780 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



francs per 1,000 kilogrammes of beets, or 3 1-10 cents per pound 

 of sugar. 



The yield of sugar is about eight per cent, of which four and 

 one-half per cent is of a quality fit for direct consumption, and 

 would bring fifteen cents per pound here to-day. Two and one- 

 half per cent is of a grade better than No. 14, and one per cent is 

 equal to No. 12. In another about the same amount and quality 

 is produced at a cost of 3 7-10 cents per pound. 



I know of another establishment where the total cost, including 

 every expense, interest on capital at five per cent, and deprecia- 

 tion of machinery at ten per cent, was, in 1865-6, but the fraction 

 of a mill over four cents per pound. 



The amount of sugar produced was seven and one-half per cent; 

 but the quality was not so good as in the previously described 

 cases, although the first quality, which amounted to four per cent 

 of the beets worked, sold readily at seventy-five francs the hun- 

 dred kilogrammes, or six and one-half cents per pound. 



Profits on Beet Sugar. 



It is believed that the only material item of expense in the 

 manufacture of sugar that would be greater in the United States 

 than in France is the single one of labor. All others in excess of 

 those of France are here more than oflTset by the lower cost of 

 coal, of land, and of taxation. 



In relation to labor it is well known that in the United States 

 the use of labor-saving machines is greater than in any other 

 country, because the high price of labor has stimulated their 

 invention. It is a fact that the number of hands employed in 

 suo"ar refineries in this country is much smaller than in European 

 establishments of the same capacity of production, and it would 

 doubtless be possible to effect some saving in that direction as 

 compared with France in an American sugar manufactory. 



The labor in a beet-sugar factory in this country would certamly 

 not require a greater number of men than is required in a similar 

 establishment in France. But, assuming that the same number 

 would be necessary, it is proper to ascertain the exact relation 

 that the price of labor bears to the cost of production. 



In Europe the number of skilled hands required in a sugar 

 manufactory is very small, the great proportion of workmen being 

 common farm laborers, who work in the fields in summer and in 

 the mills in winter. The making of beet sugar is only carried on 



