Beet-root Distillery. 
83 
by the generality of distillers, and are confined to two or three 
establishments only ; whilst the Chainponnois system exists in 
nearly 200 distilleries, operating daily upon two millions and a 
half tons of mangolds. 
I will conclude this paper by giving an analysis of pulp after 
maceration, according to the Champonnois system, and made by 
Professor Baudement : — ■ 
Water 89-925 
Insoluble ashes 1'125 \ o-mci 
Soluble „ 0-905 / 
Fatty matters 0-ol5 
Nitrogenous or flesh-producing substances 1-98595 
Cellular fibre, &c., insoluble 5-23 
Sugar, gum, and mucilage 0-31405 
100- 
By comparing this analysis with that of the root itself, it will 
be seen that the proportion of water has increased 3 per cent., 
the sugar, gum, and other amilaceous substances have almost en- 
tirely disappeared, and the insoluble cellular fibre and pectinous 
matters have increased five times, whereas the other constituents 
remain pretty much the same. This would tend to prove that 
the distilling process introduces little other modification into the 
composition of the root than the abstraction of the sugar, which 
is not an important element of nutrition,* and that, weight for 
weight, the pulp is pretty nearly as nutritive as the roots them- 
selves. 
Assuming this to be correct, the production of the spirits would 
then stand as a compensation for the waste of 24 per cent, which 
the roots have sustained by the process. It is thus obvious that 
the selling price of the spirits must in a great measure, if not 
wholly, determine the expediency of distilling roots upon the 
farm. I understand it is now selling in England at lOrf. a-gallon, 
at which price I apprehend it cannot pay, for the loss of weight 
in the roots and the expense of distillation must considerably 
exceed that amount. 
With grain at a low price, beet-root distillation is scarcely 
possible in this country ; and where the farmer is so much 
exposed to the vicissitudes of the corn market, which directly 
influence the price of raw spirits, it must be admitted that the 
success of distilleries must be extremely doubtful, the risks of 
failure more than counterbalancins: the chances of gain. 
* This is at variance with the opinion of many of our English authorities, and 
at all events most be considered an unsettled question. — H. S. Thompson. 
APPENDIX. 
G 2 
