124 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
the cultivation of one acre with beet for the making of sugar, as fol¬ 
lows : 
800 lbs. good Muscovado sugar, at 8 cents per lb.$64 00 
50 galls, molasses, for distilling or feeding, at 16 cents,.... 8 00 
4 tons pumice, or cake, for cattle, $3 per ton,. 12 00 
1 ton of leaves, or their value as manure,. 5 00 
Total,. $89 00 
The expense of manufacturing, -we presume, to be deducted from 
the above total. 
The manufacture of sugar, consists of seven distinct processes, viz. 
1. Washing or scraping the roots; 2. rasping or crushing the roots ; 3. 
S ressing the pulp by hydraulic press ; 4. diffication, or purifying with 
me ; 5. evaporation, m which process some animal charcoal is add¬ 
ed ; 6. clarification, during which most of the animal carbon is add¬ 
ed ; and 7. concentration. When an excess of lime is by accident ap¬ 
plied, it is taken up by diluted sulphuric acid, in the proportion of 44 of 
water to 1 of acid. We refrain from attempting an abstract of these 
processes, and of the implements and vessels employed, as it would 
only tend to embarrass the novice. We refer to the report, or to 
Chaptal. 
Product .—The beet root gives from four to seven, and in one in¬ 
stance Mr. Pedder says, he knows it gave eight and a half per cent 
of sugar. This consists of first, second, and third qualities; though 
it is advisable not to crystalize the third quality, it being more valu¬ 
able left in molasses, to be fed with cut straw to cattle. Assuming 
six per cent as the medium, and the average crop at 23,000 pounds 
the acre, the product of an acre is divided by Mr. Pedder as follows: 
Sugar, 1st and 2d quality,. 2,400 lbs. 
Molasses, 2 per cent,. 800 lbs. 
Cakes, 15 per cent,. 6,000 lbs. 
9,200 lbs. per acre. 
Value of the cake, tj-c.—The beet, in all its varieties, is a valuable 
crop, cultivated merely as food for cattle. By the above estimate it 
is made to appear, that the acre not only produces 3,200 pounds of 
sugar and molasses, but nearly 10,000 pounds of pumice, or beet 
cake, of more value to stock, as M. Iznard has shown, than ten thou¬ 
sand pounds of beet root before the sugar and molasses have been ex¬ 
tracted. For the entire beet contains 85 to 90 per cent of water— 
the water being expressed from the cake, leaves in it, after pres¬ 
sure, a greater proportion of saccharine matter, as compared to the 
water, than it contained before pressure. The molasses too, amount¬ 
ing to 800 pounds, fed with cut straw or hay, will go far in subsist¬ 
ing or fattening stock. M. Iznard sold his cake, for feeding cows, 
higher, per cwt., than the price of beets. The cakes are preserved 
in magazines sunk in the ground, where they are beaten hard and 
left to ferment, and are used six and nine months thereafter. 
Drill barrow .—A drill barrow, for sowing beets, and most other 
seeds, is described by Mr. Pedder, with eight wheels, in two setts, 
three being used for beets, or five for wheat. It is evidently on the 
principle of the one described in another column, invented by Mr. 
Meacham of Chenango. Price of the French drill 100 francs. He 
also speaks of a Barrow Hoe, which is pushed forward between the 
rows, is simple and of great use in row culture; and of a superior 
hand hoe, having a long crooked neck, which permits the weeds to 
pass over—similar, we suspect, to our turnip hoe. 
Family Manufacture. —Mr. Pedder saw the family establishment 
of Mons. Lecerf, who obtained a premium for home manufacture. 
The labor was performed in one of his rooms, and the cost of all his 
machinery and apparatus did not exceed 500 francs. 
Miscellaneous .—The practice of strewing the sheep yards with 
lime, as mentioned in a late Cultivator, to prevent the foot-rot, is 
common in France. The estimated cost of a sugar establishment, 
employing 80 men, and producing 110,000 pounds of sugar, $5,200. 
Rent of lands $8—taxes $1.12A per acre. The season of manu¬ 
facture lasts from 10th September to 15th April. The cost of cul¬ 
tivating an acre, including rent and taxes, about 110 francs (about 
$20) labor cheaper than with us. 
If the preceding estimates are any where near the truth, and we 
see no reason to distrust them, they satisfactorily demonstrate, that 
the cultivation of beets, in the United States, for sugar, can and 
will, ere long, be made one of the most important and profitable 
branches of American husbandry. 
The Beet Society propose to import a large quantity of seed. 
Orders for seed may be sent to Jacob Snider, jr., Philadelphia. 
ARTIFICIAL PONDS. 
These are constructed in districts, and on farms, destitute of 
streams, into which water is conducted in the wet season or after 
heavy rains, or by means of underdrains, for the use of the farm 
stock in dry seasons. They are generally constructed at the inter¬ 
section or on the line of division fences, so as to be accessible to 
two or more enclosures. They are economically constructed where 
there is not, permanently, water upon the surface for the supply of 
cattle, and are a cheaper and better expedient than wells. These 
ponds are generally round, about 45 feet in diameter, the banks 
sloping in an angle of about 40 degrees, and affording a depth of 
water in the centre of about five feet. Common clay, well mixed 
by means of water, closely tramped, and then pounded tight with a 
paver’s mallet, will make a tight bottom ; and when made, should be 
covered with a coat of fine gravel, beaten in. Where the soil, there¬ 
fore, consists of a tenacious clay, the labor of construction consists 
in merely making the requisite excavation, and in finishing the bot¬ 
tom as above directed. The labor may be all performed by the 
farm hands, and the expense will be comparatively trivial. 
But where the soil and subsoil are porous, as in sand, gravel, &c. 
greater labor and expense must be incurred, to prevent leakage. 
The following instructions for constructing artificial ponds on dry 
soils, with the subjoined cut, is taken from the 6th volume of the 
Annals of Agriculture. This mode has been successfully practised 
in Yorkshire, (Eng.) for many years. 
Fig. 39. 
“ The line A, describes a circular hole made in the ground, of such 
size as may be found necessary; and on which a stratum of clay, B, 
must be carefully beaten, and trodden into a solid, compact body, 
from four to six inches in thickness. 
“ C represents a layer of quick-lime, about an inch, or an inch 
and a half thick; and which should be uniformly spread over the 
whole. 
“ D is a second stratum of clay, that ought to be of a thickness 
similar to that above mentioned, and should be pressed down in the 
same manner. 
“ Either stones or gravel must be spread on the second layer ot 
clay, to such depth as may prevent the pond being injured by the 
feet of cattle; for otherwise, they will penetrate the stratifications 
of clay and lime; in consequence of which the water will be dis¬ 
charged through the pores of the earth. When thus completed, 
according to the section above given, the pond will remain five feet 
deep, and forty-five in diameter; the letter E, representing the line 
of level, both of the water and the ground. The expenses attend¬ 
ing a work of the dimensions above stated, are computed to be from 
£4 to jE 6, (=$17.66 to $26.64,) according to the distance from 
which the clay is carried. Such a pond will remain unimpaired for 
a series of years; because the lime prevents worms from striking 
either upwards or downwards, and consequently from injuring the 
clay, which naturally resists moisture.” 
FILTERING CISTERN. 
We give below a diagram of a filtering cistern, for rendering rain 
water pure, fit for drinking and all culinary purposes. It may be 
constructed either round or square, of brick and water lime, or, 
what we deem cheaper and better, of rubble stone and water lime, 
upon Foster and Van Kleeck’s plan. To construct a common cistern 
on their plan, 6 feet in circumference, and 6 feet deep, will require 
three barrels of lime, two loads coarse sand and two loads of rubble 
stone, and a day and a half labor for three hands. In the diagram 
below, the dimensions are assumed to be eight feet square; b is a 
partition passing through the centre, with an aperture at the bot¬ 
tom, for the water to pass from chamber A, to chamber B; a and c 
are two close partitions, rising three feet from the bottom. The 
water is conducted into the cistern, by the spout d, falls upon the 
alternating strata of gravel and sand, G C, which are each 6 inches 
in thickness, passes to the aperture D, in the main partition, rises 
