No. 141,] 149 



North, the market is always open to the alcohol from the South- 

 ern and Southwestern provinces. The sad influence of the grap« 

 malady has, since 1852, much diminished the distillation of 

 brandy, so much so as to have increased the cost of the hectolitre 

 (22 gallons, and about 1-10) from 50 or 60 francs to 215 francs, 

 i. e.j from $10 to $43. This price causes the beet sugar makers to 

 go to distilling beets. Mr. Dubrumfanf, of Bercy, made great 

 improvements in the process of distillation, by which 41 lilres 

 (a litre is a pint and nearly 810) of saleable alcohol is made 

 from 1,000 kilogrammes (a kilogramme is 2 pounds 3^ ounces 

 avoirdupois) of beets, which, in the ordinary making of sugar, 

 gives 50 kilogrammes of sugar, so that the distillers make from 

 80 to 85 francs in alcohol, and but from 60 to 65 francs for the 

 sugar. This explains the reason why 33 distilleries in the North- 

 ern departments have already been established. Dubrumfant had 

 a patent in the autumn of 1852. Before that time the custom 

 was, after preventing the sugar juice from fermenting, to change 

 the whole of the crystalizable sugar into uncrystalizable sugar by 

 yeastj to change the sugar into alcohol. Dubrumfant contents 

 himself with the effect of the natural fermentation of the beet, 

 and when too much sulphuric acid has been poured into it he can 

 saturate the excess by adding chalk. 



But, however, this alcohol from beets cannot be maintained in 

 competition with brandy when the grape malady ceases. This is 

 certain, and besides the beet rum will never equal in quality the 

 extract from wine; nor can our agriculture, furnish 1,000 kilo- 

 grammes of beets at the price of 16 francs, and generally from 11 

 to 12 hectolitres of wine, give from 110 to 120 litres of brandy. 

 We have reason to believe that the high price of brandy is but 

 temporary like the disease which troubles the vines. Certainly 

 the beet, whose culture in France was proposed by the Abbe 

 Commerel about 100 years ago, as a plant of great importance to 

 our welfare, is so now understood, and also that we now should 

 go largely into breeding cattle. 



[Extracts by H. Meigs. The Journal of Agriculture. Boston, April, 1854.] 



Mr. King, one of the editors, has a letter from his correspon- 

 dent in Oregon, stating that a strange and beautiful tree has been 



