June 1896.] BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY ON THE CONTINENT. 15 



adopted in recent years, the manufacturers are enabled to pro- 

 duce considerably more sugar than the amount on which excise 

 is paid, and it is this excess which acts as a bounty on the 

 export of sugar. The excess yield which escapes duty has been 

 estimated to have averaged 22 per cent, during the last few years. 



The extent of the Dutch trade in sugar may be gathered 

 from the following statement of the imports and exports of the 

 last ten years : — 





Imports. 



Exports. 



Year. 



Raw Beet- 

 root and 

 Cane 

 Sugar. 



Refined 

 Beetroot 

 and Cane 



Sugar 

 (including 

 Bastard 

 Sugar). 



Total. 



Raw Beet- 

 root and 

 Cane 

 Sugar. 



Refined 

 Beetroot 

 and Cane 



Sugar 

 (including 

 Bastard 

 Sugar). 



Total. 



1884 



Cwts. 

 2,427,582 



Cwts. 

 79,004 



Cwts. 

 2,506,586 



Cwts. 

 299,318 



Cwts. 

 1,808,145 



Cwts. 

 2,107,463 



1885 



2,180,259 



91,320 



2,271,579 



184,996 



1,587,241 



1,772,237 



1886 



1,709,223 



131,568 



1,840,791 



143,550 



1,480,521 



1,624,071 





1,964,345 



114,734 



2,079,079 



151,132 



1,743,559 



1,894,691 



1887 - - 



1888 



1,942,993 



126,814 



2,069,807 



148,893 



1,684,336 



1,833,229 



1889 - - - 



1,777,993 



178,887 



1,956,880 



189,377 



1,616,312 



1,805,689 



1890 



2,180,986 



168,791 



2,349,777 



164,980 



2,097,877 



2,262,857 



1891 



1,810,757 



172,425 



1,983,182 



150,602 



2,058,925 



2,209,527 



1892 



2,277,943 



166,120 



2,444,063 



83,502 



2,310,295 



2,393,797 



1893 - 



1,968,116 



177,002 



2,145,118 



135,418 



2,073,618 



2,209,036 



The latest official statistics of the acreage of sugar-beet in 

 Belgium are those for 1880, when the area under the crop was 

 80,589 acres. There can be little doubt, however, that a con- 

 siderable increase has taken place since that year. According 

 to an estimate presented by M. Dureau to the hocieU Nationale 

 d' Agriculture of France, there were 141,000 acres sown with 

 sugar-beet in Belgium in 1895. 



In Belgium the manufacture of sugar made from sugar-beet is 

 a business of considerable proportions, as may be seen from the 

 table given below, which shows the number of factories in 

 operation and the quantity of raw sugar produced in the five 

 years ending with 1893 : — 



Year. 



Number of 



Manu- 

 factories at 

 work. 



Number 

 of 



Refineries. 



Quantity of Eaw 

 Sugar produced. 



Quantity of Eaw 



Sugar used 

 in the Refineries. 









Cwts. 



Cwts. 



1889 



116 



32 



3,551,350 



774,500 



1890 



119 



30 



3,211,843 



809,200 



1891 



120 



30 



2,947,293 



834,800 



1892 



122 



36 



2,776,950 



954,200 



1893 



121 



35 



3,738,271 



999,300 



