ON THE INDUSTRY OF BEETROOT SUGAR. 
208 
There is not much difference between the cost of produc- 
tion of cane and of beet sugar. In Demerara the cost of one 
hogshead of sugar is estimated at <£15 to £20, whilst for 
Germany we have an average of £21 14s. 6d., and for the 
mentioned factory £15 18s. (£9 8s. being deducted for 
drawbacks). 
If we inquire into the cause of the prosperity of the beet- 
sugar industry, we have to find it in the centralisation of the 
small estates into usines ; in the separation of the agriculture 
from the manufacture, the former still being interested in the 
financial results of the latter ; in the continuous trials to 
improve the percentage of saccharine matter in the beetroot, 
which has been elevated from 5 per cent, saccharine matter 
seventy years ago to 12 to 15 per cent, now ; in applying 
every new method which increases the return in sugar, the 
extraction of the juice by diffusion taking the highest 
place ; in a frequent check of the results obtained in practice 
by chemical analysis, by which defects in manufacture can 
be detected and the value of new improvements can be 
shown. 
