77o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 27 
After being boiled down sufficiently, it is ready for 
the “centrifugals”. These are rapidly revolving 
cylinders where the molasses is thrown off from the 
sugar. The principle on which they work is much 
the same as with the common milk separators which 
throw the cream out in one place and the milk in an¬ 
other. The sugar drops down upon an endless belt, 
and is carried by elevator to a large storage box on 
the second floor. The molasses is pumped to tanks in 
a storage room prepared for the purpose. This room 
is kept constantly at a temperature of 113 to 115 de¬ 
grees F., and the molasses remains here for three 
weeks. It is then partially crystallized, and is run 
through the “mill” again, taking from it what sugar 
can be obtained. What molasses then remains goes 
into storage in the curing-room, and remains there for 
three months, when it is again run through and more 
sugar extracted. This is kept up as long as enough 
sugar can be separated to make the operation pay. 
The sugar, as it first comes out, is perfectly white, 
but quite moist, and lacks the granular appearance 
with which we are familiar. 
The last step in the process is to dry the sugar. 
This is done m a large, slowly-revolving, horizontal 
cylinder through which run coils of steam pipe. The 
cylinder is elevated slightly at one end so that, as it 
revolves, the sugar drops over the steam coils and is 
gradually worked toward the lower end, from which 
it comes as pure white granulated sugar, as fine as is 
made anywhere in the world. It is put up in 100- 
pound sacks, 
and is ready for 
shipping, find¬ 
ing a market 
in the local 
and neighbor- 
i n g towns. 
The length 
of time re- 
quiredafter the 
beets are seized 
at one end of 
the factory by 
the screw ele¬ 
vator until the 
pure white 
sugar comes 
out at the other 
end, is about 24 
hours. The 
process is a 
most complex 
one, difficult 
to understand, 
and still more 
difficult to ex¬ 
plain. While in 
California i t 
was six years 
before the 
factory com¬ 
menced its own 
refining; the 
Rome factory 
has made white 
sugar from the 
start. They are now using about 80 tons of beets per 
day, which are only about one-half the full capacity. 
Great Importance of Topping. 
The questions which the farmers of the State are 
interested in are, What is the prospect for this new 
industry in New York ? Is it likely to prove a 
success, and if so, can the farmers afford to raise 
beets at the prices which the factories can afford to 
pay? 
The manufacture of sugar from beets is no longer 
an experiment. The process has been as carefully 
worked out as in any line of industry. The greatest 
hindrance which the Rome factory has to overcome 
this year is the fact that the farmers failed to top 
their beets properly before delivering them at the 
factory. This in spite of the fact that printed in¬ 
structions were sent to the growers telling them that 
all that part of the beet which grew out of the 
ground must be cut off before being delivered. The 
cost to the factory of topping the beets will be nearly 
$5,000. This has been the history of factories in other 
States; California factories paid out $100,000 before 
the farmers learned to do the work properly. The 
reason for this failure on the part of the farmers is, 
probably, due to the fact that they do not understand 
the importance of it. The part of the beet which 
grows above ground contains the larger part of the 
impure salts of the beet. These impurities, if allowed 
to go through with the beet juice, will prevent the 
sugar of the beet from crystallizing. So important 
is it that the tops be properly trimmed, that 15 men 
were working in the yard to get the beets in condition 
for the factory. There is no gain to the producer in 
sending the beets in this manner, for they are sampled 
and docked by the State weighmaster before being 
paid for. The producer is then out the fertilizing 
value of the waste material and the freight or cartage 
on it to the factory. The factory sustains a heavy 
loss, because it has been found far cheaper to have 
men trim the tops properly than to run them through. 
I speak of this thing strongly, because it concerns 
materially the success of the new industry. The suc¬ 
cessful manufacture of sugar in the State now seems 
to depend upon two thiDgs : First, the growing of 
proper beets by the farmers ; second, proper super¬ 
intendents to manage the factories once they are 
established. 
The Crop Thrives in New York. 
That beets rich in sugar can be grown, has been 
amply proved the present season. About 300 analyses 
have been made by the Cornell University Experi¬ 
ment Station, and the beets are found to run from 14 
to 21 per cent sugar, and about 80 per cent purity. 
This is a very satisfactory showing, as a 12-per-cent 
sugar content is considered a paying amount. The 
yield of beets per acre this year, grown for the Rome 
factory, will average about 11 tons. This is a good 
showing for the first year, but next year the average 
should not be less than 15 tons per acre. As an 
illustration of what may be realized by the farmer, 
the following case will illustrate. Mr. A. C, Beathka, 
near Syracuse, N. Y., kept a careful account of the 
expense of raising five acres of beets the present 
year. All cost of raising was included except the 
rent of land, and the following are the results : 
Number of tons of beets delivered at factory, 84*4. 
Cost of raising and marketing. $170.00 
Amount received for beets. 423.00 
Net profit on five acres. $253.00 
What Mr. Beathka did this year, others can do. 
His soil was a clay loam which is not usually con¬ 
sidered as an ideal soil for beets. To produce these 
results means intensive culture. The soil must be 
in a high state of fertility, and be so fitted that the 
beet root can extend downward. If barn manures be 
used, they should be applied the previous fall and 
plowed under, and the land should be subsoiled. The 
greatest obstacle met with this year has been the fact 
that the soil was not plowed deep enough. The beet, 
when grown properly, will extend its tap root down 
15 to 18 inches. If the soil has been plowed only to 
a depth of about 10 inches, and the subsoil not 
loosened, the beet, instead of growing downward, 
will send out side roots and be a sprawling, unsightly, 
unprofitable specimen, the upper part will be forced 
out of the ground, and the percentage of waste will 
be large. 
Either a sandy loam or a clay loam soil, if properly 
fitted, will raise good beets. The clay loam, how¬ 
ever, requires extra care in preparation to make it 
loose and friable. Stony soils, muck soils and those 
in which the hardpan comes within 18 inches of the 
surface, are not adapted to beet raising; the first be¬ 
cause the beets cannot be properly tended; the second 
for the reason that the beets, though they may be 
large and rich enough in sugar, will contain a large 
percentage of impurity which will render their 
manufacture into sugar unprofitable; the third, for 
the reason that the beet needs a deep, mellow, well- 
drained soil in order to grow to perfection. Success 
in raising beets in New York depends upon j 1, high 
grade seed; 2, a deep, mellow, fertile soil, sandy 
loam or clay loam ; 3, intensive culture, the beets 
planted in rows 18 to 20 inches apart and about six 
inches in the row, and given superior care. These 
may safely be said to be the principal requirements 
for sugar-beet raising. Given these and proper 
climatic conditions, success is practically assured. 
Good Managers are Scarce. 
The securing of proper superintendents for factories 
is going to puzzle the management, as the number of 
factories increases. While the Rome factory has been 
successful in securing a very able superintendent, yet 
we should be able to depend upon American young 
men. The success of the whole enterprise finally 
rests'with the superintendent. He should be a trained 
mechanic and a thorough master of all the details in 
the manufacture of sugar. In France and Germany, 
there are special schools for the training of beet- 
sugar experts. In this country, there should be such 
a school. At the present time, almost the only re¬ 
course a young man has who wishes to learn the busi¬ 
ness, is to go abroad and learn it. The government 
should establish a beet-sugar school, either in con¬ 
nection with some college or university already estab¬ 
lished, or by itself. American capital to the amount 
of millions of dollars will, in a few years, be invested 
in the beet- 
sugar industry, 
and American 
men should 
s u p e rinten d 
these factories. 
The estab¬ 
lishment upon 
a firm basis of a 
great industry, 
the employ¬ 
ment of a vast 
amount of 
labor at good 
wages, the sav¬ 
ing to America 
of the millions 
of dollars now 
spent for for¬ 
eign sugar, de¬ 
pend upon the 
education o f 
the farmers as 
to the proper 
methods in 
raising beets, 
and the educa¬ 
tion of Ameri¬ 
can young men 
to superintend 
the factories 
when estab¬ 
lished. 
L A. CLINTON. 
R. N.-Y.—On 
the first page at 
Fig. 322 is shown a picture of the factory with an 
immense pile of waste pulp. Fig. 323 shows the work 
of topping the beets, most of the work being, as Mr. 
Clinton explains, made necessary because farmers did 
not do what*they should have done at the farm. Fig. 
324 shows further the need of care in topping, and 
Fig 325 shows why a deep, well-stirred soil is neces¬ 
sary. Figs. 326 and 327 give interior scenes showing 
how the beets are carried through the factory. 
A SWEET-AND-SOUR APPLE HAS TURNED UP. 
At last, there have come to me through Thk R. 
N.-Y., two specimens of the much heard of Sweet- 
and-Sour apple. They grew in western New York, 
and were small, scabby, and insect stung specimens, 
therefore, perhaps, not of normal size. The shape 
was flat and the general color green. One side was 
smaller than the other in each specimen. The smaller 
side in each case was about the color of Rhode Island 
Greening at this time of year, that is a clear green, 
while the other or larger side was yellowish green. 
The managing editor of The R. N.-Y. brought the 
apples to me in person, and we forthwith tested them. 
Both were badly bruised, so it was impossible to keep 
either, to see what changes in flavor might take 
place. Fortunately, there were also present several 
other pomologists and fruit growers ; all were given 
tastes from different parts of the apples. Cross 
sections were made, and whole slices given some of 
them with the request to begin at a certain marked 
place and nibble around the entire ring. Nearly 
all of us said that the part under the yellow skin was 
sweet or sweetish, and that under the green skin 
sour. One man from Michigan could discover no 
GOOD AND BAD TOPPING. Fig. 324. NECESSITY OF DEEPLY STIRRED SOIL. Fig. 325. 
UPPER ROW PROPERLY TOPPED. LOWER ROW WRONG. UPPER ROW PROM OPEN SOIL. LOWER ROW PROM PACKED SOIL. 
