CHAPTER IX 



THE BEET INDUSTRY 



WHETHER the sugar cane came originally from the East 

 and was carried from one country to another till at last 

 it arrived in the Western Hemisphere, or whether it 

 was indigenous on both sides of the world cannot be 

 definitely decided, but there is little doubt that it was 

 carried from China to India and Arabia, and afterwards 

 introduced by the Arabians into Persia, Africa and 

 Spain. It was the Spaniards who started its cultiva- 

 tion in the West Indies and America. India is said to 

 have produced sugar as early as the seventh century 

 a rare and costly article in those days. 



The date of the first production of sugar from the 

 beetroot, on the other hand, is very definite. A 

 German chemist, Marggraf, in the year 1747, was the 

 first to call attention to the fact that the juice of the 

 beetroot contained sugar identical in composition and 

 properties with cane sugar. But it was not till 1799 

 that this discovery was put to practical proof on a 

 working scale. A pupil, or follower of Marggraf, 

 Francis Karl Archard, invented at that time a method 

 of extracting sugar from the beetroot. Great interest 

 was taken in this idea for a new agricultural industry, 

 and the King of Prussia gave substantial help in the 

 erection of the first beetroot sugar factory in Silesia. 

 Other factories followed, not only in Prussia but also in 

 Bohemia. In 1811 France took up the new industry 

 and from France it spread to other countries. Bona- 

 parte gave it a great impetus, seeing at once the advan- 

 tage of producing sugar at home, and voted large sums 



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