292 



BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY ON THE CO^'TINENT. [Dec. 189;-: 



BEET-SUGAR INDUSTRY ON THE CONTINENT. 



The cultivation of sugar-beet in Europe has found its largest 

 development in Russia, France, Germany, and Austria -Hungary. 

 The changes in the area under sugar-beet in each of these countries 

 during the past decade are shown in the following table compiled 

 from the official returns. 



Year. 



Russia. 



France. 



Austria- 

 Hungary. 



Germany. 





Acres. 



Acres. 



Acres. 



Acres. 



1883 - 



745,553 



643,349 



560,623* 



810,612t 



1884 - 



787,671 



577,679 



693,361 





1885 - 



808,849 



478,306 



435,857 





1886 - 



731,335 



526,945 



539,651 





1887 - 



623,872 



480,230 



465,817 





1888 - 



663,584 



497,411 



584,496 





1889 - 



668,630 



559,062 



691,941 





1890 - 



753,840 



590,120 



766,819 





1891 - 



759,078 



642,585 



792,166 





1892 - 



689,607 



626,565 



813,608 

 870,942 





1893 - 





639,829 



975,870 



* Austria only. f The acreage in Germany in 1878 was 434,226 acres. 



Sugar-beet is also cultivated largely in Holland and Belgium, 

 whilst in Denmark the crop is grown to an extent almost suffi- 

 cient to meet the home demand for sugar. Although the figures 

 shown in the above table would appear to indicate no very great 

 changes in the position of the beet-sugar industry in the several 

 countries named, it may be observed that according to a commu- 

 nication recently made to the French National Agricultural 

 Society, the fall in the price of sugar last winter brought about 

 a considerable diminution of the area sown to sugar-beet in 

 Europe in the season of 1894-95. Comparing 1894-95 with the 

 previous year, the area under the crop is stated to have declined 

 16 per cent, in Germany, 23 per cent, in Austria-Hungary, 15 

 per cent, in Belgium, and 3 per cent, in Holland, while in Russia, 

 on the contrary, there was an estimated increase of 3 per cent, 

 in the area sown. 



This contraction of the acreage last season is not, however, to be 

 attributed solely to the recent fall in the price of sugar, for, not- 

 withstanding the expansion of area up to 1894, the producers of 

 sugar-beet in the four countries included in the foregoing table 

 have been in an embarrassed condition for several years past, in 

 spite of the extraordinary efforts of the several governments 

 concerned to foster the cultivation of the crop. It may be of 

 interest, therefore, to review briefly the history of the beet -sugar 

 industry in these countries, beginning with Russia. 



