1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



525 



result orsublracling from a businoFS a |:roU'ctinii | 

 which it hiui buoii accustomed to Iiave, ami on! 

 wiiich it relict!. i 



But let us consider a moment '.vhat are the con- 

 ditions, under wiiich a nianuluclory is lo no on in 

 France, il'lhe tax shall siand. According to the 

 results ol'ihe working of twenty-nine French I'ac- 

 tories, siluaied in every varict}' of localiiy, the 

 average cost of the production of beet sugar in 

 France is 6.6 cents ptir pound. The lowest rale, 

 which we find, is 5.9 cents; the highest 8,6 cents 

 per |)ound. Eut, in these results, the pulp and 

 molasses are the only accessory products taken 

 into the accounts ; ;uid these, only at low vena! 

 values, wbicli are not more tlian li'oni one-third 

 to one-liair ol" wliat they are really worth, when 

 used witli judgment and economy on the spot, 

 wilhotU the cosi and uncertainty oi' procuring them 

 from a distance. Eut there are other accessory 

 bcnehts, '/ery importiuit in rural economy, which 

 are left out of sight in these accounts. These ac- 

 cessory l)enefiis are: 



1. The leaves, wiiich const ilule an excellent 

 green feed, which may be used as siich horn 

 August to November, two or three months; or 

 they may f)e dried and laid in (or winter, Tliey 

 are wortli five dollars an acre. 



2. The manure, which is found to be increa- 

 sed from three to Ibur-fold on farms v.iiere sugar 

 is manufactured. This manure coming from tlie 

 stables, or fiom the scums and deposiies of the 

 defecating pans, or from the bone-black, which is 

 inuch used, is of the very best quality, and a |)or- 

 tion of it acts upon vegetation with a promptness 

 and energy truly extraordinary. 



3. Tlic trimmings oi' the beets, preparatory to 

 llieir being sul)mitted to the washing machine. 

 These consist of the decayed parts of llie beets, 

 and the forked and fibrous roots, which are cut 

 fi^om tliem in the process of relieving them from 

 adhesive earths, with which, in most kinds of soil, 

 they will be more or less loaded. Chaptal consi- 

 ders the daily trimmings of 12,000 lbs. of beets suf- 

 ficient to feed from twenty five to thirty ewiiie, 

 during the manufacturing season. 'I'he qiianli- 

 ly of ijeets worked up in the French fiictories, is 

 rarely less than 20,000 lbs. per day ; it is in some 

 more than 100,000 lbs. Many manufacturers 

 merely transport the trimmings to the fields, there 

 to decay, and serve, lo some extent, as manure, 



4. The ashes coming from the furnaces. — 

 These are valuable, whether sold to the soap 

 boiler, scattered upon the fields, or cast into the 

 farm yard. 



It will be readily perceived, that lliese items 

 are important, and some of them all important to 

 farmers. 



M. Dombasie estimates the pulp, and molasses 

 if the first be used by the firoprietor, for fi^eding 

 and fattening cattle, aiid the second for distillation, 

 as worth 35 per cent, of the whole expenses of a 

 sugar establishment ; but he leaves out the four 

 items which we liave enumerated above. We 

 doubt not that those are worth to the cultivator as 

 much more; making 70 per cent, of the costs of 

 producing the sugar defi'ayed by the accessory 

 and agricultural benefits. Let us 'listen lor a mo- 

 ment to M.Crespel Delisee, who thus testifies, 

 February, 1827, before a Committee of the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies: 



"The culture ofUie beet has increased rcmarka- 



lily the value of rea! estate. He lately purchased 

 at the rate of ^152 an acre, some lands which 

 were let at ^3.y0 an acre. Since they have been 

 cultivated with the beei in llie rotation of crops, 

 the number of sheep thereon lias been doubled, 

 and the horn cattle trebled. In a lew years [the 

 value of the farm will have increased 50 per cent. 



" The rents ol leaseliold property liave been 

 doubled where the land was of a medium (luality ; 

 and, in case of lands specially adapted lo the beet, 

 tlie rents had been quadrripled." 



M. S[)ineux, another cultivator and manufactu- 

 rer, belonging to the department of the Somme, 

 tells tlie same committee, tliat, "when he took 

 possession of his liuni of 350 acres, he believed 

 that it gave a profit of 8853. On annexing a su- 

 gar establishment, he obtained a [)rofit of !}fi 1,425." 



M. Chinchain, of the department of the Sar- 

 the, testified as follows: — 



'•lie cultivated about 1100 acres, 550 in beets. 

 He procured one hundred bullocks from Poiiou, 

 which he Itjd with pulp and a little straw. His 

 neighbors, struck with the advantages of his cul- 

 tivation, came and oflered to weed his beets for 

 the weeds ; and to dig, clean, and cart them, for 

 llie tops. This practice has had the efiect of dif- 

 fusing so much plenty around him, that during the 

 beet harvest, butter falls in price at Angiers, four 

 miles ]iom iiis fiictory.'' 



It is the general testimony in the neighborhood 

 of Dunkerque, Valenciennes, and Arras, 'hat real 

 estate has risen 50 per cent, in consequence of the 

 introduction of the beet sugar culture, and wages 

 in nearly the same proportion. 



Let not this statement be passed heedlessly by. 

 An advance of 50 per cent, on the value of farms 

 will soon cliange the face of a country. Land 

 worth §20, becomes worth g;30; and land worth 

 $50, becomes worth $75. It is the same as if 

 money should spontaneously increase in quantity, 

 so as to give the lender, at the end of a lew years, 

 a principal of §150 for ^UOO, alter liaving yielded 

 liim lus annual interest. 



It has been said, that tlie opening of (he Erie 

 canal had the same effect upon the Teal estate in 

 the centra! and western counties of New York. 

 The beet sugar culture is better, because it is at 

 the option of every cultivator of enterprise and in- 

 dustry, whether he will have it or not. !t is what 

 the canal would be, if every farmer could by his 

 individual exertions bring it by his own door. 



Another important view of the beet sugar cul- 

 ture is, the benefit which it conli^rs upon Uie soil, 

 by clearing, dividing, and fertilizing it. It Cal- 

 lows without exhausting, and is oniT of the best 

 preparations for wheat and other grain crops. In 

 a country like France, wliere seventeen millions 

 of acres, one-lburlh of the arable land, lie fallow 

 all the time, the use of this culture, as a substitute 

 for fallows, is a matter of no slight importance. 



To consider, then, the beet sugar business 

 merely in its manufacturing aspect, leaving out all 

 these rich results, or lo bring as an argument 

 against ii some derangement ofcommerce and re- 

 venue, which will of course resi;'t from any con- 

 siderable cliange, be it beneficial or olhervvise. is 

 to entertain a contracted and deceptive view of the. 

 subject. We readily concede that, consiilerod as 

 a manufiicturing business, without giving any ad- 

 ditional agricultural [irofits, or connecting itself 

 with any agricultural improvenicnl, it is iiol yet 



