STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 37 



alike. In that vegetable monstrosit}' called a beet, which is hidden 

 from the clear sunlight and the air during the whole period of its 

 growth, there are found juices which hold the most noble and valu- 

 able form of sugar known to man. The crimson tissues of this 

 root contain the snow-white sugar which graces the tea tables of the 

 kings and princes of continental Europe ; and millions of pounds 

 find their wa}- into commerce, always commanding the highest 

 prices. The humble, earthly beet, can hold up its head in pride, 

 when its sweetness is contrasted with that of the petted grape, 

 which occupies the foremost place among our delicious fruits. The 

 grape is sweetened with glucose, an ignoble form of sugar which 

 the chemist can make in the laboratory, and its production does not 

 require the employment of costly or rare materials. Even if it 

 lessens our respect for the tempting fruit of the vine, the truth 

 must be told. The chemist can make the sweet juices of the grape 

 from old cotton rags and old newspapers ; and if this statement 

 does not indicate a sufficiently low origin, I have onl}' to remark 

 that it can be made from common sawdust as well. Human art has 

 not 3'et been able to number among its triumphs the production of 

 the sugar of the beet, the maple, or the cane. 



The sweet principle of fruits, other than the grape, cannot be 

 imitated in the laborator3\ It is a mixture of at least two forms 

 of sugar — sucrose and dextrose — in var\Mng proportions, as is 

 shown in the following tables. 



How curious and mj'sterious is this plan in nature, of delicately 

 adjusting the taste of our noble fruits, so as to produce a sense of 

 the highest enjoyment in their use. In some fruits we find the 

 sweet to exist in its lowest modified form ; but this is not due to a 

 lessening of the amount of the sweetest sugar, but to the presence 

 of an entirely different kind. It is probable that the peculiar deli- 

 cate flavor and taste of the grape could not be secured b}- an}' 

 adjustment of quantity of sucrose or cane sugar, or b}* an}- mix- 

 tures. It requires glucose, pure and simple, to act in conjunction 

 with the delicate acids, in order that we may have this fruit in its 

 highest perfection. The watermelon would not be the fruit it is 

 if it had not the capability of manufacturing cane sugar in large 

 quantities ; neither would the apple, the peach, the cherry, the 

 strawberry', or the pear be what they are, if the plants and trees 

 upon which they grow had not the power of bringing into play a 

 subtle chemistr}', by which is produced a mixture of distinct forms 



