136 



tlic ncv,- factory buildiugs, mirl the machinery. Cost of tnac'iiucry, 5('"/jOO. C.iytacity 

 of the factory, 10,000 tous of beet root perseasoti. Nono of i:hc owners \v«ro practically 

 familiar Avitli the bnsiuess, aud some h)S3 lias been Bustaiiied from lack of proper tuan- 

 ageaient. The proprietoi's, however, have full faith in its success, aud arc investing 

 considerable capital in one or more new factories. They woie led to e.\i)ect, this season, 

 a supply of 10,000 tons ot beets, bnt got souiothiug less than half that quantity; and 

 the beot 'campaign' lasted only onc-and-Iialf months. The beets were of excellent 

 quality, aud those who gi-cw theui have cleared al)out $100, gold, per acre. The daogi.r 

 of frost before the beets are fully ripe is a ditlicnlty to be met v.'itli here. 



"The factory at Landskroua aud at Sfcockhoim together, in Ij^'/O, manufactured one, 

 and a half million pounds of beet sugar, of the value of $180,000, besides molas.sed, *A' 

 the value of ,55,000. 



" It is well known to what a high standard agriculture has been carried in Englan<l. 

 Aud yet Mr. James Howard, the distinguished English agriculturist, ascertaiued ))y 

 personal observation of 6ugar-b(»et growing in France that the profit on the crop iva>i Jar 

 greater than upon ani/ crop grown in Enr/Iand; and he so expressed himself in ld(5d, in a 

 note to the president of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, in v.hich he recom- 

 mended tlic sending of a deputation to visit the best farms ou the continent. 



"InlBOKMr. Hov.-arcl made an extensive tour on the continent, particularly to 

 acquire inforuiatiou on this subj'jct, aud in 1870 published the result of liis observations, 

 in a highly interesting and instructive volume of about 100 pages. In France ho visited 

 .Bcveral farms, Avhich had taken the premium of honor (valued at §1,(500) in their dis- 

 trict, and which, he says, are exerting a quiet but powerful influeuce in their respec- 

 tive neighborhoods. Among these v/as a farm at Lens of 1,2()0 acres, of which 500 

 acres were in beet root, all on ridge, without a single Idank spot; the yield estimated 

 18 tons per acre. The laud had been plowed IG to 18 inches deep. There Jiad been a 

 sugar-factory ou the fai'm for many years. Anoiher farm near Tours had 1,250 acres ot 

 btet root, beautifully cultivated, the rotation being, 1, wheat; 2, beet root; 3, clover. 

 At Cbassart, near Fleurs, in Belgium, ou a farm of 1,500 acres, he saw one splendid 

 field of sugar-beet of 175 acres, which v.as estimated at over 20 tons an acre. He shov.s 

 that, owing to the inlinq^ce of sugar-beet factories in Belgium, the annual rent of farms 

 have risen to, in some cases, §17 per aero. The Rhenish beet-root sugar company at 

 Cologne hitve a farm of 7,200 acres. They pay the surrounding farmers 20«. per ton for 

 beets, aud give back the pulp free, the average y)ricc of which, on the continent, is Vis. 

 per ton. He was shown tuo debtor and creditor *accouut of a be«t-sugar factory, 

 v/hich manufactures into sugar between 13,000 aud 14,000, tons of roots per annum. 

 The total expenditure, exclusive of the interest upon the mouej' embarked, vras 

 §94,000; the total receipts about $160,000, leaving $66,000 per annum tor profit and 

 interest on capital. 



" There must now bo over a thousand beet-sugar factoiics in Europe. 



"While both the manufacture of beet sugar aud the growing of the beets are seen to 

 be protitable, it would seem, hov/evcr, that tho peculiar advantufje of the industrj- to a 

 country is its iujluence in diffusing a skillful practice of farming aud of promotlug agri- 

 culture in geueral. To show the apju'cciatiou in which it is h^ild in France, Mr. Howai'd 

 states that, at an agi'icultural meeting held a few years ago at Valenciennes, a tri- 

 umphal arch wa<3 erocte<l, on which appeared the following inscription : ' The growth of 

 wheat in this district, before tho productiou of beet-root sugar, was only 97t),000 bush- 

 els ; the number of oxen was 700. Since tho introduction ot the sugar manufacture th- 

 growth of wheat has been 1,168,000 bushels, aud the number of oxen 11,500.'" 



As to the steps that will promote this business in the United States, I would submit 

 that, before any one would bo willing to invest capital iu starting a factory iu an un- 

 tried locality, he v/ould wish to ascertain whether tho soil in the ueighboihood will pro- 

 duce beets having a sutncient percentage of sugar in tho juice to make it profitable. 

 l>oubtless this essential fact can be ascertaiued by growing the beet-s on difterent farms 

 a couple of successive seasons. Some person, who purposes trying the manufacture, 

 should see to procuring seed in time and to its distribution, with instructious as to tho 

 best manner of growing. He should also make arraugemeuts in seaeoti for having Xh'-. 

 Ixjets analyzed at sorao beet-sugar factory promptly after they are ripe, and for thi ir 

 careful coiiection, labeling, aud transportation to the place of aualyzmg. 



It seems as if it would bo for the interest of some of the laud-graut railroad compa- 

 uies to causa cxpevimeuts to bo made as to the adaptability of their lauds for sugar- 

 beet growing. 



Where a factory is to be established by i)ersons unacquainted ivitli the art, practi- 

 cally, it is of the highest importance, of course, to procure for manager a faithful a* 

 Aveli as competent person. It sometimes happens that men are recouunended for situa- 

 tions to get rid of them. ^Vrid I would suggest, as tho best plau, that, in case the pro- 

 jirietors of auy new beet-sugar factoi-y iu the United States need to send to Europe for 

 -0. mauager, they ajiply to the government of the country from wh;;uce they expect to 

 obtain him, through the good offices of the Department of State, 



