FARMERS' REGISTER 



15^ 



BEET SUGAR — AGAIN. 



From tlie Journal of Commerce. 



Good reader, did 5'ou ever see any heet sugar? 

 did you ever tasle it ? We have; and niusi say 

 that handsomer or better flavored brovvn sugar we 

 never met with. The grain is very fine, — finer 

 than is usual even with cane sugar, — while the 

 flavor is like that ofmaple, free from Ihe least tinge 

 ofnausea, and sweeter to the taste ihan the purest 

 loaf. Ifsuch sugar can be produced at the same 

 price as cane or maple, it will have a great run. 

 We conceive that Mr. Child (to whos* book we 

 alluded in our former remarks) is rendering an 

 important service to the American public, and 

 we hope to himself also, by bringing the queslion 

 to a practical test. He manulticiured, (so far as 

 we know,) the first beet sugar ever produced in 

 America. For this, he has within a Cew weeks 

 received a premium of iglOO from the Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural Society, it being tlie same article 

 to which previously a medal was awarded at the 

 great Boston Mechanics' Fair in the autumn. 

 About 300 lbs. were made in 1838, much of which 

 was good, but a still better article was produced 

 the next year. An improvement in the drying 

 apparatus, by which the access of smoke was pre- 

 vented, — and better acquaintance with the- man- 

 agement of il, by wliich fermentation on the one 

 hand, and carbonization on the other, were avoid- 

 ed, gave a nearly unexceptionable material ; the 

 liquor was light colored and transparent; the 

 proporfion of lime required, less; the defecations 

 more prompt and complete, and ihe concentrations 

 almost without scums; in short, the sugar <rrainit;g 

 in a few hours, drained well, "and is nnt inferinr 

 in flavor or appearance to the Jin est West India 

 Muscovadoes.'''' Mr. C. adds in this connexion, 

 "the quality of the molasses has been a matter of 

 surprise to us. In France, the molasses is consi- 

 dered of no value except for feeding animals, or 

 lor distilling ; and it sells for 4 or 5 cts. a gallon. 

 The molasses from the sugar in question is of a 

 bright amber color, and so pure and pleasant, as 

 as to be preferred by many to any but sugar- 

 bakers'." Mr. Child considers the following points 

 to be well ascertained by his experience thus far: 



1. That all the saccharine contained in the 

 beet can be extracted by the method of desicca- 

 tion. 



2. That the raw sugar can be obtained with- 

 out any bad taste, and fit for immediate consump- 

 tion. 



3. That American beets, though generally in- 

 ferior to the European in saccharme richness, can 

 by suitable culiure be made inferior to none. 



4. 'l"hat 50 per cent, moreof crysiallizable sugar 

 can be obtained by the method of desiccation, than 

 has generally been obtained by grating and pressing 

 or macerating the green beet. 



5. That the beet, once dried, may be kept an 

 indefinite time without liability to injury. 



This method of desiccation, the invention of 

 Schuzenback, is the onepractisetl at Northampton. 

 Mr. C. observes that a method hsis been patented 

 by Mr. Herd of Sioncham, near Boston, of drying 

 the beet by a cvld blast ; in oiher words, by freez- 

 ing it dry. This he calls an ingenious conception, 

 but is not convinced that it can be made available 

 as a method of manufacture. In Ins own experience 

 Mr. C. has endeavored to carry out the principle 



of desiccation, by machinery of his own ; Schuzen- 

 back having been unwilling, it seems, to impart 

 any information, unless ihe privilege of usinf his 

 invention in the whole United Slates were pre- 

 viausiy purchased, and securiiy given for the pay- 

 ment, in case the truth of his pretensions should be 

 demonstrated by the result of a model factory. It 

 is proper to add, that some experiments have lately 

 been made on beets dried by steam, and that ihei 

 result is stated to be a "while sugar, obtained at 

 once, /ijlly equal to the clayed sugars of Havana." 

 Some of our northern friends wiio have examined 

 the article confirm this statement of Mr. C. The 

 same method will be practised extensively hereal- 

 ler, we presume — perhaps altogether. We un- 

 derstand that the company for which Mr. C. is 

 engaged have purchased a large establishment in 

 the vicinity of Northampton village, recently set 

 up with a view to the (ex[)loded) silk manufactur- 

 ing, and that their intention is to make about 

 300,000 lbs. of sugar the coming season. This 

 will suffice to give'Mr. Child's notions and the 

 whole business a tolerably fair trial. At present, 

 though many points are settled, others, by his own 

 showing, (and he is very frank and fair about it,) 

 are not so. The thing may be practicable, for 

 example, without being profitable. This is with 

 us Americans the chief consideration, as it is very 

 apt to be in all similar cases. 



In regard to the success of the culture, we are 

 told that in the department of the north, in France, 

 the average produce of an acre is 15 tons (600 lbs.) 

 This is the highest in that country. In the two 

 adjoining departments (Aisne and Pas de Calais), 

 it is 12 and 11. As we recede from old Flanders, 

 the head quarters of the beet sugar industry and 

 of French husbandry, the rate declines to 10 tons. 

 The general average is 13. In Germany the 

 average is 15. At Northampton the best fields 

 have yielded 15, but they were not trimmed closely 

 or the gross weight would have been reduced 10 

 to 20 per cent. ; so that the merchantable produce 

 would have been 13 tons to the acre. It is proper 

 to observe that far larger crops than any here men- 

 tioned are often had in France, and they probably 

 show what might be done more generally. Thirty 

 tons an acre, Mr. Child says, are not uncommon, 

 and 45 have been produced. In England they 

 considerably exceed this. He is informed by 3Ir. 

 Kyan, the inventor of the anti-dry-rot process, and 

 interested in an establishment for the manufacture 

 of paper, brandy, and vinegar from beets, that 

 there the average crop is 30 tons per acre, and the 

 maximum 50 ; beinir, at 58 lbs. to the bushel, no 

 less than 1931 bushels ; and capable, if as rich as 

 the beets of France, of making 8960 lbs. of brown 

 sugar. It appears that our beets, with slight ex- 

 ceptions, have not attained a degree of saccharine 

 richness equal to that of the French. Instead of 

 10 to 10^ per cent, of sugar, they have contained 

 but 7^ to 9 per. cent. Mr. C. attributes it to the 

 inexperience of cultivators, and mainly to improper 

 measures. This is considered a matter of great 

 importance. Animal ordures do very well, hut 

 it is said, the most stimulating and at the same 

 time innocent manures lor the beet, are the refuse 

 of the sugar-house, scums and sediment from the 

 pans, and animal charcoal, or bone-black in pow- 

 der, which has been used in clarifying, and which 

 powder is mingled with earth. Mr. C. observes 

 that this article was unknown until 1822. Pre- 



