34 



It isa noble *' fabrick," and the owners, Germans, remarkably civil. As 

 ray daughter lives near it, I can see it whenever I go there. (See page 5.) At 

 Stuttgart, when I was there last year the concern was so successful that they, 

 for an increase of capital, then formed it into a company, and all was going 

 on prosperously. Tliey have to pay duty on all the sugar they make, both in 

 Germany and France, and seem to be very prosperous. At and about Douay, 

 they have all the means and appHances in the best order, and wherever you 

 travel you see little but crops of beet-root, and they get a full supply, and 

 dispose of the pulp instead of keeping it to feed cattle. 



You will see by the letter I enclose, that the machinery is very elaborate 

 and expensive, and for many reasons tlie manufacture could not be com- 

 menced on a small scale Avith any prospect of success, nor is there any per- 

 son in Tasmania able to make the attempt, it would require at least ten 

 Germans who thoroughly understand the process, and as the work can only 

 go on in the winter months, say in November, December, and January, there 

 must be a relay of competent men for boiling and the other operations night 

 and day for three months, as any delay would probably be at a loss of at least 

 £500. , , , ., 



On the Continent they have this advantage, that the men, women, and chil- 

 dren employed, could not procure any other work in the winter months, as 

 the climate is far more severe than in England, and they get people at very 

 low wa-^es. There may be employed in large manufactories about one hundred 

 and fifty persons in cutting off the tops, washing, and other parts of the 

 work. A large quantity of water is required, and at least two steam engines 

 of, say from Sweaty to thirty horse power, and at least four steam boilers, as 

 the whole system is carried on by steam. The so-called coppers have copper 

 spiral tubes in them, three inches in diameter, and are very expensive. 



There must be a proper kiln for burning the limestone used in the process, 

 and the fume from the kiln is utilised in order to cause the lime which has 

 been added to the extract to subside to the bottom. When this has all been 

 deposited, it is thro%\Ti out and makes excellent manure. There is also a 

 very considerable quantity of animal charcoal (burnt bones), used to discolour 

 the extract, and make it as pure as clean water. This is used in all sugar 

 houses, even if the sugar is from the canes. It should be made on the pre- 

 mises, and reburned there also. This can be seen at Sandridge, and on a small 

 scale at oar brewery in Hobart Town. 



I fear I will not ever see or hear of a beet-root sugar manufactory, during 

 my few remaining months or years, in Tasmania. 



Make any use you please with this and Mr. Baruchson's letter. 



I am, my dear Sir, 



Your's truly, 



JOHN WALKER. 

 In the enclosed letter Mr. Baruchson calculates that from £60.000 to 

 £100,000 would be required to establish in England a manufactory and dis- 

 tillery on a scale large enough to ensure success. 



Mr. Justin Browne doubted if the beet could compete in these colonies 

 ■with the cane sugar, and it was to the disadvantage of the former that it 

 was only used in the form of lump, or refined, not as brown sugar. 



Mr. Barnard stated tbat on his visit to New South Wales, he had seen 

 some very good brown sugar from the beet, and had presented a sample to 

 this Museum. He knew that Dr. Coverdale had grown a quantity of the 

 root at the Queen's Asylum, and was now, and in order to produce the 

 Bugar, only waiting to be supplied with a machine which was found to 

 work successfully in New South Wales, and the cost of which would be 

 about £50. A friend of his in Sydney who has been engaged in the 

 manufacture, was about to write on the subject, and they would probably 

 hear something of it on the occasion of the approaching great agricul- 

 tural meeting. 



Mr. Stephens thought if the sugar could be manufactured profitably at 

 all, they were in a better position than the New South Wales producer, as 

 his climate was not equal to this for the growth of root crops, and he had 



