72 BEET-ROOT SUGAR AND 



by the beet for succeeding crops, that a single light 

 ploughing suffices for the grain, which is all sowed in 

 drills by a machine. 



Before the introduction of the sugar industry into 

 France, workmen in the country, by reason of a lack 

 of employment, w r ere so constantly emigrating to the 

 city, that government instituted inquiries to ascertain 

 the cause, and also the best method of preventing it. 

 Now, the natural tendency of workmen to seek the 

 capital is not noticed in the sugar-producing districts, 

 where the industry gives ample and well-paid employ- 

 ment to all, both in summer and in winter, and where 

 crime and pauperism have sensibly diminished. 



Agriculture was looked upon as the calling of peas- 

 ants, requiring little intelligence and no education. It 

 is far otherwise now, and to be successful as a farmer 

 involves the necessity of having a good education. 

 The introduction of sugar-making into France, and 

 the intimate relation between that industry and agri- 

 culture, called for improved methods of culture, and a 

 more intelligent and scientific application of labor. 

 Intelligence and education were decentralized for the 

 benefit of the whole country ; capital also lent its 

 powerful aid, and agriculture made rapid progress, 

 while the condition of the laborers also was materially 

 improved. 



Louis Napoleon, the present emperor of the 

 French, when he was imprisoned at Ham, in 1842, 

 said of the beet-sugar industry, in his " Analyse de la 

 Question des Sucres," " It retains workmen in the coun- 

 try, and gives them employment in the dullest months 



