AGRICULTURAL MANUFACTURES. 471 
nery employed, that it was at once seen to be impossible to come into 
competition upon equal terms with West India produce, and the enter- 
prises were therefore at once abandoned. 
The third attempt was that of the Beet-sugar Company, formed in 
Ireland in 1850, under the most favourable circumstances, and with 
every prospect of a successful result, so far as the capabilities of the 
country for raising the raw material, and the perfection of the ma- 
chinery employed, could insure it; but, however this may be, the 
enterprise failed through the folly of the beet-growers on the one 
hand, and the consummate dishonesty of those who had the manage- 
ment of the company’s affairs. 
The manufactory was established at Mount Melick, in Queen’s 
County ; and in respect to the soil and its adaptation for growing the 
beetroot, no district could have been better selected for a site for the 
plant. The premises, too, were suitable, but there appears to have 
been old instead of new utensils and machinery introduced by the 
engineers, and they were found to be so defective that they could not 
be worked: the consequence was, that the greater part had to be 
replaced by new works, at an expense that absorbed a large portion 
of the capital: for, notwithstanding the enthusiastic favour with 
which the introduction of the manufacture was received in Ireland, 
not 500 shares out of 20,000 had been taken by residents in that 
country, and the Board of Directors were all residents in London; 
Mr. John Gwynn, of British Bank celebrity, bemg the managing 
director of the company. 
At length, after much delay, the factory was ready to commence 
working ; but now arose another difficulty: The beet-growers, who 
had been supplied with seed gratis, under a written contract to sell 
the produce at a given price, refused to deliver it except at an advance 
of several shillings per ton. Their demand was rejected by the mana- 
ger, upon which threatening letters were sent to him, and it was 
currently known in the neighbourhood that Aibbon law was to be 
administered to him. This, however, was averted by the spirited 
conduct of a large employer at Mount Melick—a friend—who signi- 
fied to his numerous dependants that if any outrage was committed 
he would turn off every man in his employ. Through his friendly 
intervention, a compromise was effected with the farmers, and the 
factory set to work. A skilful superintendent from Valenciennes, was 
employed, who certainly well understood his business; but, on the 
other hand, he managed the concern so much to his own advantage, 
that the whole of the working capital speedily disappeared, and the 
