III. Cane vs. Beet The 

 Struggle for Supremacy 



We owe the discovery of cane sugar 

 to the Bengalese in India; as long 

 ago as the third or fourth century 

 A. D., travelers from India brought 

 back news of "Indian salt." From 

 the fifth century, we can trace its 

 spread into Arabia, Egypt, Spain, 

 Portugal, the Canary Islands, Brazil, 

 Cuba, and so on around the world. 



But the making of sugar out of 

 beets we owe distinctly to Napoleon 

 Bonaparte. It is just 110 years 

 since Napoleon gave the beet its 

 impetus, and the circumstances were 

 these: 



In 1804-5 the business affairs of 

 Europe were in much the same 

 tangle as they are in the war times of 

 today. 



Napoleon was successful in bat- 

 [37] 



