APPENDIX. 



153 



aid in developing it ; and I have all along had strong faith 

 in its practicability, and still have it. 



* * * * * 



Yours truly, 



(Signed,) CHARLES BELCHER. 



ST. Louis, March 19, 1807. 



I also annex an extract from a letter written by Mr. Ben 

 der on the subject : . 



NEW YORK, March 10, 1807. 

 ***** 



Ere long I expect to see general attention directed to this 

 industry. An impetus once, and properly given, must de 

 velop the manufacture of domestic sugar rapidly, spreading 

 its benefits all over the land, enriching the farmer and the 

 mechanic, opening new channels of support to thousands, 

 stimulating good husbandry and inventive genius. As early 

 as 1861 I felt convinced that the "sorghum cane," from the 

 chemical nature of its juice, and from the difficulty of bring 

 ing it to maturity, would prove a failure as a sugar producer, 

 and only a partial success as a syrup producer, and that for 

 the range of the Northern States, the sugar beet only pos 

 sessed all the qualifications for extensive and reliable pro 

 duction of sugar in an eminent degree. I induced, at that 

 time, William H. Belcher, of the St. Louis and Chicago refin 

 eries, to import some beet seed from Europe, which, for exper 

 iment, we distributed amongst farmers in the West, and the 

 results were of the most encouraging character. Further 

 investigations by us and others in the following years satis 

 fied us that the yield per acre was 10 to 20 tons, at a cost of 

 less than $4 per ton ; that the saccharine qualities of the 

 American beet are equal to those of the European, and that 

 there is no more difficulty in making sugar in America from 

 beets than there is in Europe ; and further, that from sugar- 

 beet a good merchantable raw sugar can be produced at a 

 cost of less than jive cents per pound, such sugar being worth 

 in New York to-day, taking the color as a standard, 10 cents ; 

 but intrinsically, its value would be much greater; the small 

 er admixture of grape sugar warranting to the refiner a 

 larger yield of refined sugar, and less in syrup. 



