234 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JANUARY 30, 18.19. 



" A refinery of sugar from the beet-root is being change all the c.nditi.in of its existence, extend ' of Uie s.i-ar, and which embarrassed the mauufac 

 erected at Thamr-B bank, Chelsea, which, it is expect- its influence, not only to tlie consumption, but also ture of beet sugar. 



ed, will be iu operation in about six weeks. In | to the production of that article, 

 the vicinity of the metropolis, during the past sum- 



. " When the beets are once dried, the sugar 

 " Until now, a series of operations has been ap- easily obtained by mixing them with a small quai 

 mer, a great many acres of land have been put I plied to the extracting of si-gar from the beet, tity of water, which produces a solution of sua; 

 into cultiviilion with the root at Wandsworth and which, though simple enough in appearance, are in ' and a very small proportion of otlier bodies, an 



reality conjplicated and delicate ; which deracnd j whicli, by 'the process oT evaporation, gives at one 

 not only a great nuniier of intelligent and skilful la good product, which can be easily refined, 

 workmen, but also require considerable material to ' " ' 



other places. The machinery will be principally 

 on the plans of the vacuum-pans, and a pure refined 

 sugar will be produced from the juire by the frst 

 process of evaporittion, after it has simply under- 

 gone the process of discolorization. Another part 

 of the premises is appropriated to the manufacture 

 of coarse brown paper from the refuse, for which 

 it is extensively used in France. In case the Gov- 

 ernment do not interfere, and, by rendering the 

 product excisable, retard or prohibit its manufac- 

 ture, several individuals have it in contemplation 

 to establish refineries in difTerent purts of the 

 kingdom for purifying sugar, which may be pro-- 

 duced in agricultural districts for domestic or for- 

 eign use. A refinery has lately been established 

 at Belfast, in the vicinity of which town upwards 

 of two hundred acres of land have been put in 

 cultivafion with the beet-ioot for the manufacture 

 of sugar. 



Russia, which adopts e'. ery useful ;improvement 

 in manufacture, has, in the soul her: S^spr-rtnietits, 

 large manufactories of beet sugar, by whieh she 

 expects to furnish some of the Asiatic markets 

 ■with this article. So have Bohemia, Hungary, 

 Austria, and Switzerland large beet sugar manu- 

 factories, in the most flourishing condition. 



The German.'), though the discoverers of the 

 crystallizablo sugar in the beet-root, until 18:?6 

 made very little progress in its manufacture. This 

 is to be ascribed as well to the continual war with 

 France, which checked every improvement, as to 

 the uncertainty of the business itself. The Ger- 

 mans, well aware and well informed of every im- 

 provement madt! abroad, never found it sufliciently 

 lucrative to embark in it: but it seems that this 

 nation, which has given the world so many great 

 and important discoveries, was destined to biing its 

 own discovery of the extraction of the iugar from 

 the beet to perfection. This was accomplished by 

 Mr Schuczenbach, of the Grand Duchy of Baden. 

 Schuczenbach re-examined carefully Margraf's 

 experiments, and found that the first experiment 

 of this great chemist, made eightynine years ago, 

 is the best method, when modified, to produce, with 

 less labor and expense, eight pounds of white re- 

 fined sugar out of one hundred pounds of the raw 

 beet-root. 'I his improvement it is v liich will, in a 

 'short space of time, exclude all the colonial sugar 

 from the European market, as well an our own. 

 This improvement, also, will change the condition 

 of millions of men in the colonies. 



The opinion and judgment of a nation, jealous 

 of every discovery or improvement made in other 

 countries, and especially in this branch of industry, 

 in which it has sacrificed millions of francs for its 

 perfection, will serve as a proof of the importance 

 of the new improvement. These new discoveries 

 are detailed in an article which appeared in the 

 Journal des, Dehiils Politirjues el Literaires, in Paris, 

 dated the liith July, Ic^iif!, by Michel Chevalier, 

 viz : 



" It would seem that the spirit which was man- 

 ifested in the days of the Revolution, has been 

 transferred from the political arena, and is excrtinf 

 ■ itself in tliat of industry. At this time the manu- 

 facture of sugar from beets is on the point of un- 

 dergoing a metamorphosis which, as it appears, will 



be operated upon; and which, again, consume ' desiccation acts with the power of exorc.-... 

 costly articles, such as milk, blood, animal char- ! drives from the juice all injurious substance 



" In a word, the elementary operation of th 



ism ; 



coal, &c. 



which were the former causes of evil in this maiiu 



"In the 'ormer process the sugar beet was I facture. 

 scraped; the pulp pressed by means of an hydrau- 1 "This fact being once understood, and dul 

 lie press. The juice so obtained underwent de- [verified by experiments on a large scale, it w, 

 fecation, or the separation of the albuminous and 'then important to bring it to perfection by an 

 mucila-rinous elements, and then the clarification ' practical manipulation. This is what the 



and evaporation. Once concentrated, the sirup 

 underwent crystallization, which furnisl.ed the raw 

 sugar; and this then had to be refined before it 

 could be admitted on our tables. 



'■ Since its origin, the process of extracting the 

 sugar has always been the mSin point, but it has 

 been modified and improved in the details; so 

 much so, thrit our manufacturere, who were ruininc 

 themselves when the sugar was at six francs the 



eas; 

 ociet 

 d' EncouragemenV is about to undertake, and t!ia 

 with every chance of complete success. This 

 already much more than mere expectation, becau.sj 

 the problems which it has proposed are alreadi 

 more than half solved, and the entire solution 

 them is scarcely a matter of doubt ; so that thi 

 manufacture of the sugar from beets is about to b. 

 built on a new basis. 



"Thc'Socicte (P Eneouragemcnl' hate offere. 

 pound, are becoming rich at the low price of twen- | ''i*^ following prizes for the promotion of this man 

 ty sous per pound. At this time the scraping, "fncture : 

 pressing, defecation, clarifying, and evaporating I "1- One of 4,000 francs for the best process fo 

 were attended with difficulties, which it required a I ^^'^ desiccation of the beets. 



" 2- One of 4,000 francs for the best treatmen 

 of the dried beet for the extraction of the 

 sugar. 



"3. One of 4,000 francs for the conversion o 

 the raw into refined sugar, without taking it out o 

 the mould. 



" 4. One of 3,000 francs for an analysis of tin 

 beet root, &,c. 



"5. One of 3,000 francs for the invention of ; 

 saccharometer, which should be so constructed 

 to be easily applied, and to have the property o 

 showing immediately the quantity of crystallizablt 

 sugar contained in the fluid under trial. A con- 

 trivance of this kind, which would bo a sine guide 

 for the farmer, and for the workman in manufacto 



great length of time to subdue. The loss in' man- 

 ufacturing was enormous, as only from three to 

 five parts of sugar were obtained from a hundred 

 pounds of beets, instead of ten pounds, which are 

 contained in the root. 



" With the assistance of chemical analysis, it 

 was ascertained that this evil proceeded from the 

 presence of a certain quantity of acid, of divers 

 coloring, mucilaginous, and gelatinous matters sus- 

 pended in tiie juice. The presence of these mis- 

 chievous substances injures the sugar, prevents 

 it from crystallizing, sometimes destroys it, and 

 causes it to yield only poor molasses. To prevent 

 these injurious eSects, difierent agents have been 

 used, which were found more or less efficacious. 



Apparatus was constructed, which accelerated ii,e ' '■'«'^' '"'''^=i''"? to the former the proper tiii:c tc 



manufacture, and diminished the time during which 

 the sugar is in contact with these injurious sub- 

 stances ; but tlie inquiry was never made whether 

 it were possible to separate the sugar from those 

 foreign bodies, or at least to neutralize or paralyze 

 their destructive power, before the juice is ex- 

 tracted. 



" The new process, first alluded to, was discover- 

 ed in the grand duchy of Baden, by Mr Schiiczeii- 

 hach, of Carlsruhe. The experinient.-i introduced 

 a method of manufacturing -the sugar which was 

 ulopted by several manufacturers on the rioht 



i,„.,i f .u oi • 1 L- L • , , . ° icauon uy an econor 



bank ot the Rhine, and which is already in viffor- I <• -j ., jx ,.■ m, ■ , ■ , , 



.,.,„„ .;,„ .> >r" formidable difficuhies. This drying may he deno 



collect his crop of beets, and to the latter how tc 

 manage his operations, would be of immense 

 value. 



" When these five prizes are gained, the theo- 

 retical and practical renovation of the manufacture 

 of beet sugar will be radically accomplished in all 

 its forms. 



"To the question. Will this be eflected ? it may 

 be safely answered that existing facts scarcely al- 

 low of the expression of a doubt that such will be 

 the case. 



■'The problem of the complete and rapid desic- 

 cation by an economical process has presented very 



ous operation. 



inuted Ihe coR^F.R-sro^t. of the new system; but 

 "Likeall ideas v.hich arc di.'sun-ed.to accomplish I this problem is far from being insolvable ; on the 



contrary, it ought to be regarded as solved. 



"In one of the last sessions of the Societe iP 

 Encouragement, Mr lieyrand, o! Marseilles, present- 

 ed beets cut in slices, which were dried in eight 

 minutes by the combined action of pressure and 

 heat, effected by two cylinders, heated to 100 de- 

 grees by steam. This result will appear more pro- 

 digious when we consider tliat 100 parts of beeta 

 contain 84 parts of water. 



" The beets, prepared after Mr Beyrand's inetlv- 

 od, preserve all their sweetness. Mr Schuczenbach. 



revolutions in manufactures, as well as in politics, 

 that which serves as basis to the new process is 

 simple. The operation of drying the beets imme- 

 diataly after they are taken from the field, is now 

 the first step in the piocesit By this operation, the 

 mucilaginous" matter, which is an integral part of 

 the beet, loses the properly of dissolving in Hater; 

 this drying stops also the fermentation which takes 

 place during the preservation of the beets in cel- 

 lars or in tiie heap, and likewise prevents the for- 

 mation of acids, which were created at the expense 



