the supply of an imperative want of 

 every class of our people." 



The.testimony of the best authorities on this subject, and the attempts 

 themselves, prove that the beet may be grown successfully on our soil, 

 and that when capital and enterprise are brought to the aid of this 

 industry, success in sugar making will be assured beyond doubt. 



NEW PROCESSES AND MACHINERY. 



Before giving a detailed account of the machinery and apparatus used 

 iu the manufacture of beet root sugar, it has been thought advisable to 

 briefly enumerate the processes, and report the machinery employed at 

 the present time. ^ This notice is condensed from an article by Mr. Bas- 

 set, published in Etudes sur V Exposition. 



The manufacture of beet sugar, cane sugar, and any sugar extracted 

 from a vegetable juice or sap containing saccharine matter, depends 

 upon the following operations : 



First — The extraction of the sweet juice from the plant or part of the 

 plant which contains it. 



Second — This juice, which is never pure enough to produce good crys- 

 tallizable sugar by simple evaporation, must be purified. 



Third — The juice must then be concentrated, in order to allow crys- 

 tallization to take place. 



^Preliminary Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1S67, p. 10. 



