90 



FA RMERS' REGISTER. 



who made these experiments, or with euch as 

 had access to inspect iliem, to make any iievv trials. 

 Upon dry sandy soils, of whatever quality, fiorin 

 has produced a very insijxnificant crop. Some ol 

 the Scottish jjentlemen, lo whom tiie doctor relijrs, 

 will not hesitate to .ulniit this. A piece ol' land, 

 laid down in May 1812, under the doctor's per- 

 sonal superintendence, crave a crop of about 3 ions 

 per Scots acre of hall-dried grass last year, and 

 this year scarcely a f)lant was lo be liiimd. An- 

 other spot, carryiitg the first crop, which ha(l been 

 treated secundum artem by another of the doctor's 

 pupils, was inspected a Itjvv weeks airo. The crop 

 was miserable upon the high parts oTihe field, but 

 not so bad at the bottom, where the soil was moist 

 and deep. It might average about half a ton per 

 Scotch acre, and was to be ploughed up as soon as 

 the crop was removed. The same gentleman had 

 another patch carrying a crop of the third year, 

 which at the end of September his servants were 

 cutting for the stnbles. The ground appeared 

 fully slocked with plants ; the soil was a rich deep 

 sandy loam, worth 3 guineas an acre. The crop 

 last year weighed 150 Scots stones (1^ ton) per 

 Scots acre; and it was estimated at the same weight 

 this year. A third gentleman laid down 12 acres 

 with florin in a situation where he expected to have 

 the command of water (or irrigation. The water 

 was not thrown over it in a sufficient manner; 

 and though it got a good top dressing, the crop 

 has altotrether liiiled. It is needless to enumerate 

 more instances of the same kind. 



The only description of land where this cultiva- 

 tion has been in any degree successful in Scotland 

 is that with which the doctor himself began his 

 experiments — " miry bog." Such land has cer- 

 tainly in some cases produced a great weight o( 

 this aquatic ; and should it remain in the soil, of 

 which one otthe earliest cultivators now entertains 

 much doubt, it must be considered as a most va 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE CU LTIVATXON OF THE 

 SUGAR BEET.* 



The value and importance of the sugar beet as 

 an addition to the agriculturnl produdions of the 

 liirm, and an increase lo the resources of the nation, 

 is but commencing tn develope itself. Wherever 

 it has been tried, as food for cattle, it has given 

 satislaction. 



So late as the year 1836, the sugar beet was 

 first introduced into the United States, by a society 

 in Philadelphia, whose object was to ascertain ita 

 value as a source from which sugar could be ad- 

 vantageously procured ; and in pursuance of this 

 object, that society sent an agent to Europe to 

 observe and report the success that had attended 

 the efforts of the French chemists and manufac- 

 turers ; this led to the introduction of the seed. It 

 is not the purpose of this paper to enter upon the 

 sugar business ; it is sutticient to observe that it 

 has been so very successful in France, that it 

 threatened to supersede the use of foreign sugar, 

 and those merchants who were engaged in its im- 

 portation, and interested in the sugar colonies, 

 foreseeing the loss of what was Iheir most impor- 

 tant branch of business, applied to the French 

 government for protection, and the consequence 

 has been, that sugar made from beets in France 

 has been subjected lo an excise duty. It is possi- 

 ble, that the French government was apprehen- 

 sive that the profits arising from making sugar 

 from beets, might induce an undue proportion of 

 land to be withdrawn from the production of grain, 

 and employed in raising beets ; and likewise the 

 lear of lessening the commercial marine, influenced 

 the imposing of this excise duty, and it gave to the 

 mercantile and colonial interests, the protection 

 they petitioned for. 



The society referred to, had no intention of 

 becoming a manufacturing one; the object being 



hiable discovery. Every thing that can be got gimply to ascertain and publish all the ("acis that 



from such land, after expenses are defrayed, may 

 be considered as clear gain ; and in those situa- 

 tions, where neithrr clover nor turnips can be 

 raised, fiorin may probably be of very great impor- 

 tance as a succulent food Ibr cattle in winter and 

 spring. Wherever irrigation can be practised, 

 there is reason to hope for the same result ; though 

 where the soil is dry, meadows w'lll be much more 

 profitably occupied by such plants as give early 

 and late pasture, with a moderate hay crop be- 

 tween ihem. 



We shall only of!'er one remark more. There 

 is no considerate person, who can read thisessav, 

 without leeling a thorouLrh conviction that Dr. R. 

 has trreatly " ov('rsle[iped the modesty of nature," 

 and piovoked o[iposition by his lofty pretensions. 

 It is unjust to charge landholders and liirmers with 

 an indiscrin\:nate and inveterate hostility to inno- 

 vation. There is no class of society more open to 

 conviction, nor more ready to adopt every new 

 practice, which gives a fair promise of augmenting 

 the value of their produce, than that of the larmers 

 of the arable districts of Scotland. Fiorin has now 

 been tried for several years ; and such are the 

 results. If they should be called in question, by 

 ihoKe who really wish (or inlbrmation, and not for 

 coiiiioversy, they can easily be referred to the 

 places to which we have alluded, where ocular in- 

 cpection will in a moment dissipate the illusions 

 caised by a thousand pages of declamation. 



could be procured relating to this new process of 

 making sugar, import and disseminate some of the 

 seeds, and the inlbrmation that had been procured; 

 when these objects were accomplished, the mem- 

 bers paid the expenses and closed the concern. 

 Up to this time there has been no mnnulactory for 

 making beet sugar established in the United Slates. 

 — Several trials have been made on anexperiment- 

 al scale ; — the results of these went to confirm 

 the practicability of what was stated to have been 

 done in Europe, to wit : the crystallizing the sac- 

 charine matter of the beet. 



The discoveries in modern chemistry, having 

 shown, thai saccharine or the element of sweetness 

 is the basis of suirar, wine, vinegar, honey. &c. 

 and as this element exisis in beets and in grapes, 

 it has led to the presumption, that wine may be 

 made from beets, as well as from grapes ; and in 

 a letter from Paris, of date so late as October lt3th, 

 we find an intelligent gentleman, and a friend to 

 the United States, writes to the following efiiect : 



"By-the-by, you must know that our public 

 papers have been of late full of another discovery, 

 and that is beet wine. What do you think of 

 that, my friend? Sugar being the principle, without 

 which no vinous, fermented or distilled alcoholic 

 liquor can be made, and the beet containing more 



* Originally published in pamphlet form — Philadel- 

 phia, 1840, 



