Beet Sugar in Russia. 



217 



Beet Sugar Industry in Russia. 



The Foreign Office have recently published a report by 

 Mr. Consul H. Smith on the beetroot sugar industry in 

 Russia from its first introduction in 1800 to the present time. 

 In this report Mr. Smith states that the production of 

 sugar from beetroot was first taken up in Russia, not by a 

 chemist, or anyone having special training, but by a landed 

 proprietor, Major-General Blackennagel, who in 1800 built 

 the first factory for producing sugar from beetroot on his 

 estate in the province of Tula. Until the year 1809 this was 

 the only factory in Russia, but seven or eight were built 

 about this time, and between 1830-40 there were over 600 

 factories at work in the country. It is worthy of note that 

 these factories were built in the provinces of Tula, Kaluga, 

 Orel, Tambow, Smolensk, Grodno, Mohilew, and Kursk, and 

 it was only about the year 1840 that the industry began to 

 force its way into the southern provinces, where it has de- 

 veloped with such strides as to have become one of the 

 leading industries of Russia. 



Up to the year i860, the factories were mostly built and 

 owned by the landed proprietors ; but after the freedom of the 

 serfs, private firms, and more largely joint stock companies^ 

 took up the trade, and in many cases purchased the factories 

 owned by the magnates. 



In the year 1848 the number of factories was 380, and the 

 production of sugar was 19,272 tons. Twenty years later 

 the number of factories had declined to 300, but the total 

 production was 110,334 tons, and by the year 1891 over four 

 times this quantity was manufactured in 225 factories. The 

 production for 1897-98 is put at 754,758 tons. This advance 

 in production is largely due to the increase in the quantity of 

 sugar which can be extracted from a given quantity of beet- 

 root, an increase due not only to the improvement of the 

 machinery used in the trade but also to the scientific cultiva- 

 tion of the beetroot. In the early years of the industry, only 

 half-a-pound of sugar was extracted from about 4 cwts. of 

 roots ; in the year 1830, this had increased to 6 lbs., and in 

 1863 to 22 lbs. Since that date the production has been 

 more than doubled and is put at 44I lbs. for the current 

 season. The area of land under beetroot cultivation in the 



