Development of the Beet-Sugar Industry 11 
The early work of Achard was encouraged by financial 
assistance from Frederick the Great, but after his death 
in 1786 the work was somewhat interrupted until his 
successor, Frederick William III, came to the rescue. 
Through the aid of the latter, the first beet-sugar factory 
in the world was built on Cunern Estate, near Steinau 
in Silesia, in 1799-1801. In 1802 a factory was built 
near Paris for experimental purposes. These first fac- 
tories experienced many difficulties in purifying the 
sugar. This, together with the low sugar-content of the 
beets, discouraged all but the most enthusiastic. 
Assistance from Napoleon. 
The establishing of the beet-sugar industry on a pay- 
ing basis really came as an incident in the wars of Napo- 
leon. As a measure against England he established in 
1806 a blockade in which any merchandise from England 
and her colonies was not allowed on the continent. This 
cut off the chief source of sugar; as a result the average 
price from 1807 to 1815 was thirty cents a pound. At 
times it went much higher than this. In 1806 the French 
Government offered a bounty on beet-sugar, but it was 
not until 1811, near Lille, that the first commercial fac- 
tory in France was established. 
On January 12, 1812, Napoleon issued a decree pro- 
viding that one hundred select students should be sent 
from schools of medicine, pharmacy, and chemistry to 
the six special beet-sugar schools that he had established 
the year before. He also set aside large tracts of land to 
be devoted to beet-raising and compelled the peasant 
farmers to plant sugar-beets. The decrees of Napoleon 
