CHAPTER II 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEET-SUGAR 
INDUSTRY 
Tue beet-sugar industry has grown in a century from 
nothing to its present enormous proportions. It is a 
significant example of the application of science to the 
needs of mankind. With the demand for sugar exceed- 
ing the supply and increasing faster than could be satis- 
fied from known sources,. new and better methods of 
securing sugar were sought. By applying the principles 
of plant-breeding to the sugar-beet — a plant formerly 
having only a low percentage of sugar — the quantity of 
sugar that can be extracted from a ton of beets was 
increased several fold. The same incentive has also led 
to the application of the principles of chemistry and 
physics to the manufacturing of sugar. When the in- 
dustry first began, beets low in sugar were the only kind 
obtainable, and even this little sugar had to be extracted 
by imperfect processes; but as time went on the beets 
were improved and the processes perfected, until at pres- 
ent sugar can be obtained, from the beet at a fraction of 
the cost of a hundred years ago. 
EARLY USE OF SUGAR 
The use of sugar as an important food is confined to 
modern times; formerly it was known only as a medicine 
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