144 CULTURE OF THE SUGAR BEET. 



The tubes for juice, water, and steam are placed in the interior of the circle of bat- 

 teries, and facilitate by their short length the flow of juices. The space occupied by 

 the system is limited, and this is particularly important for those who desire to re- 

 move their hydraulic presses. Besides, the cleanliness of the works is always abso- 

 lute. Means for closing the doors of manholes have been invented applicable to all 

 sizes. 



It is in Austria that the process of diffusion has found widest applica- 

 tion and has made the greatest advances. Thus in 18G7 there were 114 

 factories with hydraulic presses, 3 with centrifugal filters, 2 with macera- 

 tion, and 2 with diffusion. 



In 1876 to 1877 there were 30 factories with hydraulic presses and 181 

 with diffusion. 



Each diffuser of 750 gallons is supposed to handle about 6J tons in 

 twenty-four hours, an d a battery of 10 would therefore be capable of work- 

 ing 65,000 tons or more per annum. 



In France it is stated that during the present season (1879) as many 

 as fourteen or fifteen works will introduce the diffusion process, in addi- 

 tion to the five or six already having it in operation. It is considered 

 that but for the high price to be paid for the patent rights and the pres- 

 ent depression of the sugar industry in France the method would ex- 

 tend much more rapidly. 



It is stated that the process of Robert requires not more than five or 

 six workmen to manage it, but it is claimed that by means of the rotary 

 arrangement of the diffusers mentioned above this number is reduced 

 to two or three. It is also claimed that the process will secure to the 

 manufacture an increase by about 1 per cent, in the amount of sugar ob- 

 tained. 



One of the objections urged against the process has been the time re- 

 quired to extract the juice, but this difficulty has been to a great extent 

 remedied by application of heat to the water employed in the diffusers, 

 or to the material itself in the diffusers ; but while this reduces the time 

 for extracting the sugar from the slices, it also carries out a larger pro- 

 portion of organic matters and sajts, which have the well-known tend- 

 ency to increase the proportion of molasses obtained at the cost of the 

 yield of crystallized sugar. 



It would be of interest and importance to note the comparative value 

 of the different methods we have described, and we give below some of 

 the figures by which this may be determined. The value will depend 

 upon the cost of apparatus, the labor required in management, the steam 

 force employed, the quantity of material that may be handled in a given 

 time, the degree of extraction of sugar, the total cost, and the value of 

 the residues. 



With the limited time and means at my disposition while in France it 

 was impossible for me to obtain complete data bearing upon these points, 

 yet it would appear that, all things being considered, power and labor 

 required and convenience of management, some of the continuous 

 presses will find favor among American manufacturers who may desire 



