63 



BEET. 



established one on his own farm, raising the beet-root, as well as 

 extracting the sugar. We here give a brief account of the process, 

 taken chiefly from his own publications, especially the work entitled 

 ' La Chimie appliquee a I'Agrieulture,' 2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1829. The 

 first operation is to clean the roots : some effect this by washing, but 

 Chaptal prefers scraping and paring them with a knife, although by 

 this means one-sixth part of the root is wasted, as the scrapings 

 mixed with earth cannot be safely given to cattle, and even the pigs 

 eat but little of it ; but it adds to the manure, and is therefore not 

 altogether lost. Six tons of beet-root are thus reduced to fire, which 

 are next to be rasped and reduced to a pulp. This is done by a 

 machine consisting of a cylinder of tinned iron, two feet in diameter, 

 and eighteen inches in the axis, on which it is turned by machinery. 

 On the circumference of this cylinder are fixed, by means of screws, 

 ninety nafrow plates of iron, rising three-fourths of an inch from the 

 surface and parallel to the axis, at equal distances all round ; the outer 

 or projecting edges of these plates are cut into teeth like a saw ; a 

 slanting box is fixed to the frame on which the axis of the cylinder 

 turns, so that the roots may be pressed against these plates. The 

 cylinder is made to revolve rapidly, and the roots are thus scraped, the 

 pulp falling into a vessel, lined with lead, placed below. When two 

 such cylinders are made to revolve 400 times in a minute by a sufficient 

 power, whether water, wind, or horses, two and a half tons of roots 

 are ground down in two hours. It is necessary that this operation 

 should proceed rapidly, or else the pulp acquires a dark colour, and an 

 incipient fermentation takes place, which greatly injures the future 

 results. As the pulp is ground it is put into strong canvas bags, and 

 placed under a powerful press to squeeze out the juice. The residue 

 is stirred, and subjected to a second and third pressure, if necessary, 

 till every particle of juice is extracted. As the liquor is pressed out, it 

 runs into a copper, until it is two-thirds filled. The strength is ascer- 

 tained by an instrument similar to the saccharometer used by brewers, 

 called the pirn-liqueur of Beaume,* which shows the specific gravity of 

 the liquid. The fire is now lighted, and by the time the copper is full 

 the heat should be raised to 178" of Fahrenheit's thermometer (65 of 

 Reaumur), but no higher. 



In the mean time a mixture of lime and water has been prepared by 

 gradually pouring as much water upon lOlb. of quick lime as will 

 make the mixture of the consistency of cream. This is poured into 

 the copper when the heat is steadily at 178, and is well mixed with 

 the juice by stirring it. The heat is then increased till the mixture 

 boils, when a thick and glutinous scum rises to the surface. As soon 

 as clear bubbles rise through this scum, the fire is suddenly put out by 

 water poured on it or by a proper damper. The scum hardens as it 

 cools, and the sediment being deposited the liquor becomes clear and 

 of a light straw colour. The scum is then carefully taken off with a 

 skimmer having holes in it, and is put into a vessel till such time as the 

 liquor remaining in it can be pressed out. A cock is now opened about 

 five inches abore the bottom of the boiler, and all the clear liquor is 

 drawn off. Another cock lower down lets out the remainder until it 

 begins to appear cloudy; what still remains is afterwards boiled again 

 with what is extracted by pressure from the scum. The clear liquor is 

 now subjected to evaporation in another boiler which is wide and 

 shallow. The bottom is but slightly covered with the juice at first, 

 and it boila rapidly. As the water evaporates, fresh juice is let in. 

 When a certain degree of inspissation or thickening has taken place, so 

 as to show five or six degrees of strength on the pfae-liqueur, animal 

 charcoal is gradually added till the liquor arrives at 20. One hundred 

 weight of charcoal is required for the juice of 2| tons of beet, which Li 

 now reduced to about 400 gallons. The evaporation by boiling con- 

 tinues till the saccharometer marks 25 and a regular syrup is obtained. 

 Thin is now strained through a linen bag, and the liquor is kept 

 flowing by means of steam or hot air, and assisted by pressure. In 

 two or three hours all the clear syrup will have run through. 



There are many nice circumstances to be attended to, which can 

 only be learned by experience, and an outline of the process is all that 

 we undertake to give. 



The syrup thus prepared is again boiled and skimmed until it is 

 sufficiently concentrated, which is known in the following manner. The 

 skimmer is dij>p<xl into the syrup and drawn out; some of the thick 

 yrup which adheres to it is taken between the thumb and fore-finger 

 and held there till the heat is reduced to that of the skin ; the finger 

 and thumb are separated, and if the syrup is of a proper strength, a 

 thread will be drawn out, which snaps and has the transparency of 

 horn or rather barley-sugar : this is called the proof. The fire is then 

 put out and the syrup is carried to the cooler, which is a vessel capable 

 taining all the syrup produced by four operations or boilings. 

 II r the sugar is to crystallise : as soon as this commences the whole 

 is n'ell mixed and stirred; and before it becomes too stiff, earthen 

 moulds, of the well-known sugar-loaf shape, and of the size called gnat 

 '/, are filled with the crytallising mass, of which a little at a 

 tirni.' is poured into each. When they are full, they are carried to the 

 coolest place on the premises. As the crystallisation goes on, the 

 crust formed on the top is repeatedly broken, and the whole is stirred 



The plte-liqutur of Braume here referred to Is an hydrometer, o( which 

 eorrcuponds to 1-000, the ipeciflc gravity of pure water at 53 of Fahrenheit; 

 ml 25' to about 1 215. 



BEET. M 



till the crystals are collected in the centre ; it is then allowed to go on 

 without further disturbance. In three days it is so far advanced, that 

 the pegs which were put into the holes at the point of the moulds may 

 be taken out and the molasses allowed to run out. In a week this is 

 mostly run off. White syrup is now poured on the top of the moulds, 

 which filters through the mass and carries part of the colouring matter 

 with it. The process that follows is exactly that in common use in 

 refining West India sugars. 



Although most of the operations are nearly the same as those by 

 which the juice of the sugar-cane is prepared for use, much greater 

 skill and nicety are required in rendering the juice of the beet-root 

 crystallisable on account of its greater rawness, and the smaller 

 quantity of sugar that it contains. But when the sugar is refined, it is 

 impossible for the most experienced judge to distinguish it from the 

 other, either by the taste or appearance ; and from this arose the 

 facility with which smuggled colonial sugar was sold in France, under 

 the name of sugar from beet-root. Five tons of clean roots produce 

 about 4^ ewt. of coarse sugar, which give about 160 Ibs. of double- 

 refined sugar, and 60 Ibs. of inferior lump-sugar. The rest is molasses 

 from which a good spirit is distilled. The dry residue of the roots, 

 after expressing the juice, consists chiefly of fibre and mucilage, and 

 amounts to about one-fourth of the weight of the clean roots used. It 

 contains all the nutritive part of the root, with the exception of 44 per 

 cent, of sugar, which has been extracted from the juice, the rest being 

 water. Two pounds of this dry residue and half a pound of good hay, 

 are considered as sufficient food for a moderate-sized sheep for a day, 

 and will keep it in good condition ; and cattle in proportion. 



As the expense of this manufacture greatly exceeds the value of the 

 sugar produced, according to the price of colonial sugar, it is only by 

 the artificial encouragement of a monopoly and premiums that it can 

 ever be carried on to advantage. The process is one of mere curiosity 

 as long as sugar from the sugar-cane can be obtained, and the import 

 duties laid upon it are not so excessive as to amount to a prohibition ; 

 and in this case it is almost impossible to prevent its clandestine 

 introduction. 



By allowing the juice of the beet-root to undergo the vinous fermen- 

 tation and by distilling it, a more profitable result will be obtained in a 

 very good spirit. A kind of beer may also be made of it, which is said 

 to be pleasant in warm weather and wholesome. 



Another mode of making sugar from beet root, practised in some 

 parts of Germany, is as follows, and is said to make better sugar than 

 the other process. The roots having been washed are sliced length- 

 ways, strung on packthread and hung up to dry. The object of this is 

 to let the watery juice evaporate, and the sweet juice, being concen- 

 trated, is taking up by macerating the -dry slices in water. It is 

 managed so that all the juice shall be extracted by a very small 

 quantity of water, which saves much of the trouble of evaporation. 

 Professor Lampadius obtained from 110 Ibs. of roots 4 Ibs. of well- 

 grained white powder-sugar, and the residuum afforded 7 pints of 

 spirit. Achard says that about a ton of roots produced 100 Ibs. of raw 

 sugar, which gave 55 Ibs. of refined sugar, and 25 Ibs. of treacle. This 

 result is not very different from that of Chaptal. 



The production of a spirit by fermentation and distillation from the 

 jnirvsof the beet is now a very extensive manufacture on the con- 

 tinent, and it is sought to introduce it into this country. The question 

 on which its profitableness here must hinge is this : are beet-roots 

 grown in an English climate as full of saccharine juice as those grown 

 under the warm sun of France ? We imagine not ; and it is extremely 

 doubtful if any more profitable way of using the land set apart for this 

 crop exists in this country than that of sowing seed of the largest 

 sorts for the growth of food for the production of milk and beef and 

 mutton. 



Meanwhile we add the following paragraph descriptive of one of the 

 processes adopted, though Champonnois' and other patent methods 

 of extracting the spirit exist. 



Leplay's system of distilling from beet-root consists in fermenting 

 the juice, while still in slices, of the root, and in passing over heated 

 steam, through vessels full of these slices, after the fermentation is 

 completed. Mr. Weeks, of Bolney Lodge, Sussex, states in the 

 ' Times ' that, during the last season nearly 5000 tons have been 

 distilled in this country on this plan, yielding 40,000 gallons of proof 

 spirit. The refuse is nutritive, and he says that his experience of 

 the steamed roots after distillation is conclusive on this point. " Some 

 Cull South-down lambs I purchased on July 5th last, at 12. 6d. 

 each, and sold last week, fatted almost entirely on the steamed 

 roots, at 38. each, after taking a better fleece of wool than usual. 

 Nor could I- have fatted them so well on any other produce. And 

 in so steaming the roots is it not better to catch the steani and 

 condense it into spirit than let it go up the chimney to evaporate in 

 the air 1 " It is only right to add that the subject is properly one 

 for experiment, the view thus expressed not being so self-evident as it 

 is here implied to be. The steam carries off that which in the 

 original root contributes to its nutritive character, the fermentation 

 having conferred an evaporable character upon it ; and French grown 

 roots, grown under a somewhat different climate, contain probably 

 more of this spirit-yielding portion of the root than our own. The 

 recently published official report on the experiments of the past year 

 declares them to have hitherto failed to yield a profitable spirit. 



