AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



9 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH KRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH BIARKET STREET, (AanicuLTuaAL Warehouse.) 



•BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 1, 1840. 



[NO. 26. 



A-GRICU LTU RAL. 



TREATISE 



the Cultivntion of Suscar Beets and the Man- 



nfncture of Beet Sugar. 

 Ve Imve bee;: favored with a perusal of the iin- 

 nd sheets of a treatise on "the Culture of the 

 t and .''.ianufacture of Beet Sugar," by David 



Child, of Northampton. Thi:l work is now in 

 is'and win soon be oftered to the public by the 

 Ushers, Weeks, Jordan & Co., of this city, 

 'he author iias devoted three years to observa- 

 is, study and experience, and now gives the re- 



9 in a most .acceptable time, when so many are 

 liring for information on the subject. Mr Child 

 it a year and a lialf in the sugar factories of 

 nee, Belgium and Germany, and iiad during that 

 !, free intercourse with cultivators and manufac* 

 ■rs, most distinguis'ied for science and success, 



has gathered together much that is important 

 necessary to prosecuting the business profita- 

 in this country. The last year and a half has 

 a spent in forming an experimental establish- 

 X, and making sugar at Northampton in this 

 ".e. No person in the country is probably so 

 1 qualified as Mr Child, to treat upon this sub- 

 ; and we have no doubt his labors will be duly 

 reciatcd by his countrymen. He has brought 

 ither in a clear and concise manner, all that 

 lis essential to enlighten the judgment and di- 



the u.easures of Amori&m farmers in relution 

 lis new and pleasant branch of. rural economy, 

 'he work is divided into three parts. The first 



treats upon the culture of the beet — describing 

 , the species and varieties ; the climate mo-'t 

 jitious for it; soil best adapted for its cultiva- 

 , rotation, tillage and manure ; descriptions and 

 ivings used in cultivating the soil in France; 

 ing ; weeding ; digging ; keeping ; raising seed ; 

 luce and expense of the culture. Part second 

 .ts upon the manufacture of beet sugar, and 

 ining the roots ; grating, with description and 

 re of the instrument ; pressing ; defecation or 1st 

 ■ification ; first filtration, evaporation or concen- 

 ion : second filtration ; second concentration ; 

 d filtration ; boiling; filling; tiie curing room ; 

 )oiling molasses ; revivification of animal char- 

 1 ; miscellaneous observations ; the Dombasle 

 macerating system ; expen5e3 of manufacturing; 



manufacture of beet sugar at Northampton, 

 e third part treats of the history and prospects of 

 business, &c. 



\ work of this kind has been hmg sought after, 

 I we are happy in thus announcing its speedy 

 ■earance. The author has already manufactured 



10 Ibt. o^.ne sugar, ajjd is well satisfied that it 

 1 eventually prove a profitable business, and 

 «'e the imported sugars fiom the market. We 

 le his expectations will be realised, and trust 

 y will. It cannot be expected, however, that 

 re will be no obstacles in the way, or discour- 

 rnent or failures to new beginners: it is a busi- 

 s to be li'iarnt : some of its operations are nice, 



will jequ \re knowledge, practice and patience 



on the part of the experimenter, before he succeeds 

 in producing sugar to advantage. 



The following cliapter on soils suitable for thp 

 sugar beet, will show the importance of first test- 

 ing the soil by raising a (piantity of beets, before 

 establishing a sugar beet factory, and ascertaining 

 the quantity of sugar they contain, as it will be seen 

 that some soils produce beets from which not a 

 grain of sugar can be obtained, owing to some local 

 peculiarity. ■, J. B. 



"Soil. — The best soil for the beet is a deep, 

 rich, sandy, alluvial soil, with an open and fair ex- 

 position to the sun. But any soil which will an- 

 swer for Indian corn, will answer for sugar beet. 

 There is no land except the peaty or mossy, upon 

 which it may not be tried with success. Strong, 

 clayey and loamy lands will produce the greatest 

 bulk of beets, if humidity does not .too much pre- 

 dominate, but these beets will not necessarily yield 

 a greater quantity of sugar than a much smaller 

 quantity grown upon an equal extent of light and 

 upland soil. The beet, howevei-iia not unf'rateful 

 for a rich soil. Such an one is . ndoubtedly to be 

 preferred, for although the juice ■ill not be as rich, 

 y.et the superior quantity may be expected to more 

 than make up the deficiency. Ate a general rule, a 

 soil inclining to sandy is to be preferred. A clayey 

 sand, is better than a sandy clay, provided the sub- 

 soil is tolerably retentive. There is danger from 

 excesl^either of moisture or of dryness. A mid- 

 dling degree of moisture must b«v9«»ght Tit^iuSfc- 

 ance, if it incline either way, had better be in favor 

 of the dry, inasmuch as the beet does not require a 

 great deal of moisture except during a few weeks 

 of the spring, when rains are usually frequent and 

 abundant. After that its leaves shade the surface, 

 and prevent rapid exhalation, while its long tap-root 

 penetrates the earth and draws up fresh supplies as 

 from a well. 



Those who cultivate the beet largely for manu- 

 facturing, will do well to sow extensively on both 

 low and upland. If the season prove either wet or 

 dry, one of them will yield well, — if it be neither, 

 both may yield well. 



Calcareous soils are not unfriendly to the beet. 

 A considerable proportion of the beet growing re. 

 gion of France is of this nature ; and very fine 

 ci-ops of beets have been gathered from it, even 

 where tliere was only three or four inches of vege- 

 table earth resting on a bed of chalk. This spe- 

 cies of soil uses up manure quicker than oti:e!-s. 



A gravelly Siil is not M^gap^for the beet. 

 The large tap-root, in-fienMBPig the earth to get 

 its food, encounters stones an* pebbles, w'hich re- 

 tard its progress and split it into forks; then, in or- 

 der that nourishment may be conveyed laterally, 

 radicles, which are of little value, are muliiplied. 

 Stdl it must be admitted that the beet niay flourish 

 on grSwIly soil ; but it would be well to appropri- 

 ate it to forage rather than to manufacturing. The 

 stones, as far as practicable, should be removed. 



Saline soils are to bo eschewed, but they are 

 considered favorable for beets designed for feeding 

 and fattening cattle. 



Soils too sandy may generally be amended with 

 considerable facility. For the most part they rest 

 upon a clayey bottom, five . or six feet below the 

 surface. This may be taken up, pulverised and 

 mixed with great advantage. Clayey marls pro- 

 duce surprising effects on this soil, and favor in an 

 eminent degree the growtlj and saccharification of 

 the beet. Sandy, like calcareous soils, consume 

 manure too quick. 



It follows that stiff, cold, clayey land may bo 

 benefited by sand, but it ought to be mixed with 

 lime and stable manure. Calcareous marls are al- 

 so proper and perhaps preferable. 



Calcareous soils of the heavier sort, may be ben- 

 efited by the application of sandy loam. The 

 lighter sort by clay and clayey marl. Gravelly 

 soils may be improved by clayey loam ; peaty soils, 

 by draining, and by the application of coarse earth, 

 common sand, sea sand, chalk and calcareous marl. 



In all cases it will be prudent before establish- 

 ing a beet sugar factory, to try the soil, by raising 

 a quantity of beets, and ascertaining the proportion 

 of sugar tliey contain. It has been found in several 

 instanceff:&fter erecting large works, that not a 

 grain of sugar could be obtained, by reason of some 

 local peculiarity." 



THE WEST. 



Gov. Hill, editor. of the f'armer's Monthly Visi- 

 tor, in reply, to a cotl'espoWlent recommending New 

 .j^pglanderj lo emigrate to the Wesc, iiau tiie to'- 

 lowing just reiiwrks : 



" 'Ilie cosiof a journey to Michigan, to the valley 

 of the Wabagh, or to Wisconsin, to most New Eng- 

 land men with a family, with the outfit necessary 

 for his and their subsistcnco until he can procure a. 

 crop on the " cheap and fertile lands" to which lie 

 removes, will consume means to an amotint suffi- 

 cient to lay the foundation of his and their compe- 

 tence and independence in the neighborhood from 

 which -he started. The " mere pittance" derived 

 from " incessant labor" in Now England, will not 

 be found so contemptible as some apprehend, when 

 compared with the vast products of the West. ' No 

 one expects that crops of corn and wheat will grow 

 there without putting them into the earth: audit 

 is at least a question with us whether a greater 

 value from an equal amount of labor may not be 

 derived from cultivation of the soil in New Eng- 

 land than from the very best soil of the West. Men 

 of capital there may cultivate their hundreds and 

 their thousands of acres with the use only of teams 

 of oxen and horses ; but the value of the crops there, 

 if raised to sell, is scarcely ever greater in propor- 

 tion to the personal labor, than the lesser crops in 

 quantity produced here. The poor man without 

 capital cm procure much more of the necessaries 

 and comforts of lift fiom billing the soil or other la- 

 bor here than he can there. Such a man, if he has 

 credit to hire money sutftcient for an outfit and to 

 keep soul and body together until the first crop. 

 should be obtained in the "land of promise," would 

 find himself embarrassed with this additiomiB bur- 

 I'en of debt sufficient to cripple and diseOTrage him 



