AGRICULTURAL MANUFACTURES. 473 
verted into distilleries, have again resumed the manufacture of sugar. 
We shall have occasion to revert again to this fact in speaking of that 
second branch of agricultural manufacture. 
Resuming the subject of improvement: In Germany the Commit- 
tee of Beet-sugar manufacturers have proscribed all inferior varieties 
of the beetroot, and allow only the cultivation of the very best kinds. 
The consequence is, that the German roots excel those of France in 
saccharine power to the extent of from 30 to 50 per cent. Another 
fact of a singular character has been elicited by the investigations, 
with respect to the juice of the beet, that in proportion to its density 
is that of the sugar it contains. Thus, a root whose juice weighs 5° 
Baumé, contains only 4 per cent. of real sugar, and 5 per cent. of 
foreign matters ; whilst a root marked 10° Baumé, contains 15 per 
cent. of sugar, and only 5 per cent. of foreign matters. The perfec- 
tion to which the root has been brought is evinced by the fact already 
stated. M. Knauer, a cultivator of Grobermur Halle, is the party 
who produced the variety, to which he has given the name of the 
Imperial Beetroot, and which contains 174 per cent. of the entire 
weight of the root of sugar. ‘‘ He has arrived at this result,” says 
the writer from whom I quote, “by a system of selection. He im- 
proves his variety from year to year, by attention and minute observa- 
tion. He sells a certain quantity of this seed every year, and although 
its richness goes on increasing yearly, he reduces in an inverse propor- 
tion the price of his imperial seed. He began selling at the enormous 
price of 816 francs (£34) per 100 kilogrammes (2ewt.), and has now 
reduced it to 225 francs (£9 7s. 6d.) per 100 kilogrammes.” The 
produce is small, but the intrinsic value of the root amply makes 
amends for any deficiency in the weight of the crop. Our English 
and Scotch farmers would do well to take a lesson from this German 
gentleman, who has proved the possibility of increasing, and even 
doubling, the amount of saccharine properties of this plant, which 
constitute its chief value, whether for sugar-making or for grazing. 
This improvement will more than enable the maker of indigenous 
sugar to compete successfully with the West India planter. The 
cultivation of the sugar cane occupies from 12 to 15 months, and it 
must then be all manufactured instanter, and on the spot; whereas 
the beetroot requires only 130 days to arrive at maturity, and can 
then be stored and manipulated at any time. This is an important 
advantage the beetroot manufacturer has over the colonial, especially 
if there is any equality in the amount of produce. On this point, 
too, the following information is derived from statements by the 
