BEET-ROOT SUGAR. 



PART I. 



MY attention was drawn to the question of the sugar 

 supply of the United States by the very high prices 

 prevailing in the spring of 1865, and I commenced 

 the investigation of the subject early in the month of 

 March of the same year. 



Having satisfied myself of the firm basis of the beet- 

 sugar industry in Europe, and that its establishment 

 in the United States was not only practicable, but also 

 promised to be highly remunerative, I spent several 

 weeks in pursuit of that locality which possessed in 

 the highest degree the advantages of cheap land, labor, 

 fuel, transportation, and also a high market for sugar. 



Most of these conditions are fulfilled in the region 

 which I have selected, viz., the coal and prairie lands 

 of Illinois, on the line of the Chicago and Rock Island 

 Railroad, the territory being intersected, not only by 

 the above-named road, but also by the Illinois River 

 and the Illinois Canal, which secure cheap, easy, and 

 frequent transportation to Chicago, St. Louis, and the 



(7) 



