160 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



viously many millions oi'pountls had been annually 

 llirovvn into the public discliarOTs. It iiad been 

 used lor a number ol'years, as ii still is, for clarily- 

 ing juice, liquor, and syrups, in the manulacture 

 and refining of sugar. In thai year Payen, a 

 distinguished refiner, at Paris, suggested the idea 

 of its value as manure. Experiments were imme- 

 diately made, with striking resulis. At first it sold 

 for about 16 cenis a bushel, but soon rose to three 

 times as much. It is now manulactured at a large 

 establishment near Paris, expressly lor manure. 



On this general subject Mr. Child says, we think 

 pretty truly, that the fertility of our coumry has 

 been declining ever since its settlement. " We 

 speak of the country at large, and it is no answer 

 to any that there are farms equal or superior to 

 the maiden soil, whicli our liithers (bund. Proba- 

 bly a century with the best system of agriculture, 

 and the best disposition to execute it, could 

 scarcely restore an amount of fertility equal to that 

 which has been dissipated. This is not good 

 husbandry, it is barbarous waste. Good husbandry 

 increases or keeps up the fertility of the soil. The 

 truth is that we have generally sought to get from 

 our lands the most that we possibly could, in the 

 shortest possible time. In this, as in other things, 

 haste makes waste. We kill the goose that lays 

 the golden eggs. 



In regard to its effect on the soil, it would seem 

 that much may be said for the beet. Mr. C. 

 observes, as to corn and broom-corn, that neither 

 of these is an enriching or a cleaning crop. The 

 beet IS both, exterminating every noxious plant 

 and leaving green stuff on the 'ground, which 

 ploughed in is equal to a quarter or half manuring, 

 i. e. to 5 or 10 loads of manure per acre, and the 

 expense of carting it. The addition which the 

 beets, worked up in a sugary, make to the stock of 

 manure, is another item of moment, and much 

 stress is laid on the value of the pulp, (left afier 

 preesion.) This usually contains more saccharine 

 matter in proportion to its vveiirht than the original 

 material. An ox consumes 60 to 75 lbs. of dry 

 pulp per day; a sheep 4 to 5 lbs. A;factory 

 workmg up 25,000 lbs. of beets per day, will feed 

 70 oxen, or 1000 sheep; or 50 oxen and 300 sheep; 

 or 30 oxen and 600 sheep. Wheat straw is usu- 

 ally given with the pulp, and toward the close of 

 the fattening, oil-cake or meal is added. Three 

 months suffice for fattening a bullock, and two for 

 a sheep. The amount ofit is, that a vast quantity 

 of manure is made on a beet-sugar farm. It is 

 usually estimated at four times the ordinary 

 quantity; and its quality, being that of sheep, 

 hogs, and horned cattle, is of course excellent. 



AH these are profits to be considered in calcu- 

 lating the pecuniary practicabilitv of the business 

 among ourselves. 



According to Mr. Child, the actual cost of the 

 sugar made by him, when the material was good 

 was 11 cents per pound ; the pulp and manure not 

 being taken into the account. Mr. C. thinks that 

 with proper and sufficient means, beet sugar may 

 be manulactured in the United States lor fou'r 

 cents per pound ; and that when the manufacture 

 shall have become domesticated amongst us, it 

 will jirobably be produced at a cost less than that. 

 In France the great advances made are certainly 

 encouraging. According to the earliest accounts, 

 the pound of raw sugar costs 16 cents. Drapier of 

 Lillejin 1811, made the refined beet sugar at 35 



cents, and Dombaole, two or three years after- 

 wards, at 30 cents. Count Chaptai, in 1822, 

 stated the cost of the raw sugar in his factory at 11 

 cents. In the same year, the Duke of Ra<iusa 

 made it at 9^ cents, and Crespel at 6^ which, in 

 1825, he had further reduced to 5|. Two years ago, 

 Crespel in givingevidence beforeacommitteeofthe 

 Chamber oI'Deputies, on the beet sugar excise bill, 

 stated the cost of his sugar at five cents, one mill. 

 Mr. Childsays he has compared the results ol twen- 

 ty-nine French (iictories, and (bund the cost of their 

 suiTar 6 cents 6 mills, to which however must be 

 added, he observes, the green leaves lor feeding a 

 large slock ol cattle and sheep two or three months 

 or the same leaves lel't on the field and plouyhed 

 in ; the manure, which is quadrupled in quantity 

 and improved in quality on a farm where a mill is 

 erected ; the value and abundance of other crops, 

 in consequence of the clearing and pulverising of 

 the soil ; and the trimmings of the beets, which 

 Chaptai considers to be in 12,000 lbs. sufficient 

 food for 25 or 30 swine. We .subjoin for the bene- 

 fit of the interested and curious, the following esti- 

 mate for a factory in the United Slates on either of 

 the ordinary French systems, to make 300,000 lbs, 

 in •six months, from the first of August to the first 

 of February. 



Expenses. 



3000 tons beets, raised on the farm at 



^2 exclusive of rent - - $6,000 00 

 Labor in the factory, 10,524 days' 



work, at 75 cents - - - 7,893 00 



Fuel, 500 cords, at $2 - - 1,000 00 

 40,000 lbs. bones lor manufacturing 



animal black, at half a cent - 200 00 

 Lime, acid, &c. - - - 100 00 

 Lighting, insurance, taxes, and re- 

 pairs - - . . 600 00 

 Superintendence and book-keepine: - 2.000 00 

 Interest on capital invested in land, 



buildings, machinery, and utensils 2,000 00 



Interest on floating capital - - 1,067 58 



Contingencies - - - 1,000 00 



Total ... - $21,860 58 



Products. 



300,000 lbs. sugar at 6 cents - 18,000 00 



Pulp and molasses, consumed on pre- 

 mises . - - - 5,000 00 



Total - 



Deduct expenses 



$23,000 00 

 21,860 58 



Remain net profits - - $1,139 42 



Deducting from the expenses the value of the 

 pulp and the molasses, we have $16,85858, which, 

 divided by 300,000 gives 5, 2, 3 cents the pound. 

 The pulp would be upwards of 10,000 lbs. per 

 day, sufficient to (eed 100 bullocks, and 600 sheep ; 

 and the trimmings and remnant of pulp, 100 

 swine. Labor is much dearer than in France, but 

 Mr. Child thinks this would be balanced by rent 

 and fuel. This applies to large factories. There 

 is another (]ueslion as to the small household 

 manufacture. Here M r. C. is not so sanguine, as it 

 requires skill and science to make it profitable, 

 more than most common farmers have or will get. 

 He says, too, there is no efficient apparatus, which 

 is simple and cheap enough. Still|^he believes the 



