28 



THE FARMER'S MOiNTHLY VISITOR. 



to engage in some important branch of the mc 

 chanical art, or t'orco tlieui by the dint ol'tlieir own 

 industry and energies, to seek their fortune in some 

 other pursuit. Nothing is more detestable in onr 

 eye, than to see a healthy good looking youth 

 breaking loose from the restraints of honorable in- 

 dustry, returning to his fathers domicil for support, 

 and loafing it about, ratlier than be pursuing some 

 occupation which will not only support himself, but 

 give gratification to his worthy parents. We would 

 say to every fatln^r who has such a son. be he rich 

 or poor, rather drive him to "cu' his cord of wood a 

 day," than suffer him to spend his time in idleness. 

 "An idle head is the devil's work shop." That 

 youth, therefore, who has nothing to do, is very apt 

 to become a tattler^ a slajiderc7\ and a liar^ or some- 

 thing worse, and make himself the pest of the com- 

 munity in which he may reside. 



Fred. Times. 



Beet Sugar. 



It will at no time be an object to theeditorof the 

 Monthly Visitor to encourage expensive experi- 

 ments where there is*, risque of failure. No fann- 

 er who cannot afford to lose, or who cannot lose 

 without ffreat inconvenience, ought to make exper- 

 iments where he is ignorant of the certain results. 



It remains to be ascertained whether the beet su- 

 gar cultivation can be profitably carried on in this 

 country. When we read of the attempts of Na- 

 poleon twenty -five years ago to introduce that cul- 

 tivation into France, we were of opinion that he 

 would never succeed ; we supposed it to be a state 

 stratagem to deceive the people of France into the 

 belief that they might obtain their sugar even 

 though English supremacy on the ocean should 

 deny them the benefits of exterior commerce, and 

 to impress the enemies of France with the belief 

 that she had the means of independence upon her 

 own soil. Some ten years ago, we were first sur- 

 prised with the progress of the beet sugar produc- 

 tion in France. Since this production in that coun- 

 try has overcome all obstacles and is likely to su- 

 persede entirely the West-India cane sugar which 

 can be produced only in warm climates, we have 

 very little doubt that the same article may be intro- 

 duced into the United States ; and if it shall not 

 succeed in New England, we are quite sure that it 

 will succeed in the Middle and Southern States, 

 with the advantage over the cane of Florida and 

 Louisiana, that while the latter must depend on the 

 labor of slaves, the former will be best accomplish- 

 ed by the labor of free whites. 



The experiment may be made in this country 

 without great expense. We need no acts of incor- 

 poration, nor even legislative bounties, to accom- 

 plish the object. The sugar beet, like the common 

 garden beet, is an article easily raised, and when 

 it is raised it is not less useful than the mangel 

 wurtzel or rutabaga for feeding cattle. The ground 

 on which it is cultivated should be well prepared; 

 if the ground is very rich, it will be covered with 

 the growth where the rows are placed one and a 

 half and two feet apart so as to pass through with 

 the plough or cultivator. Should any farmer raise 

 five hundred or a thousand bushels, he will do it at 

 a profit even tliough he makes no attempt to ex- 

 tract sugar from them ; for in proportion as they 

 have more of the saccharine quality than the com- 

 mon beet so they are more valuable for feeding cat- 

 tle. Milch cows can be fed on them once a day 

 during the winter with decreasing the quantity of 

 hay and generally increasing the milk : they are 

 also valuable for working o.xen and for young cat- 

 tle. 



We are not yet informed whether there is a dif- 

 ference between the sugar beet raised in the north- 

 ern and a southern climate : can any reader of the 

 Visitor give us the information? 



The Commissioner of Patents has had the good- 

 ness to send us the copy of a memorial lately made 

 to Congress by Ch.irlks Lewis Fleisciim.\-'(iN, 

 Graduate of the Royal Agricultural Institute of 

 Bavaria, who is now employed in the Patent Otfice 

 at Washington. This memorial treats of the man- 

 ufacture of beet-sugar and contains much interest- 

 ing and authentic information. The memorial, al- 

 though highly interesting, is too long for insertion 

 entire. The following is a condensed summary of 

 some of its most important contents, taken from the 

 New York Herald : 



'^This is on the manufacture of beet sugar. The 

 first discovery of chrystallizable sugar in the beet 

 root, was made by a German chemist, named Mark- 

 graf, in 1747, which was communicated to the Roy- 

 al Academy of Sciences at Berlin. This discovery 

 remained without further experiment until 17%, 

 when Achard repeated the experiments, and erect- 

 ed the first manufactory at Kunnem, in Germany. 

 The process of Achard was rc-e.\amlned, simplifi- 



ed, and made more practicable, in France. From 

 various causes, such as the costliness of the manu- 

 factories, the unproductiveness of the soil, and the 

 scarcity and high price of fuel, &c., the results 

 were not satisfactory, and the opinion generally 

 prevailed that the extraction of sugar from the 

 beet, though correct in theory, was impracticable 

 on a large scale. The political events of 1812, how- 

 ever, hastened the developementof this new branch 

 of industry, and the French governmeatgave great 

 encouragement to the manufacture of beet sugar, 

 by establishing four large manufactories and five 

 chemical schools for the purpose of making exper- 

 iments and teaching the best method of extraction. 

 In 1814, the progress of these manufactories was 

 suddenly checked by the peace of Europe, which 

 allowed the importation of the colonial sugar into 

 France. New efforts were, however, soon made, 

 and chemistry assisted to simplify the process, (a 

 creat desideratum) and discovered the mode of re- 

 i-iviiig animal charcoal, so as to admit of its being 

 repeatedly used, while the improved apparatus aid- 

 ed to economize labor and fuel. The cultivation 

 of the beet has had a most beneficial influence on 

 agriculture. During the last year, more than 80,- 

 OOU acres of land were planted in beets, producing 

 about one million of tons of the root; and as rota- 

 tions generally of four crops are adopted, it brought 

 at least three millions two hundred thousand acres 

 of land under the highest cultivation. To show 

 the rapid increase of manufactories and the quan- 

 tity produced in France, the following table is 

 given : 



In 1823, 103 iinnuf!iclorie», ino, 000 Iha. beet sugar produced. 

 18:il, 200 " 'J-20,000 " " 



183B, 54:) " 9M,000 " " " 



1S37, fiOO '■ 1,0011,000 " " " 



In 1S3G France imported only 7.5,120 tons of co- 

 lonial sugar, which was a diminution of 15,630 tons 

 in one year, occasioned by the increased production 

 of the indigenous sugar. The French colonies have 

 taken the alarm, and have petitioned for a diminu- 

 tion, of duties on the French colonial sugar of fifty 

 per cent., and the French government have deter- 

 mined to impose the same duty on both. England 

 has followed the example of France to a certain ex- 

 tent, by establishing refineries in different parts of 

 the kingdom for purifying beet sugar. Russia has 

 also established large manufactories ^T beet sugar, 

 and Bohemia, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland, 

 have large beet sugar factories in the most flourish- 

 ing condition. The Germans, who first discovered 

 the crystallizability of sugar in the beet root, made 

 very little progress in its manufacture till 183G,but 

 have finally brought their own discovery of the ex- 

 traction of sugar from the beet to perfection. This 

 haj been accomplished by Mr. Sehuctzenbach, who 

 modified the experiment of Markgruf so as to pro- 

 duce, with less labor and ex])ense, eight pounds of 

 white refined sugar out of 100 pounds of the raw 

 beetroot; and this improvement the memorialist 

 thinks will, in a short time, exclude all the colonial 

 sugar from European markets, as well as our own, and 

 will also change the condition of millions of men 

 in the colonies. "The. importance of Mr. Schuct- 

 zenbach's discovery," says the memorialist, "is at 

 last proved by chemical analysis and examination 

 of the physiology of plants." This analysis of the 

 beet root shows that 100 parts of the root contain 

 SO. 3 parlsof walcr, 10.0 pnrls of cryslnl'ble sugar, 



3.2 " fibrous matter, 0.3 " mucilage. 



By the new process the water in the beet is evap- 

 orated, and there remain only 13.7 parts of dry sub- 

 stances, which consist of the sugar, mucilage and 

 fibrous matter. The sugar dissolves in cold or warm 

 water almost instantaneously ; the mucilage is in. 

 dissoluble in w'ater, and the fibrous matter is indis- 

 soluble and h.-.3 no injurious influence. The mucil- 

 ao-e is the only substance which causes all the dif- 

 ficulty in the extraction of sugar. The principal 

 process consists, then, in the separation of the mu- 

 cilage from the sugar. Raspael, a Frencli chemist, 

 has made the following microscopic experiment. 

 "When," says he, "a thin slice of the red beet root 

 is brought under the focus of a microscope, it will 

 be observed that the texture of the beet is formed 

 of hexagonal cells transparent and of a pur|)!e col- 

 or. These cells are crossed by white ones four or 

 five times longer than the purple cells ; this tissue 

 of white cells is again crossed by bundles of opaque 

 cylinders of a gray color, through which the spi- 

 rals are observed. From this it follows that purple 

 cells enclose tlie coloring matter, and the mucilage 

 and opaque cijlinders the sugar in its jnire state. 

 Thus the mucilage in the beet root is separated by 

 nature from the sugar, and mi.xed by the manipula- 

 tion which caused all the dilficulties of the extrac- 

 tion in the old process, when the mucilage was com- 

 bined with the sugar in grating, pressing, and even 

 in defecation. The now process acts entirely in 

 conformity with the results of scientific investiga- 



tion, and tile whole process is reduced to a single 

 operation, which gives a sure gain of eight per cent, 

 of white refined sugar from 100 pounds of the raw 

 beet root. The beets are now cut into slices, dried 

 before any fermentation can take jilace, ground to 

 fine powder, so that all the cells are broken apart 

 and mi.xed with water, which dissolves the sugar 

 before the mucilage begins to swell. The pureun- 

 colored liquor obtained is evaporated, and the syr- 

 up brought into moulds to crystallize. These state- 

 ments prove the practicability and infallibility of the 

 new improvement, the introduction and adoption of 

 which in this country will be of the highest impor- 

 tance to the welfare of its population. 



The manipulations at present in Europe are re- 

 duced to a process much simphr than that oP hrcio- 

 ing rommon tahJeheer., which can be comprehended 

 and performed by every one. The period is not 

 distant when farmers will produce their own sugar, 

 or at least raise or dry the beet ready for the 

 manufacturers. The memorialist proves that Amer- 

 ica overbalances with her physical advantages, the 

 low price of labor in Europe, and that she is able 

 not only to provide herself with all the sugar want- 

 ed for home consumption, but also to supply other 

 countries. By the adoption of this new branch of 

 industry, he thinks, the sums now paid for import- 

 ed sugar, viz ; about thirteen millions of dollars, 

 would, in a short time, be a gain to the country. 

 Its agriculture would be improved, and thousands 

 of acres of exhausted and deteriorated land would 

 be again taken up and improved. To procure the 

 necessary manure for this purpose, the farmer 

 would be obliged to increase his live stock, which 

 would find, during the winter season, plenty ot* 

 food in the residuum of the manufactory. It would 

 increase the consumption of sugar among the less 

 wealthy, and make their condition in life more 

 comfortable, and of consequence, greatly extend 

 the population. The beet requires a deep soil, suf- 

 ficiently provided with decomposed manure. An 

 acre of good cultivated land yields, on an average, 

 twenty tons of beet root — or a ton of beet root 

 yields, when treated after the new method, 180 

 pounds of white refined sugar. The cost of manu- 

 facturing a ton of beets into sugar would be, at a 

 very high estimate, iJG; 180 pounds of refined beet 

 sugar would cost $11, or 6 1-10 cents per pound — 

 for which we no%v pay, at the lowest rate, 16 cents. 

 A Mr. RiUieux of New Orleans has recently in- 

 vented an apparatus for reducing saccharine hquida, 

 which surpasses any other invention of the kind, 

 not only in simplicity and cheapness, but also in 

 the arrangement in the boiling of sugar, agreeably 

 to the principles of science and economy. 



The production of indigenous sugar in France 

 was one of the main pillars of Napoleon's continen- 

 tal system, and the successful extraction of sugar 

 from the beet V\'as relied on as the surest guaranty 

 of its stability. This Is the substance of this val- 

 uable memorial, which communicates a mass of in- 

 teresting information, and may, when made public, 

 be the instrument of producing much good to the 

 country. Were some of the surplus capital in the 

 United States to be invested in sugar beet estab- 

 lishments, it would not only yield an immense 

 profit to the proprietor, but add a new branch of 

 industry to the country, and contribute greatly to 

 tlie agricultural prosperity of the United States.'' 



From the Genesee Fanner. 

 Treatment of Wounds on Horses. 



Mr. Tucker; — In the 5th number of the cup- 

 rent volume of the monthly Farmer, I noticed some 

 remarks upon the "Treatment of Wounds on Hors- 

 es, ' and although the treatment there recommend- 

 ed, would undoubtedly, under certain circumstan- 

 ces, prove highly beneficial ; yet as that article 

 seems to direct it as generally applicable in every 

 case, and in every condition of wounds, while in 

 many, and indeed iu most cases, it could not fail 

 to prove injurious, I beg leave to offer for your con- 

 sideration, a fev/ observations upon the same sub- 

 ject. 



It is truly painful to see an animal, possessing 

 such claims to our kindness and care, as the horse, 

 so oflen subjected to empirical and cruel treatment, 

 when Laboring under disease. This arises from the 

 prescription not being directed by any rational 

 pliyslo'ogical and pathological principles; every 

 one feeling at liberty to prescribe whatever remedy 

 he may have heard of, or can invent, and tile more 

 bold and novel, the greater the merit of suggesting 

 it. Attention to a ^e\v well established principles, 

 would prevent the fatal errors into which many are 

 unwarily led, and preserve many a noble and valu- 

 able animal from ruin. 



Experience has abundantly proved that those 

 general principles of physiology and pathology, 

 which are applicable to the human subject in health 



