■» oL. xva. NO. a* 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



221 



him ru tlie particular request of the Kin;?. Tliis 

 notice occurs in the premier or 1st series, which in- 

 cludes many of the old kinds as well as new. [iut 

 all of those kinds which were then hut of a ver;/ 

 recent date, are enumerated only in the 9d and 3d 

 series of that work. 



WILLIAM KENRICK. 

 jXvnanlum Hill, Jim. 1, 18:«l. 



IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING 

 BEET SUGAR. 

 Tlie editors of the New York Observer have 

 been lavored withe following letter from Hun. H. 

 L. Ellsworth, commissioner of patent.-i, to a friend 

 in New York, with permission to publish it. 



ft'ashington, Oct. iOth, 18-38. 



D.-AR Sir, — Since yuur leaving the city, I have 

 had the perusal of a late paper published in Paris, 

 containing a communication from M. Michael Che- 

 valier, on the subject of Beet Sugar. It would 

 indeed seem that we must soon approach perfection, 

 so quickly is one improvement crowding upon an- 

 other ! The difficult and tedious process of ordi- 

 nary evaporation, with all the concomitants of blood, 

 animal carbon, &c. &.c. arc to be d-spensed with, 

 and instead of three, four, and five per cent., nine 

 per cent, is to be surely obtained in less time and 

 with half the expense ; in addition to this, the com- 

 mon sugar is refined without any new solution, or 

 even changing the moulds. 



Desiccation, or drying of beets, has been recom- 

 mended. This is certainly the correct principle, 

 as much noxious matter is carried off by evapora- 

 tion and the bulk of tlie beet is reduced five-si.\ths, 

 enabling the farmer, who lives at a distance from 

 the factory, to transport his produce with trifling 

 expense. Experiments made before the French 

 Academy, show that there are in 100 pounds of beet, 

 85 pounds of water, 10 S-lOths pounds of sugar, 

 5-lOths of mucilage, and 4 pounds of fibrous mat- 

 ter. This was extracted by M. Beyrand in eight 

 minutes, by the aid of heat and pressure. In the 

 Dutchy of Daden the slower process is adopted, 

 and one better suited to large establishments. M. 

 Schuetzenbacli, at Haden, cuts the beets into pieces 

 one-third of an inch apart, by a vertical knife. 

 These are again subdivided by other sharp knives. 

 As soon as they come in contact with the warm air 

 they curl up, and lose all their adhesive property, 

 (so common to some vegetables) and allow a free 

 circulation of heat in the kiln. Kilns are heated 

 to 34 or 40 Reaumur. Tlie apparatus of Mr S. is 

 simple. The cutting machine costs not more than 

 $100. One half a horse power is sufficient to pro- 

 pel this, and working every day for three uionths, 

 it cuts 1,000,000 kilograms, equal to 1,093 tons. 



A stove, or kiln, 10 feet long by 9 feet high, 

 during 24 hours dries 3000 pounds of beets, and 

 consumes 420 lbs. of charcoal. Three such stoves 

 or kilns would dry all that would be cut with the 

 above machine. Mr S. reduces the dry beet to a 

 coarse powder, and stows this away in casks or 

 bins, sprinkling it with lime. In this manner it 

 will keep perfectly good a long time. When it is 

 wanted for manufiicture, a small quantity of water 

 is added to it, which produces sweet water, which 

 is easily evaporated by Roth's apparatus, without 

 any other preparation. The first crystallizatinn 

 produces what is called " a good fourth," which 

 after a second crystallization makes a common su- 

 gar. 



Thp advantages of this method arc such, th-^t 

 beets in 1637 (less rich than former years,) yielded 

 8 per cent, of sugar, instead of 5 per cent, which 

 was the highest by the old process. 



\ great desideratum is now obtained of making 

 refined sugar by the aid of prcssiu-e in three days, 

 without a change of tlie moulds! In the (dd mode 

 it required t!u-ee weeks. 



Tire researches of a young chemist of Toulouse, 

 promise great advantages. He has invented a new 

 sacchrometer, by which he can discover to a- fiftieth 

 part, the richness of the saccharine matter in beets, 

 and all other substances containing erystallizable 

 sugar. As J remarked before, 100 pounds of beets 

 contain 10 pounds of sugar, allowing one per cent, 

 for waste, nine percent, remains. To dry the beet ! 

 and extract the sugar, does nut cost over ten francs : I 

 add to tliis, the cost of the beet twelve francts — 

 twentytwo francs ; making ninety pounds of sugar 

 cost $4 50-100 or five cents per pound; and, fori 

 refining and other contingencies 50 per cent, and I 

 excellent refined French sugar costs only about 7 

 cents a poiyid. 



To perfect the present inventions the French 

 Government have offered premiums to discover the 

 best method of drying the beet — extracting the 

 sugar — converting raw sugar into refined, without 

 changing tlie moulds, also for the best sacchrom- 

 eter. 



What greater encouragement is needed, if these 

 discoveries can be brought to this country. How 

 desirable is it, that there should be an agricultural 

 bureau added to some department of the Govern- 

 ment to watch over these interests. No country 

 has neglected the laboring classes who till the 

 ground so much as our own — but I will not en- 

 large on this point, for Congress seem disposed 

 to take up the matter, and will I trust do some- 

 thing corresponding to the magnitude of the sub- 

 ject. 



When we consider that our rich lands yield 20 

 tons of beets per acre, equal to 40,000 lbs., and that 

 nine per cent, would give 3,600 lbs. of sugar, leaving 

 a valuable residuum for agricultural purposes, we 

 must congratulate those whose means have so long 

 denied them the full enjoyment of one of the great- 

 est luxuries of life, and congratulate cur country 

 too, on such additional means of making ua inde- 

 pendent. 



Since writing the foregoing, I have learned that 

 Mr Charles L. Fleischmenn, a naturalized citizen 

 of the U. S. and for the last two years a resident 

 of this city, has in preparation a paper on this sub- 

 ject, showing the present state of the manufacture 

 of beet sugar on the continent, which will soon be 

 laid before the public. Mr Fleischmenn is a native 

 of Bavaria. He was educated in the Royal and 

 Polytechnical schools at Schleissheim, near .Munich, 

 and in consequence of his attainments was on his 

 graduating, appointed Inspector of the Public Do- 

 main, and director of the estates of Count Seins- 

 hani, which comprise twentyfour villages. Should 

 any company be formed in this country, for the 

 cultivation of the Beet, and the manufacture of 

 sugar, I know of no one so admirably fitted by his 

 education and experience, for the service of such 

 an association ; and T say this, less from a personal 

 regard and respect which I entertain for Mr Fleisch- 

 menn, than from the earnest wish I feel for the 

 early and successful introduction, on an extensive 

 scale, of this new source of national wealth into 

 our country. With great regard, 



(Signed) H. L. ELLSWORTH. 



WATERIN(; CATTLE IN THE WINTER. 

 Perhaps it would excite the surprise of many of 

 our*eaders, should we assert that cattle generally 

 suffer more from thirst in winter, than during the 

 heat of sammer. Yei there is strong reason to be- 

 lieve that this is to a great extent the case. Cattle 

 whose winter food consists entirely of hay, straw, 

 and other dry materials, need a plentiful and fre- 

 quent supply of pure fresh water. This many do 

 not obtain, as nearly all running strcRuis are cover- 

 ed with ice, as cattle are obliged to wander a con- 

 siderable distance from the yard to the watering 

 place, through deep snows or over a slippery path, 

 exposed to the annoyance of dogs, or to be gored 

 by other cattle, and rather than endure this, they 

 often suffer much from a want of water. It has 

 been ascertained iliat a bullock, who has water at 

 command, will drink it eight times a day. It should 

 always therefore be ea.sy of access to cattlu -it all 

 time; ; and not on a distant part of the fariH; or in 

 the open road, so that in order that c ttle may help 

 themselves to it, you are obliged to leave vour gate 

 open, or barn-yard bars dov/n, and thus your yard 

 is thronged v.-itli vagrant colts and other ill-bred 

 animals, who take possession of whatever fodder 

 they can lay their mouths upon,' and pay no regard 

 to the rights of mcum and tuum. Dr Anderson 

 says that he knew a man who became very rich 

 by being great in'litlle matters, tliat is attending 

 carefully to things which other men consider of 

 too little consequence to claim their notice ; and 

 this man always made it a point to sec that his 

 cattle, particularly his milch cows, should have a 

 constant supply of tlie purest water. — Farmer^s 

 Calendar. 



Millet. — The more experience wo liave with 

 this production, the better we are pleased with it, 

 and the fact of the deficiency of the pastures the 

 present season urges us to suggest the propriety of 

 farmers introducing its culture into their respective 

 systems of husbandry. How fortunate it would be 

 for those who are now compelled to feed out their 

 winter stock of hay, had they been so fortunate as 

 to flush up a few acres of their harvest fields, after 

 the grain was cut off, and put it down in millet, to 

 cut and feed their stock. Two acres of it in good 

 ground, would yield grass enough to soil twenty 

 head of cattle six weeks, and carry (hem in good 

 condition into the middle of autumn. Should such 

 precaution be taken in future, and the necessity for 

 the use of it as green food not occur, it could be 

 suffered to ripen its seed for market, which, after 

 being threshed out, would leave a large quantity 

 of excellent provender to add to the winter 

 stock. 



I'ut whether drought should occur or not, if cut 

 and given to the milch cows, from its succulence 

 and nutritious qualities, it would greatly add to the 

 yield and quality of the milk and butter, and there- 

 by increase the revenue of the dairy. — Fanner and 

 Gardener. 



A new mode of furnishing masts to steam vessels, 

 by which they may be set up or taken down, when 

 required, in less than two hours, has lately been in- 

 vented in France, a description of which was read 

 to the Academy des Sciences. The improvement 

 consists in making the masts of numbers of sheet 

 spars, capable of being so well joined as to equal 

 the solidity of ordinary masts. 



