466 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



through San Diego to the British possessions. When a crop yields twenty tons to 

 the acre, there is a possibility of that coast making its own sugar and supplying 

 other parts of the country. In the county of Los Angeles, which is dry, it grows 

 and seems to do well, and in spite of the small rainfall the beet flourishes. The 

 rows are made eighteen inches apart to prevent them from growing large, as they 

 lose their sugar quality in a greater or less degree when they attain a size larger 

 than one and one-half pounds. If you give a beet a chance to grow there, there is 

 no limit — it will grow winter and summer. There is another important thing con- 

 nected with the climate: if you slice them and spread them in the sun they will 

 dry out, and with a slicer the cost of transportation is small, and they could easily 

 be shipped to a central factory. There are dozens of these little valleys containing 

 400 to 500 acres, and can not support a factory, but could slice them and dry them. 

 I brought samples of them, and found upon analysis that they have the pure 

 sucrose, and contained all they ever contained. A great deal of interest is excited 

 over this industry in California. As soon as the tariff legislation is settled in this 

 country, and we know with reasonable certainty the future outlook, I shall expect 

 to see this industry expand rapidly. At present no one will take hold of it, because 

 they do not know what policy Congress may yet pursue. 



A Member. What is most commonly used for filtering. Professor? 



Prof. Wiley. The juice is generally passed through bone black, which causes it 

 to be limpid like water. When it comes from the press it is absolutely black, on 

 account of tannin and iron, which formes an ink. It passes a filter a second time, 

 and passes through an instrument made of parchment paper, with pure water on 

 the outside and chambers on the in.side, and, by the use of soda, the crystalline su- 

 crose is removed, and a pure white sugar is obtained. 



Dr Furnas. How about the skimming? 



Prof. Wiley. This is done in the filtering process. All the impurities are taken 

 out by the filtering process and lime. They make a fair article of beet sugar in 

 California. The pulp they feed to the cattle; the pulp keeps remarkably well 

 piled up in ricks, and cattle eat it with a good relish. The beet pulp contains all 

 the nitrogenous portion on the beet. It is better fit for a work animal than to 

 fatten ; the tendency is to niake muscle. They feed it to cows for dairy purposes. 

 Albumen is found lai-gely in this, and is a very important constituent of butter 

 and cheese. They have also 1,000 hogs, and throw out the large beets to them, 

 which are not so suitable for sugar as smaller ones. In Louisiana they are very 

 much discouraged. In looking about; I was surprised that after 100 years they 

 were throwing away the fruits of their labor. I told them unless they changed 

 their method they need not hope for salvation. They are using no modern im- 

 provements, and getting results almost the same as seventy-five years ago. It is 

 strange those people have remained stationary as they have, yet it is true. I have 

 brought samples of cane from the South for your inspection, which are an average 

 under the treatment they receive. 



Dr. A. Furnas. How do you make cuttings for planting? 



Prof. Wiley. The top of the cane is the bud, and the joint at the side is the eye. 

 The least frost will injure these eyes so they wont grow. Governor Warmouth 

 don't plant in the spring. They begin planting in the fall, as soon as the cane i 

 ripe. They put an average of three stalks in a row. The rows are eight feet apart. 



