Sugar 



107 



are pulled out ; the roots are topped, i.e., the leaves are cut off from the roots, so that the 

 latter cannot go on living in the store-houses where they are kept, as this would exhaust all 

 the sugar which has been stored up in them. The leaves are left lying on the field to serve 

 as manure ; or, in years when fodder is scarce they are given to the cattle to eat, although their 

 nutritive value is very small. 



Ploughs are not always used to break up the soil. Very ingeniously constructed machines 

 exist, which pull out the plants, cut off the leaves, and drop the roots at the side ready for 

 removal to the factory or storehouse. All this is done quite gently, for if the roots are 

 treated roughly they would be damaged, and then they would be likely to rot. 



The beetroots are made into heaps near the roadside and covered with leaves to protect 

 them from the cold. Then they are taken in carts straight to the factories, or to the 

 railway-stations or landing-places, whence they are transported to the factories. As, 

 however, the cultivation of beets is practised on a very large scale and the produce is 

 considerable, all the roots cannot be used at once. Stores must be kept in reserve, from which 

 quantities are drawn according as they are wanted. Sometimes the beetroots are kept in 

 siloes built of stone, and sometimes they are piled up in heaps, covering a large surface, and 

 covered with straw and earth exactly as other root crops are commonly stored in the field. 

 The results of this system of preservation are so excellent, that nowadays it is practised almost 

 everywhere. 



Manufacture of Sugar 



In the early days of beet-sugar manufacture efforts were made to extract the sugar by 

 pressure with such modifications as were demanded owing to the great difference in character 

 between the comparatively hard, fibrous sugar-cane, and the soft, fleshy beetroot. Ordinary 

 crushing between rollers was of no use, so the roots were rasped to a pulp much as is 



INTERIOR OF LABORATORY FOR TESTING BEETROOTS FOR SEED-SELECTION PURPOSES 



