!;22 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 9 



had been attained in the production ofgrape sugar, 

 or sirup; of which, in tlie course of two ycar^-, 

 many million pounds were made. Tiiis sugar, 

 although very abundant in sonic varieties of the 

 grape,"raiscd'in asouiliern laiilude, possesses only 

 two-filths oflhe sweetening power ot'tlie cane and 

 beet sugar. Nevcriiieless, sugar being at about 

 one doHar a pound, a great numijer of man- 

 ufactories were creiMed, and science and industry 

 were tasked to the uimos^ lo improve the proces- 

 ses, and to bring it io perlect sugar. 



In this slate of things, it was announced, that 

 beet sugar mimulactories had been all along car- 

 ried on'^successlully in Prussia, It was declared, 

 that from 4 !o G per cent, of sugar was obtained 

 from the beet, besides several other valuable mat- 

 ters. Other German chemists had insituted experi- 

 ments, and published results substantially the same 

 as Achard's. At length in 1809-10, experiments 

 were recommenced in France, particularly by M. 

 Deyeux of the Institute, who had reported upon 

 the subject in 1800. The experiments resulted in 

 the production of a considerable quantity of sugar, 

 both clayed and refined, which, as specimens, 

 served to revive and increase the confiilence of 

 France in this source of supply. No more than 1 

 to 2 percent, was obtained ; the beets being of a 

 bad sort, and raised in the neighborhood of Paris, 

 where a vast deal of ammoniacal manure, hostile 

 to the production of saccharine, is used. 



In 1811, JM. Drappier, of Lille, worked about 

 fifteen tons of beets, from which he obtained 2.^ 

 percent, ofsugar. In the winter of the same year, 

 an experimenter at Paris succeeded in obtaining 

 4J per cent. Oom white beefs, raised at a consid- 

 erable distance from Paris, and without any ma- 

 nure. This was the first essay in France which 

 approximated to the results of Achard. It was 

 made by M. Charles Durosne, and was detailed in 

 the Moniteur, It demonstrated how faulty had 

 been their selection of sorts, and the mode of cul- 

 ture. At this time, Achard had published in Ger- 

 man an extensive work, in which he had treated 

 •with minuteness every departmcnt'ofthe business, 

 from the raising of the seed to the refining of the 

 sugar. This treatise contained not only Achard's 

 experience of thirteen years, but also accounts of 

 the manufacture of beet sugar, on a grand scale. 

 by other persons in Prussia. The result of these 

 enterprises, as reported by a commission appointed 

 by the Prussian government to investigate tlie sub- 

 ject, was, that in the case presented to their con- 

 sideration, 60,800 lbs. ofsugar were manufactured 

 from 1,000,000 lbs. of beets, which is 6 pounds \\ 

 oz. per cent., costing for cultivation and manufac- 

 ture, 6.6 cents a pound, and selling at 16.17 cents. 

 The profit was stated at 136 per cent., without 

 reckoning 27,883 gallons of vinegar, worth -S 1,937 

 25; 155,400 lbs. of feed flir beasts, worth 897 16; 

 and after deducing ,91)382 25, for the greater sup- 

 posed expense of refining beet sugar. This, how- 

 ever, has since been recognized as an error; beet 

 Bugar being in fiict the most profitable to the refi- 

 ner, by reason of the superior strength of the grain, 

 and of the deterioration which the cane sugar un- 

 dergoes by fermentation and decomposition during 

 long voyages and storages, before it reaches the 

 pans of the refiners. This loss is estimated, in 

 France, at 14 per ct. on East India sugar, and at 

 7 on West India. — The British custom house al- 

 lows 1 per cent, a month for the waste on bonded 

 sugar. 



Such was the I'csult of the operations in the 

 manuliictory of the IJ.iron de Koppy at Krayn, 



near Strehlcii in Silesi 



Another course ofexpcrimctits was insiilutcd by 

 Di'. Neutieck, the royal conniiissioner, who obtaui- 

 ed the lollowing result, working upon a material 

 of one million of kilogrammes. 

 Sugar, 101, 472 kilg.'s at 16.72 els. 



a pound, §16,985.05 



Spirits of wine and vinegar, made 



from the molasses and pulp, 8,083-38 



Mash used (or lljeoing and liittening 



animals, 189-53 



Total. ^25,257-96 



Expense, 7,892-28 



Net profit, 817,365-68 



Mr. Achai'd's sugar according to the report of 

 Dr. Neubeck, cost 7.7 cents a pound, and yielded 

 at 16.72 cents, the price of sale, a profit of 8.92 

 cents a piound. Their beets yielded 4.6 per cent, 

 ofsugar. 



Tlie experiment at Lille (M. Drappier's) was 

 less successful. He obtained only 1.3 |ier ct. ol" 

 refined sugar; and, although this merchandize 

 was then at 35 cents a pound, this price hardly 

 covered the expenses of production, without, how- 

 ever, counting ihe residuums. 



In January, 1812, Napoleon, issued a decree 

 establishing five chemical schools for teaching 

 the processes of beet sugar making, detailing one 

 hundred students from the schools of medicine, 

 pharmacy, and cliemestry, to be instructed in those 

 establishments, and creating four imperial ma- 

 nufactories, capable of making 4.4(J8,000 lbs. 

 annually. Munificent pi'emiums were also de- 

 creed to several individuals, who had already dis- 

 tinguished themselves by a successlul application 

 lo this nevv branch of industry. A considerable 

 numberol manufactories were immediately added 

 to those already existing in France; and, in the 

 season of 1813, a large quantity of' sugar, both 

 raw and r-efined, was jtrotiuced. A notable im- 

 provement was iniioduced by M. Mathieu de 

 Dombasic, a learned and experienced cultivator 

 and chemist. It consisted in applying to the beet 

 juice the colonial process ofdepuraiion appropriately 

 called in France defecatio-n. This was in fact 

 very analogous to the improvement which the 

 Arabs affected in the oriental method. Achard 

 used sulphuric acid in this operation, and lor the crys- 

 tallization, broad dishes, not unlike those said to be 

 used in China at this day. The colonial process 

 of delecaiion by lime is now nearly universal in 

 France, as is likewise the substitution of the mould 

 or conical pot, lor the cryslallizers of Achard. 



Such was the prosperous condition of this man- 

 ufacture, when the disasters of Moscow brought 

 upon it an uncertain political future, the bane of 

 all great industrial enterprises. Confidence and en- 

 ergy gradually yielded lo fear and discouragement. 

 A laint and fitful struggle was maintained during 

 another year, until the Cossacks, quartered in the 

 sugar mills, and the allied artillery, seizing upon 

 the beasts tliat.moved them, gave the rr.anufiicturers 

 the coup de grace. The officers billeted at their 

 houses became from curiosity their principal custo- 

 mers, being struck with the brilliancy and purity of 

 this unexpected product. After the final overthrow 

 of Napolean at Waterloo, the price of refined sugar 



