134 CULTUEE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 



of the land, it is impossible for them to devote themselves to a culture the products 

 of which are not transportable. Local rasping- works resolve the difficulty. Its pipes 

 may be conformed to the most variable lands, and carry to the factory all the juice of 

 the roots, leaving the pulps on the place for the cultivator. It will probably be easy 

 in the near future to sell the juice by the saccharimetric degree, and not according 

 to the weight of the beets. This is really a problem of common interest to the grower 

 and to the manufacturer. 



The conduit is used about four months. During the remainder of the year it may 

 serve for transportation of water. This office has in earlier times contributed to the 

 success of a factory, the supplies for which could not possibly be increased without 

 this means of transport. Growers, located upon a plateau too dry for the purpose, en- 

 gaged to grow beets in return for an engagement to furnish them water by the conduit. 



These numerous advantages are, by no means annulled by the expenses ; this is very 

 evident. Rasp and presses were necessities of the works. Even the boilers are not 

 an increase ; a factory does not operate with a single boiler ; there are several, and 

 the number increases according to the needs. Even the buildings are not an extra 

 expense. These would have to be increased in the factory. The conduit is really the 

 only new expense for stock. Adding two or three individuals to the personnel and a 

 force-pump, and the account is complete. 



A conduit of 10 centimeters diameter (3.9 inches) costs 7,000 to 8,000 francs ($1,400 

 to $1,600) per kilometer (0.62 miles); let us suppose 28or 30 (18.60 miles) kilometers; 30 

 kilometers, for instance, it would cost 240,000 francs ($48,000) or 24,000 francs ($4,800) 

 per year interest and redemption. It is possible to carry in 120 days 120 times 2,500 

 hectoliters (65,000 gallons), or 300,000 hectoliters (7,800,000 gallons); t. e., the juice of 

 37,500 tons of beets, at least. Now it is usual to obtain the beets at 2 and even 3 

 francs (40 to 60 cents) less per ton at the rasping-works. There is therefore a gain of 

 75,000 to 122,500 francs ($15,000 to $22,500), which largely compensates for the 24,000 

 francs ($4,800) of interest, the slight increase in the personnel, &c, at the great dis- 

 tance spoken of.* 



The force-pump necessary to overcome the resistance in the conduit requires an av- 

 erage of 1 to 8 or 9 horse powers ; say, 5. Each horse-power costing 2 francs (40 cents) 

 per day, the expense for 120 days will not exceed 1,200 francs ($240). 



The ground is sometimes an extra cost ; 1 hectare (2.47 acres) never costs more than 

 6,000 to 10,000 francs ($1,200 to $2,000) ; even at the latter price the annual interest is 

 500 francs ($100). 



There are at present in France 145 of these rasping- works supplying 

 central factories. Of the latter, that at Cambrai is considered one of 

 the most important, and is described by a writer in the Journal des Fab- 

 ricants de Sucre in the following terms : 



It was started in 1872, after those of Origny, Sainte Bernard, and Meaux, which 

 marked the beginning of this well-known system of causing to converge at a single 

 point the juice extracted in several rasping-works. The rasping-works placed in 

 purely agricultural centers have no other function than to extract the juice and 

 send it, by means of subterranean pipes, to the central works, situated near to a canal 

 or railroad, where may be found the apparatus necessary for the conversion of this 

 juice into sugar. The principle of the divisiou of labor upon which this system rests 

 has found in the works at Cambrai one of its most extended applications ; and we 

 believe that nowhere have they succeeded in reducing in a greater proportion the cost 

 of manufacture. It is particularly here that the system of M. Linard, the inventor, 

 should be seen ; and it may be said that it is especially at Cambrai that the concen- 



* Maunien6's figures may be somewhat simplified, as follows : At the rates for cost 

 he assumes the figures would be $2,250 to $2,500 per mile — suppose 20 miles. The cost 

 would be $50,000 and interest and redemption $5,000 per year. The amount of juice 

 that could be transported and the saving on inferior prices of beets would be the same. 



