BEET SUGAR. 133 



nip. Some varieties of the field beet have red stem, branches and veins 

 of the leaves ; in others the leaves are wholly red, and in others the 

 roots are red, brown or yellow. The colored varieties are thought to 

 be more hardy than the white. Some white varieties are cultivated 

 in gardens for their large leaves, which are used as spinnage and in 

 soups, especially the great white, or sweet beet, the foot-stalks and 

 ribs of the leaves of which are stewed. 



There is a sea-beet found in salt marshes. Beets require a mellow 

 and warm soil, well pulverized to a good depth. They are sown early 

 in squares of about 8 inches. The beet capsule, or seed vessel, con- 

 tains several cells, each of which has a seed; therefore 4 or 5 plants 

 may be produced ; these should be reduced to the healthiest one, and 

 those taken up may be transplanted. They are hoed 2 or 3 times. 

 The under leaves may be broken oft' for swine towards fall ; this ad- 

 mits the sun and air to the roots. These should be taken up before 

 frosts come. The fibrous roots should not be removed nor the herbage 

 cut close. They keep good all winter. 1,160 bushels per acre were 

 raised in Monroe co. N. Y. last year, and some weighing 25 pounds. 

 One weighing 42 pounds, it is said, was raised in Europe a year or 

 two since. 



The manufacture of beet sugar The discovery of sugar in the 



beet was made in Prussia in 1447. In 1800 the Institute of Paris decided 

 that it was unwise to manufacture from it. Napoleon, by the Milan, 

 decrees of 1809 prohibited the importation of British sugar and at 

 once sought for means to supply its place, which were found in the beet ; 

 and, in 1812, the manufacture was successfully prosecuted. But the 

 peace of 1814 and the introduction of W. India sugar, soon destroyed 

 the manufactories. Again, a duty on foreign sugar, which in 1829 

 amounted to a prohibition, revived and established 100 manufactories, 

 producing 11 million pounds. This continued for a time, but the re- 

 duction of the duty ultimately gave the advantage to the cane sugar, 

 and that of the beet of late has been neglected ; so that only 44 man- 

 ufactories are now in operation in France ; and the amount of sugar 

 produced there last year, was but half a million pounds. Beet sugar, 

 no one doubts, can be successfully manufactured in this country, having 

 advantages superior to any other country for the purpose, with a 

 superabundance of soil. 



The process of making beet sugar is first by cutting off' the rootlets 

 and necks, washing, rasping and pressing. The juice is put into a 

 copper boiler and mixed with one 400th part of sulphuric acid, and 

 lime to saturate the acid. A brisk heat is applied, when a thick 

 greenish froth forms, and the juice, of a yellow cast, becomes clarified 

 The scum is removed in an hour or two, and the juice let ofl' by a 

 stop cock, a little above the bottom, and transferred to a boiler and 

 evaporated. At a certain density animal charcoal, in the proportion 

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