360 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



though it don't produce so large a crop as the mangel, or 

 common field beet. 



" Then I recollect a beet called the Siberian, which was 

 round and yellow, and some thought it had a larger amount of 

 sugar, but it was not so. It had the advantage of growing 

 well on a thinner and poorer soil than the Silesian. It is 

 differently shaped, you know, and does not strike down so deep 

 as the Silesian and the mangel. It was a good root for feeding 

 to cattle. A good many large cattle-owners grow it as feed for 

 stock now, as it is very nutritious. But on careful analysis it 

 was found to contain less sugar than the Silesian, and our 

 sugar beet growers prefer to stick to the latter, as it commands 

 a little better price." 



" I notice that all the beets on those loads appear to be about 

 the same size, and I should think they were rather small. Do 

 they try to get them of that size ? Why don't they grow them 

 larger ? " 



" A large sized root contains less sugar than a smaller sized 

 one. That is well settled both by our scientific men and by 

 experience in the sugar manufactories. You will find the 

 sugar varies in beets from five to twelve per cent., and the 

 larger varieties not only have less sugar but usually contain 

 more water. It is well ascertained that the usual average of 

 sugar in the Silesian beet and the varieties cultivated for the 

 sugar is about ten per cent., but in the other varieties, like the 

 mangel, the proportion is much less." 



" Is the sugar as good as that from the sugar cane, do you 

 think ? " 



" It is precisely the same in quality if it is well made, and 

 you will find it everywhere on the table, for your coffee, as 

 rich and white as the best lump sugar from the cane." 



" How is it about the waste ? Is the whole of the sugar of 

 the beet capable of being crystallized ? " 



" Every jjarticle. The process of manufacture is now so 

 perfect that there need be no loss ; but practically in making 

 sugar in France, a part of it becomes molasses or sirup, which 

 does not crystallize, so that the actual amount of sugar is, 

 perhaps, not more than five or six per cent., or about one-half 

 of the amount present in the root, but the other half becomes 

 molasses in the process of sugar making, and is used as such." 



