150 



SUGAR. 



parties well versed in the subject. The amount of beetroots contained 

 in an acre weighs, on an average, 30,000 lbs. The cost of cultivating 

 beetroot in Germany is 16*55 francs; the internal revenue, 19*95 

 francs — 6 * 70 dollars per ton of 2200 lbs. Cultivation of beetroots 

 in France, 18 francs; internal revenue, 32*35 francs — 10*07 dollars 

 for 2200 lbs. Percentage of sugar in roots in France, 5 to 12 per cent. 

 Percentage of sugar in roots in Germany, 6 to 13 per cent. The 

 internal revenue is in France fixed on the juice after it is extracted 

 from the beets. In Germany it is levied on the weight of the beets. 

 Quantity of sugar manufactured from 100 lbs. of beets in France, 

 7 lbs. = 14*28 per cent. Quantity of sugar manufactured from 

 100 lbs. of beets in Germany, 8 lbs. = 12*5 per cent. In both 

 France and Germany the average per cent, of molasses is 3*33 per 

 cent. An acre of sugar-cane (canes that are brought to the sugar- 

 house to be manufactured into sugar) costs in culture in Louisiana 

 50 dollars. Last season 148,740 acres of canes were taken to the mill 

 in Louisiana. The average quantity of canes per acre was, this last 

 season, 44,058 lbs., and the cost per 2200 lbs. 2 * 50 dollars. That 

 year 6,553,108,807 lbs. of canes were passed through the mill ; the 

 juice produced had a density of 8° Beaume, equal to 14*4 per cent, 

 of pure sugar per 100 lbs. juice ; but only 12*96 lbs. of sugar for the 

 90 lbs. juice contained in 100 lbs. of canes. When the sugar is di^awn 

 from the batterie or strike-pan, it contains water of crystallization 

 equal to 15 per cent., which, added to the 12*96 of sugar, are thus 

 divided : 8*942 sugar, 5*962 molasses — 14*904 per cent. The quan- 

 tity of sugar produced last year (1872) in Louisiana, 146,906,125 lbs. 

 The quantity of molasses produced last year, 110,219,538 lbs. The 

 cost of manufacturing sugar, and the expenses in fuel, hogsheads, 

 barrels, freights, commissions, &c., at least 4 cents per lb. of sugar. 

 Quantity of sugar that should have been produced was 586,013,250 lbs. ; 

 of molasses, 390,675,500 lbs. 



" The question now comes. Can machinery be made that will 

 extract the whole of the sugar from the cane? Many of the ma- 

 chineries now in use in Europe for the manufacture of beet sugar 

 would exhaust almost the whole of the saccharine contained in the 

 sugar-cane. But those apparatus cost very high in money, and 

 require a great many hands to work them ; presses to operate on 

 500,000 lbs. cane in 24 hours would necessitate from 48 to 50 hands 

 to attend to them ; to the juice water must be added at the rate of 

 25 to 30 per cent. The quantity of sugar left in the pulp, from 

 1 to 11 per cent. Diffusion to work the same quantity of cane would 

 require, to attend the diffusion vessels, &c., 20 to 25 hands ; some 

 20 per cent, of water is added, and the cosettes or slices return ^ per 

 cent, of sugar. The use of centrifugals or turbines to displace the 

 saccharine from the pulp would be very costly. A sugar-house to 

 work 500,000 lbs. (nearly 230 tons) cane per day would require 

 115 hands to be all the time on duty. The cost of a beetroot manu- 

 factory is from 32,000Z. to 40,000Z., and some run as high as 160,000?., 

 200,000/., and even a great deal more. One in the Grand Duchy of 

 Baden, ' Wagliausel,' manufactures nearly 60,000 tons of sugar yearly, 

 and has cost over 1,000,000Z. Many of the planters are of opinion 

 that beetroots would be profitable in Louisiana as a sugar-rendering 



