73 



I'ARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 2 



that with every chance of complete success. 

 This is already much more than mere expectation, 

 because the problems which it has proposed are 

 already more than half solved, and the entire so- 

 lution of them is scarcely a matter of doubt : so 

 that the manufacture of the sugar from beets is 

 about to be built on a new basis. 



"The 'Societe d' EncouragemenV have offered 

 the following prizes for the promotion of this man- 

 ufacture : 



"1. One of 4000 francs for the best process for 

 the desiccation of the beets. 



"2. One of 4,000 francs for the best treatment 

 of the dried beet for the extraction of the raw su- 

 gar. 



"3. One of 4.000 francs for the conversion of 

 the raw into refined sugar, without taking it out of 

 the mould. 



"4. One of 3,000 francs for an analysis of the 

 beet root, &c. 



"5. One of 3,000 francs for the invention of a 

 saccharometer, which should be constructed so as 

 to be easily applied, and to have the property of 

 showing immediately the quantity of crystalliza- 

 ble sugar contained in the fluid under trial. A 

 contrivance of this kind, which would be a sure 

 guide for the farmer, and for the workmen in 

 manufactories, indicating to the former the proper 

 time to collect his crop of^ beets, and to the latter, 

 how to manage his operations, would be of im- 

 mense value. 



When these five prizes are gained, the theoret- 

 ical and practical renovation of the manufacture of 

 beet-sugar will be radically accomplished in all its 

 forms. 



"To the question, xvill this be effected? it may 

 be safely answered that existing facts scarcely al- 

 low of the expression of a doubt that such will be 

 the case. 



"The problem of the complete and rapid de- 

 siccation by an economical process has presented 

 very formidable difficulties. This drying may be 

 denominated the corner stone of the new sys- 

 tem; but this problem is far from being insolvable; 

 on the contrary, it ought to be regarded as solved. 

 "In one of the last sessions of the Societie d' 

 Encouragement, Mr. Beyrand, of Marseilles, pre- 

 sented beets cut in slices, which were dried in eight 

 minutes by the combined action of pressure and 

 heat, effected by two cylinders, heated to one hun- 

 dred degrees by steam. This result will appear 

 more prodigious when we consider that 100 parts 

 of beets contain 84 parts of water. 



"The beets, prepared after Mr. Beyrand's me- 

 thod, preserve all their sweetness. Mr. Schuet- 

 zenbach, of Baden, dries the beets by a slow pro- 

 cess, probably less perfect than Mr. Beyrand's me- 

 thod; but the result is already excellent, and fa- 

 vors the application on a large scale. In the man- 

 ufacture of Mr. Schuetsenbach, the beets are cut 

 m small thin slices, and as soon as they come in 

 contact with the air, they bend and roll up, and 

 lose the property of slicking together, which gives 

 the hot air of a kiln, (to which they are brought 

 immediately after they are cut,) a free circulation 

 in all directions round them. The temperature of 

 these kilns is from 30 to 40 degrees Reaumur, 

 (from 99.5 to 122 degrees Fahrenheat.) 



"Mr. Schuetzenbach's apparatus of desiccation 

 Is very economical. The machine lor cutting the 

 beets costs only fi-om 400 to 600 finncs, and half a 



horse power is sufficient to put it in operation. 

 Such a macliine, when at work every day for three 

 months will cut one million killogrammes of beets, 

 (about 1000 tons,) wliioh would be a sufficient sup- 

 ply for a large manufactory. A kiln, about 10 

 feet by 9, and 9 feet high, dries, in 24 hours, 3000 

 pounds of beets, and consumes only 420 pounds of 

 charcoal. Three such kilns would be sufficient to 

 dry all the beets cut by one machine during twelve 

 hours. 



" In the manufactory of Mr. Schuetzenbach, the 

 dry beets are reduced to a coarse powder, sprinkled 

 over with lime, and stored away in casks. When 

 the sugar is to be extracted, this coarse powder is 

 mixed with water, which produces a liquor mark- 

 ing 21 degrees on the saccharometer; and when 

 evaporated with Rolh's apparatus, this liquor 

 yields, without any other preparation at the first 

 chrystallization, a raw sugar, known in commerce 

 by the name of bonne quatrieme, which, after a 

 second chrystallization, becomes a bonne commune 

 The advantage of this new method is such, that 

 the beets raised at Esslingen, in Germany, in 1837, 

 (less rich in sugar than the preceding year,) yield- 

 ed more than eight per cent, of chrystallyzable su- 

 gar, instead of five, which was the highest product 

 by the old process; and, in the proportion as the 

 gain on sugar increases, the expenses decrease; so 

 much so, that eight pounds, now obtained, costs 

 less than formerly four or five firora 100 pounds of 

 beets. 



" Two important points are then attained : first, 

 how to dry the beet; and second, how to extract 

 the sugar from it. 



"To refine the raw sugar, without taking it out 

 from the moulds in vvhich the syrup was placed 

 to crystallize, and which always causes the loss 

 of a considerable quantity of sugar, appears to be 

 a question equally advanced. Recent experi- 

 ments, on a large scale, show that raw sugar wash- 

 ed in moulds, with pressure, gives, in the short 

 space of three days, a perfect refined article, which 

 formerly required from two to three weeks to ef- 

 fect. 



"In regard to the analysis of the beet in its di- 

 vers states of maturity, nothing has yet been at- 

 tempted ; but this is a task which chemists can 

 at any time accomplish, and the prize held out for 

 it will induce many a chemist to undertake it; and 

 it will not be long before we know to what ex- 

 tent the constituent parts of the sugar-beet devel- 

 op themselves simultaneously, and which is the 

 most favorable moment for collecting them for 

 the manufacture of sugar. 



"In regard to an exact saccharometer, of a sim- 

 ple and practical construction, with the aid of 

 which all manufacturers can accertain, to a fifti- 

 eth part, the richness of the saccharine matter in 

 beets, and of all other substances containing crys- 

 tallizable sugar, the learned researches of a young 

 chemist, M. Peligot, promise great success. Lime 

 and barytes, have the property to combine with 

 crystallizable sugar, and form together an insolu- 

 ble composition, in which, nevertheless, the su- 

 gar does not alter, and is easily separated from if. 

 In bringing this fact to a simple mechanical ope- 

 ration, no doubt is left that the quantity of sugar 

 contained in beet sirup can be afecertained with 

 the greatest nicety. 



"The proplems proposed by the Societe J' Un- 

 covragement arc at tliis lime almost solved. It 



