580 TRANSACTIONS OF SUB-SECTION B. 



without leaves was 17 tons 16 cwt. per acre, but in many cases 28, 30, and 35 tons 

 of roots per acre were obtained. The author's experiments on the Liverpool 

 Corporation Sewage Farms in 1900 produced a yield of 43 tons of sugar-beet per 

 acre. The average of the sugar contents was 17'65 per cent, in the roots and 

 19' 15 per cent, in the juice, but several samples contained 21 per cent, of sugar. 



Our climate is most suitable for root-growing, specially for sugar-beet. The 

 ridiculous ' sun fable ' was disputed many times by the author and others. In 

 years when there was a failure of the beet crop on the Continent he grew excellent 

 roots in England. His balance-sheet published some years ago shows that it 

 costs 9?. 15s. to grow an acre of sugar-beet. If the farmer receives 11. per ton 

 for his sugar-beet he will have a profit of 61. 10s. per acre. 



The demand for mangolds is limited, and the price varies. Sugar-beet, how- 

 ever, is contracted for at a fixed price for five to ten years. Farmers will have a 

 sure profit for years to come. 



Sugar bounties were abolished by the Brussels Convention until 1913, and if 

 the present sugar policy be preserved by England the Convention will become a 

 permanent institution. 



The consumption of sugar is increasing from year to year, and is caused 

 {a) by the natural increase of the world's population; (b) by the increased con- 

 sumption of sugar owing to the abolition of the bounties; (c) by the increase 

 of education and intelligence. The consumption of sugar in England is 88 lb. 

 per head per annum. Confectionery, marmalade, preserve, and mineral-water 

 industries are interested in it. If England does not begin to produce sugar, there 

 will soon be a sugar famine. We require 500 factories, each costing 80,000?. ; 

 so that 40,000,000?. will be safely invested at home. We shall keep the 

 20,000,000?. at home which we have sent out year by year abroad. In the factories 

 160,000 hands will be employed and hundreds of thousands indirectly. 



Beet pulp is very valuable feeding material ; 25,000,000 tons of it are used 

 annually on the Continent for cattle-feeding. Saturation lime is a valuable 

 manure, supplied free or cheaply to the farmers. 



We have now experimented for seventy-five years ; it is high time to utilise 

 our experience and erect factories in every county. The author has indicated 

 suitable sites in different localities, and preparations are already being made 

 for the erection of beet-sugar factories. The beet-sugar industry will be a 

 great and profitable industry, and will prove of immense benefit not only to British 

 agriculture but to the whole population and the entire country. 



2. The Financial Aspect of the proposed Sugar-Beet Industry. 

 By G. L. Courthope, M.P. 



This paper dealt with the question from the three aspects of the nation, the 

 farmer, and the sugar manufacturer. Attention was directed to the fact that the 

 imports of beet sugar have increased during the last thirty-five years from a 

 negligible quantity to some 30,000,000 cwt. annually. There is no reason why 

 this vast production should not have been built up at home. Successive Govern- 

 ments have failed to foster the industry and havo done nothing in connection 

 with bounty-fed competition from abroad. With the acceptance of the Brussels 

 Convention the situation has completely changed. The doubt still remains as 

 to whether any Excise duty will be placed upon the product of home factories, 

 but various considerations render it unlikely that any such duty will be imposed 

 for some years to come. The opinion was expressed that there would be little or 

 no loss of revenue to the Treasury, since with existing taxation the contribution 

 to the Exchequer would be fully equal to the present import duty of Is. 10fZ. 

 per cwt. so long as the wholesale price of sugar did not fall below 14s. 8d. 

 per cwt., as against current quotations varying from 20s. 10^d. to 22s. 



The author is of opinion that on any land which will grow a good crop of 

 mangold, and is situated within reasonable distance from a factory, the farmer 

 should be able to make an average annual profit of about 6?. to 6?. 10s. per acre, 

 in addition to receiving the ' saturation lime ' free, having an additional local 

 supply of cheap cattle-food, and also the expectation of a bonus from the factory 

 in years of success. He would gain the two eminently desirable advantages of a 



