No-\-EMBER 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



241 



Founded in i88i by RICHARD A. PROCTOR. 



LONDON : NOVEMBER 1, 1898. 



CONTENTS. 



The Beet-Sugar Industry in England. Bj John Mills 

 The Karkinokosm, or World of Crustacea.— VI. By 



the Ri'v. T?ioji.\3 R. R. Stebbino, m.a., f.r.s., f.l.s. 



(Illustrated) 



Self-Irrigation in Plants.— III. By the Rev. Alex. S. 



WiLsoy, M.A., B.sc. {Illustrated) 



Progress in Radiography. By JAJtEs Quick 



Handicraft in the Laboratory 



The New Planet DQ. By A. C. D. Ceommelin (Illustrated) 



The November Meteors. (Illustrated) 



Photograph of the Nebulous Region round ';' V 37 



Cygni. By Isaac Robebts, d.sc, f.b.s. (Plate) 

 Letters : — E. E. Mahkwick, CoL ; Ciias. H. Rockwell ... 



Science Notes 



British Ornithological Notes. Conducted by Habbt F. 



WiTHEBBT, F.Z.3., M.B.O.U 



An Irish Superstition. By Fbances J. Batiersbt 

 Notices of Books 



Shokt Notices 



Books Receivbd 



The Smell of Earth. By Gr. Clabke IfrTTAn, ii.-ic. . . 

 The Hooks on the Mandible of the Honey Bee and 



the Gizzard of the Ant. By Walter Weschk 



(Illustrated) '. 



Botanical Studies.— VI. Selaginella. By A. VAijGHAy 



Jenxixos. F.L.S., F.G.3. [Illustrated) 



Notes on Comets and Meteors. By W. F. Denning, 



F.B.A.S 



The Face of the Sky for November. By A. Fowlee, 



P.B.A.S. 



Chess Column. By C. D. Locock, b.a 



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THE BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY IN ENGLAND. 



By John Mills. 



AN equal appreciation of all parts of knowledge," 

 says Humboldt, "is an especial requirement of 

 the presect epoch, in which the material wealth 

 and the increasing prosperity of nations are, in a 

 great measure, based on a more enlightened 

 employment of natural products and forces." This truth, 

 uttered half a century ago, is still applicable to our own 

 times, in face of the many innovations which scientific 

 men have introduced into everyday life. Obviously, if 

 large areas of land in England were devoted to sugar-beet, 

 in the localities most suitable, as to climate and other cir- 

 cumstances, for its growth, and factories were established 

 for the manufacture of sugar from it, there would be 

 greatly increased employment for the population. With 

 regard to the suitability of the climate of the British Isles 

 for the growth of beetroot in sufficient quantity, and, at 

 the same time, of adequate richness in sugar, Mr. Sigmund 



Stein says : " The sugar contained in the home-grown 

 beetroot is not only equal to, but even surpasses that con- 

 tained in the beetroot grown on the continent of Europe." 

 Referring to the beet-sugar industry of France, the United 

 States Consul at Havre said, in a report last year, that 

 " the crop pays the farmer better than wheat or any other 

 agricultural product." England is often accused of being 

 the only European State which is blind to its own interests, 

 and certainly the sanguine supporters of the scheme for 

 initiating a British sugar-beet industry are fortified with 

 statistics and other evidence which, on the surface at any 

 rate, seem to indicate that we are, in this respect, under 

 the curse which ever cUngsjto those who stand still. While 

 other nations are thriving on a comparatively meagre 

 production of beetroot, England is starving, so to speak, 

 in the lap of luxury. Some idea of this state of things 

 may be gleaned by an inspection of the following tables 

 of results from the official statistics relating to Germany 

 and France : — 



GKRMAN"/. 



It will be noted that in Germany over a million acres 

 were in cultivation in 1894-5, yielding an average of 

 13-3 tons of beetroot per acre, the mean produce for 

 the seven years given being about twelve tons per acre, 

 while the raw sugar obtained therefrom amounted to 

 twelve per cent. The results relating to France indicate 

 a poorer yield of roots, and a lower percentage of sugar, 

 and while the factories in Germany remain practically 

 constant there is a gradual reduction in their number in 

 France. Now let us glance at the results of sugar-beet 

 grown at Eothamsted, as set forth in the accompanying 

 table, showing the quantity of the produce of sugar-beet 

 per acre, with different descriptions and varying amounts 

 of manure : — 



Proceeding from left to right it should be observed that, 



