io8 Sugar Beet and Chicory in France. 



widespread opinion that when the Russo-German treaty ends 

 in 1903, Russia will have to seek new sources of supply for 

 such articles as have hitherto been chiefly bought in 

 Germany. 



It is further reported that American firms are making 

 great efforts to wrest from the Germans the trade in agri- 

 cultural machinery and implements, and some of the Polish 

 agricultural societies have obtained from Americans the same 

 terms as to prices and credit as they have hitherto enjoyed 

 from Germans. It may therefore be concluded that England 

 could also do business with Poland on a large scale ; and as 

 these agricultural shows give the opportunity of studying 

 the necessities of the different provinces and people, and 

 bring merchants into direct contact with buyers, it would be 

 important for English firms to take part in this show. 



Sugar Beet and Chicory Cultivation in the North 



of France. 



H.M. Consul at Lille has reported to the Foreign Office 

 that the unsatisfactory state of agriculture and the increasing 

 use of saccharin weighs heavily on the sugar industry, which 

 is on the verge of a real disaster in his district. Prices of 

 sugar went down suddenly from 25 to 28 per cent, in 1901, 

 owing principally to over-production. The crop and quality 

 of beetroot were exceptionally fine, but the bounties on sugar 

 also contributed to this excessive production. 



Owing partly to the lall in the price of beetroot, the produc- 

 tion of chicory has greatly increased in the Nord Department, 

 and its cultivation has received an impetus owing to the fact 

 that manufacturers now accept chicory " with tare ; '" instead 

 of insisting, as formerly, that it be delivered washed and 

 ready ior use. Nine manufactories of chicory are stated 10 

 exist in the immediate neighbourhood of Calais, and new 

 factories are being started in outlying villages. The parts of 

 the Pas de Calais and Nord Departments near the coast are 

 specially favourable for the cultivation of this plant, as it 

 grows well in light sandy soils, and requires but little manure 

 in suitable localities. 



{Foreign Office Report \ Annual Series No, 2,768.} 



