58 



settler in the interior of New South Wales for extracting the 

 sugar for his household from this invaluable root. 



"In August following I supplemented that paper by another 

 communication giving some account of a cheap American 

 machine for making beet-sugar upon a somewhat larger scale, 

 but still within moderate limits. At the same time I furnished 

 some statistics, affording a sound basis for the encouragement 

 of all practical agriculturists. 



" Having cleared my way by these few preliminary remarks, 

 I now advance a step further, and place before the Royal 

 Society the requisite data for the establishment of a sugar 

 factory, calculated to work 150,0001bs. of beetroot per 24 hours, 

 during a campaign of 100 days, a.nd corresponding to the 

 average product of the cultivation of 500 acres in beets. The 

 scope of this paper may be described as the technology of the 

 manufacture, with its estimated cost of buildings and 

 machinery, and working expenses, together with the probable 

 results to be annually realized, derived from the most recent 

 and reliable publication on the subject.* 



"1. Froduction of steam. — Beetroot sugar works consume a 

 large amount of steam for driving engines, which propel root- 

 washers, hydraulic pumps, and presses, pulpers, water pumps, 

 centrifugals, &C; Steam also conveys the juice and syrups 

 from one place in the building to another, and is the agent 

 used for evaporating and boiling them. The steam depart- 

 ment of a 500 acre beetroot sugar factory comprises three 

 steam boilers of 40 h.p. each, with two internal pipes and one 

 flue ; two steam drums, with fittings complete ; and one 4 h.p. 

 donkey engine, driving two feed pumps. The total cost of the 

 appliances for the production of steam is stated at =£925. 



"2. Washing and Fulping the Beefs and Extracting the 

 Juice. — Operations, in Tasmania, should be commenced early 

 in April, when steam should be got up in the boilers to 40 or 

 45 lbs. pressure, and the beets should be regularly carted in. 

 An exact account should be kept of each load entering the 

 works, and of every pound of beet consumed. The beets as 

 they are brought in are placed in piles alongside of the beet- 

 root washer, which is a long cylindrical drum revolving in an 

 iron tank, furnished below with a man-hole door, for allowing 

 it to be occasionally cleared out ; the refuse being carted off as 

 manure. The proper speed for a root- washer is from 20 to 30 

 revolutions per minute. The more water employed in washing 

 the beets the better, but the supply of both roots and water must 

 be regular. On leaving the root- washer, the beets are pitched 



* The work referred to is entitled " On the manufacture of beetroot 

 sugar in England and Ireland. By William Crookes, r.R.S., editor of 

 the Chemical News. — Longmans, 1870. 



