162 CULTUKE OF THE SUGAE BEET. 



These sayings are all quoted by M. Mariage in a report upon the in- 

 dustry in the arrondissement of Valenciennes, made on the occasion of 

 the Universal Exposition of 1867. 



Further on in the same report, M. Mariage shows that in the arron- 

 dissement of Valenciennes, between 1854 and 1866, there was an increase 

 of 103 in the number of oxen and bulls, 437 cows, 2,580 young cattle, 

 and 3,144 goats. This rate of increase in the number of cattle is not 

 found in other portions of France consequent upon the introduction of 

 the beet-sugar industry, but it appears to be generally accepted among 

 the agriculturists of the north of France that while the numbers of cat- 

 tle have not increased to any considerable extent there has been a 

 marked increase in the average weight of beef-cattle, amounting to 

 from 50 to 75 per cent., and this increase is referred to the extensive use 

 of beet-root pulp for food. By reference to the table given in the chaj>- 

 ter treating of the statistics, we find that this industry, confined to a 

 comparatively small area in France, gives employment to over 50,000 

 individuals during the winter season, and all these people are left free 

 during the summer season to assist in the cultivation of the fields, and 

 the large majority find employment there. They not only manipulate 

 the raw product of the farm but they are producers as well. In this 

 particular this industry is one of the greatest boons to the laboring 

 classes that can well be imagined. 



The amelioration of the soil by beet-root culture has already been re- 

 ferred to. In this industry nothing should be lost to the farm, though it 

 cannot be said that this is always carried out. The marketable constit- 

 uent of the crop, the sugar, takes nothing from the soil in its formation. 

 All its constituents are derived from other sources, atmospheric, &c. 

 Much of the mineral matter of the crop is returned to the farm in the 

 refuse of the factory, though a large proportion is lost in the molasses 

 sent to the distillery, the residues of which are in most cases worked for 

 the recovery of the alkaline salts to be used for other industrial purposes. 

 It may, however, be justly said that in the culture of this crop, besides 

 the improvement effected in the physical condition of the soil, its chemi- 

 cal character suffers less from this than from other crops. 



The statement of Prince Louis Napoleon has found confirmation in 

 the results universally obtained in culture of wheat and other cereals ; 

 for the cereal crops cultivated have increased to a very marked extent 

 both in acreage grown, the yield per acre, and the weight of a given 

 volume of the grain. As a consequence of the beneficial influences of 

 beet-root culture on the land, we find that its advance into any section 

 is soon followed by an increase in the value of property, and M. Macarez, 

 in a short sketch lately presented of the history and importance of the 

 culture in the arrondissement of Cambrai, states that in 1835 land 

 cultivated in beets was worth $120 per acre, and that in 1875 the same 

 land was worth $280 to $325 per acre, and relations of a very similar 

 character prevail in all the departments of France where the culture 

 lias become firmly established. 



