INTRODUCTION. 



cvii 



REFINING. 



The process of refining beet-sugar is similar to that of the cane. We give below the different 

 proportions of substances obtained by refining : 



One, hundred pounds of raw lect-iugar being refined, gl:e the. following. 



COST OF THE MANUFACTURE OF BEET-SUGAR. 

 Cost of producing six hundred thousand pounds of sugar. 



Ten million pounds of beet-roots cost 



Labor 



Fuel 



Lime animal black 



Ten per cent, on cost of machinery . . . 



Fives per cent, on cash capital 



llents, repairs, and other contingencies . 



From which deduct one hundred and twenty thousand pounds of molasscH, $2, ICO 

 Ilesidue, pulp, &c 2, 490 



Cost in the factory . 



813,000 

 4,200 

 3,600 

 2.400 



3, 000 

 , r )00 



4, 9.50 



31,650 



4, 650 

 27,000 



Two hundred pounds in the factory, cost. 



Handling, storage, &c 



Duty 



9 00 



, 3 00 



9 90 



21 90 



Trice varies from $22 to $28, say $24 ; profit, $2 1 0. 



Showing, on six hundred thousand pounds, a profit of $6, 300, or $1 05 per hundred pounds. 



Time occupied, one hundred days. 



The cost of producing cane-sugar in this country has generally been estimated at about $3 50 



per one hundred pounds. 



These statements will enable our readers interested in this subject to realize the practicability of 

 making beet-sugar with profit, especially under the new and unfortunate condition of our country. It 

 is not probable that the prices of an article, the use of which is so general, will very soon fall so low as 

 to render the manufacture of sugar from the beet a precarious or hazardous business. 



Since the foregoing was prepared we find an editorial article on beet-sugar in the &quot;Journal of 

 Commerce,&quot; of New York, of November 11, 1864, which concludes as follows: 



&quot;Beet-sugar is a novelty in this country, but an old story in Europe, where it is manufactured in immense quantities, and 

 daily used on the tables of millions of people. It is sucrose possessing all the properties of cane-sugar. The white Silesian 

 beet is considered the best, containing a larger proportion of saccharine matter, and a less amount of injurious salts than any 

 other kind. Fresh beet-roots yield from six to seven per cent, of sugar. The method of manufacture is very simple. The 

 beets are cut or rasped into fine pieces, and the juice is then pressed out, or obtained by infusion. Lime-water is added to make 

 it alkaline; the excess of lime is subsequently removed by a current of carbonic acid gas; the liquid filtered, evaporated and 

 crystallized precisely like cane-sugar. Small experiments in the manufacture of beet-sugar have been made in this country 

 with some success. To make it a reasonably cheap product, however, extensive tracts of land, and large outlays for machinery 

 and labor are required. 



&quot;The public will encourage every effort that may be made in this region of discovery and enterprise. The present high 

 prices of sugar afford a good opportunity for talent and capital to develop our latent saccharine resources.&quot; 



