N0\-EMBER 1, 1898.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



Founded m iSSi by RICKRD A. PROCTOR. 



LONDON: NOVE BEB 1, 1898. 



CONTEITS. 



The Beet-Sugar Industry in Ei land. By Joiin Mills 

 The Karkinokosm. or World t Crustacea.— VI. By 



the Rev. T.-IOMAS U. R. Stbuno, m.a., p.b.s., p.l.s. 



(Illustrated) ... 



Self-lrrlgatlon In Plants.— III. By the Rer. Alex. S. 



AViLsuN, M.A., B.sc. ilUtutrat 



Progress in Radiography. By ames Quick 



Handicraft in the Laboratory 



The New Planet DQ. h\ A. C. D. lOMiiELlv (ZUustrated) 



The November Meteors. (Illu ■•led) 



Photograph of the Nebulous I gion round W V 37 



Cygni. Hy Isaac RoiiEi:f>. u .. i.h.s. {Plate) 

 Letters :—K. K. Markwick, Col. ; a?. H. Rockwell ... 



Science Notes 



British Ornithological Notes, .nducted by Habey F. 



WiTIIEEBT, E.Z.9., M.B.O.U 



An Irish Superstition. By Fba:':s J. Battersbt 

 Notices of Books 



SnoKT Notices ... 



Bodes Received 



The Smell of Earth. By G. Cl-ke NriTAiL, n.sc. . . 

 The Hooks on the Mandible o the Honey Bee and 



the Gizzard of the Ant. By Waltee WesChl 



{Illustrated) 



Botanical Studies.— VI. Selaglilla. By A. Vattghan 



Jennings. F.L.S., E.G. 3. (Illmtr ed) 



Notes on Comets and Meteor; By "W. F. Denning, 



F.B.A.S. ... ... ... 



The Face of the Sky for Nove ber. By A. Fowlbb, 



P.E.A.S. 



Chess Column. By C. D. Lococki.a. 



PAGB 

 241 



245 

 247 

 2.«) 

 250 

 252 



253 



253 

 254 



256 

 2.5G 

 257 

 257 

 257 



259 

 2.->0 



263 

 263 



THE BEET- SUGAR INDUFRY IN ENGLAND. 



By John J lls. 



AN equal appreciation of 11 parts of knowledge," 

 says Humboldt, " is a especial requirement of 

 the present epoch, in bich the material wealth 

 and the increasing pronrity of nations are, in a 

 great measure, based )n a more enlightened 

 employment of natural products nd forces." This truth, 

 uttered half a century ago, is s 1 applicable to our own 

 times, in face of the many ini vations which scientific 

 men have introduced into eveilay life. Obviously, if 

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

 in the locaUties most suitable, a to chmate and other cir- 

 cumstances, for its growth, and ictories were established 

 for the manufacture of sugar om it, there would be 

 greatly increased employment f the population. With 

 regard to the suitability of the c nate of the British Isles 

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

 the same time, of adequate richn s in sugar, Mr. Sigmund 



Stein says : " The sugar contained in tho' 

 beetroot is not only equal to, but even surpas 

 tained in the beetroot grown on the continentj 

 Referring to the beet-sugar industry of Frano 

 States Consul at Havre said, in a report 

 " the crop pays the farmer better than wheaS 

 agricultural product." England is often acoi 

 the only European State which is blind to itfl ( 

 and certainly the sanguine supporters of th 

 initiating a British sugar-beet industry are ] 

 statistics and other evidence which, on the i 

 rate, seem to indicate that we are, in this 

 the curse which ever clings'.to those who stan| 

 other nations are thriving on a con 

 production of beetroot, England iq sta 

 in the lap of luxury. Some idea of tlj 

 may be gleaned by an inspection of tlj_ 

 of results from the olVicial statistics ro 

 and France : — 



GKEMA>r/. 



It will be noted that in Germany over a nulli 

 were in cultivation in 1891-5, yielding an ave 

 13-3 tons of beetroot per acre, the mean produi 

 the seven years given being about twelve tons per , 

 while the raw sugar obtained therefrom amounted 

 twelve per cent. The results relating to France indica' 

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

 and while the factories in Germany remain practica"" 

 constant there is a gradual reduction in their number 

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

 grown at Rothamsted, 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, 



