CULTIVATION OF THE BEET. 65 



economical conditions are far less favorable than those 

 of the Northern and Western States." 



The beet-sugar industry has been of vast benefit to 

 Europe. Notwithstanding the high protective policy 

 to which it owes its existence, and which, as a matter of 

 course, was pursued for a time at the expense of the 

 public, which paid higher for sugar than it would oth- 

 erwise have done, yet there is no question that sugars 

 have been cheaper throughout the world for the past 

 fifteen years than they would have been had the in- 

 dustry not existed. 



Formerly the production of sugar was a monopoly 

 confined to the tropics, where its possession, combined 

 with the cheapness of land and the system of slavery, 

 fostered in planters and manufacturers an extrava- 

 gant, shiftless, and costly method of manufacture. 



The vast improvements that science has brought to 

 bear on the chemistry and mechanics of beet-sugar pro- 

 duction in Europe have awakened the planters and 

 manufacturers of the tropics to the necessity for prog- 

 ress, if they desire to retain their supremacy. 



Almost all the improvements made in cane-sugar 

 manufacture in the last fifteen years owe their origin 

 to the beet-sugar establishments of France and Ger- 

 many. 



The effects produced upon agriculture in Europe by 

 the cultivation of beets for sugar and alcohol have 

 been astounding, and the importance of the interest is 

 now everywhere acknowledged. 



In the cane-sugar countries upon the territory sur- 

 rounding a sugar establishment no crop is to be seen 

 but the cane, while cattle and sheep are few. In the 



