50 THE SUGAR BEET. 



maintenance of the navigation of the Mississippi River, 

 which now seems probable, a commission having been 

 provided for by a late Act of Congress. Even then 

 the results will not be wholly satisfactory, as it must 

 not be forgotten that the yield of sugar per acre is 

 1200 lbs. to 1900 lbs. This is small when com- 

 pared with the West and East Indies or Mauritius, 

 where it has frequently been 7000 lbs. This diflfei'ence 

 is not owing to the inferiority of our soil but to the 

 methods of working the same ; with this inferior seed 

 and poor drainage, or a too frequent crop on the same 

 land, and not ploughing sufficiently deep. The " cane- 

 mills" extract but 60 to 65 per cent, of the juice ; the 

 boiling in the greater number of cases takes place, in 

 open kettles, &c. A complete change is necessary 

 before these acres will be able to yield all that is de- 

 manded by the country. And until then (if some other 

 plant be not introduced) the sugar difficulties will con- 

 tinue to exist. 



"Without any great knowledge of this special line of 

 business it can easily be understood that any trade 

 where frauds exist, having for effect the deceiving of 

 the government, should be stopped when possible. 

 For example, for years past the so-called Dutch 

 Standard has been the one adopted by customs authori- 

 ties. Thus working on a w^rong basis, that of color, 

 which cannot be relied upon, because varying with cir- 

 cumstances, while a given hue pays a given price, the law 

 supposing that the saccharine percentage in this case is 



