302 



HISTORY OF THE VhXiETABLK KINGDOM. 



some with the stem, branches, and veins of the 

 leaves red ; others with leaves wholly red ; and 

 some, again, with the epidermis of the root in 

 different shades of red, brown, and yellow. 

 Those coloured varieties are considered more 

 hardy than the white, and one, having a reddish 

 skin, the mangold, or mangol-wiirtzel, of the Ger- 

 mans, is said to produce the largest roots, and 

 the most weighty crop in a given space of land. 

 In Guernsey, crops have been raised of one hun- 

 dred tons per acre. 



Some varieties of white beet are cultivated in 

 the gardens for their leaves alone; these are 

 larger than the leaves of the red beet, and are 

 more thick and succulent ; they are boiled as 

 spinach, and put into soups. One kind, called 

 the great white, or sweet beet, is esteemed for 

 the footstalks and midribs of the leaves, which 

 are stewed and eaten under the name of Swiss 

 dia.rd, or poiree aux carotes. 



Sugar has been manufactured in France from 

 a variety of the beet, which has a red skin, but 

 is white internally. The history of this sugar 

 manufacture is thus detailed in a popular work.* 



The celebrated Prussian chemist Margraff, 

 about the year 1747, discovered the existence of 

 a certain portion of sugar in the beet. This dis- 

 covery was communicated to the Scientific So- 

 ciety of Berlin; but no attempt was made to 

 cany the principle of the discovery into prac- 

 tice. Forty years after this, Achard, another 

 Prussian chemist, resumed the experiments 

 which Margraff had commenced. This man was 

 somewhat of a visionary ; and he was so enrap- 

 tured by the prospects which his labours opened 

 to him, tliat he announced the beet-root as "one 

 of the most bountiful gifts which the Divine 

 munificence has awarded to man upon the earth;" 

 affirming that not only sugar could be produced 

 from beet-root, but also tobacco, molasses, coffee, 

 rum, arrack, vinegar, and beer. Here, then, was 

 cleai'ly nothing for Europe to do but to apply 

 itself to the cultivation of beet, and leave the 

 West Indies to be covered once more with 

 jungle. The Institute of Paris, however, did 

 not sympathise with the enthusiasm of Achard ; 

 for in 1800 a committee of that body, having 

 gone through a series of the most careful expe- 

 riments, reported that the results were so unsa- 

 tisfactory that it would be unwise to establish 

 any manufacture of sugar from beet. 



Here, probably, the matter would have rested, 

 and Europe would have continued wholly to re- 

 ceive its sugar from countries adapted to the 

 growth of the sngar-eane, had not the decrees of 

 Bonaparte, in 1809, excluded France from pux-- 

 chasing the produce of the "West Indies. To a 

 large number of the French sugar was an ar- 

 ticle of the first necessity; and the public dis- 



* Library of Entertaining' Knowledge. 



satisfaction at the Milan decrees was therefore 

 excessive. The emperor directed his active mind 

 to the best method of obviating the inconveni- 

 ence which his political schemes had imposed 

 upon his people. Manufactories of syrups from 

 raisins and honey were established ; but sugar, 

 or a crystallized saccharine substance, could not 

 be procured. M. Deyeux, a member of the com- 

 mittee appointed by Napoleon to consider how 

 the wants of the people could be supplied with- 

 out foreign commerce, once more turned his at- 

 tention to the beet-root. His experiments were 

 more satisfactory than those of the committee of 

 1800; probably because the necessity of pro- 

 ducing sugar at home was more pressing. An 

 imperial manufactory of sugar was forthwith 

 established at Rambouillet; imperial schools 

 were instituted for instructing pupils in the pro- 

 cess; premiums were given for the best samples 

 of sugar; and thus, by 1812, the manufacture ot 

 beet-root sugar might be considered prosperously 

 set on foot. The profits of the manufacturers 

 were so large, that in one year they were reck- 

 oned sufficient to cover all the expenses of the 

 original establishment. There was no competi- 

 tion. Of course these enormous profits were 

 paid by the consumer. The French obtained 

 some sugar, but they paid an extravagant price 

 for the luxury. In 1814 Europe was at peace; 

 the ports of France were again open to the pro- 

 duce of the West Indies ; and in a moment the 

 foreign sugar swept the beet-root manufacture 

 entirely away. The consumers once more had 

 cheap sugar ; and the government had not then 

 made the discovery that it would be a good thing 

 to compel them to eat dear sugar, that the manu- 

 facturers of beet-root sugar might be kept in 

 activity. 



This cheapness was a natural and healthy state 

 of things, which would be sure to provoke the 

 meddling propensities of that class of rulers who 

 can never believe that the interests of trade can 

 take care of themselves. Immediately after the 

 peace, sugar from the French, English, and 

 American colonies was permitted to enter France 

 at the same rate of duty. In a few months, how- 

 ever, it was found that the sugars from the Eng- 

 lish colonies were driving the sugars of Marti- 

 nique, Guadaloupe, and Bourbon, out of the 

 market. The colonies must be protected ; so a 

 protecting duty of twenty fr-ancs the 100 kilo- 

 gramniesf was imposed upon all sugars of foreign 

 origin. In 1816 the duty on foi-eign raw sugar 

 was increased to forty-five francs; in 1820 to 

 seventy-five francs; and in 1822 to ninety five 

 francs, the 100 kilogrammes. The law of 1816 

 was the first bounty to the beet-root sugar manu- 

 facturers, and they accordingly once more be- 



+ A kilogramme is equivalent to 2 lbs. 2 oz. 4 di-8. 13 

 ffi'?. English avoirdupois. 



