ANNUAL REPORT—AGRICULTURE. 
31 
them to pulp, press out the juice, and boil it down to the point 
of crjstalization. Mr. Wiferling is quite sanguine that this 
result will be reached. Thus far, however, the experiment 
has not resulted in establishing any practical facts, yet this 
failure has proved nothing against the enterprise. The beets 
are rich in sugar, but, as in all new soils, contain an excess of 
the nitrates. All that is needed to insure success is some 
cheap and certain mode of separating the nitrates; that 
obtained, the other difficulties will soon be overcome. At 
present the process is an expensive one, and requires great 
skill in the manipulation. 
“ The enterprise at Fond du .Lac, Wisconsin, appears to 
have been more successful. Mr. A. Otto, a pr.ictical German 
sugar-maker, last year planted four acres of beets, near Fond 
du Lac, and fitted up cheap and simple apparatus for manu¬ 
facturing. The crop turned out well and proved rich in 
saccharine matter, yielding a good quality of sugar. This 
year eighty acres were planted, and, notwithstanding the 
unfavorable season, the peculiar fitness of the soil secured a 
good crop of beets. More machinery was obtained, and the 
manufacture is now being successfully prosecuted ; about one 
thousand pounds of a good quality of coffee sugar being turned 
out every twenty-four hours, with improving results as the 
work progresses. The crop of beets is sufficient to occupy 
the works for at least four and a half months, which will give 
an aggregate of one hundred and twenty-live thousand to one 
hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds of sugar. The pro¬ 
cess of manufacture is similar to that followed at Chatsworth, 
Illinois. The locality of Fond du Lac is said to embrace all 
the requisites to make the manufacture of sugar a prominent 
feature there.” 
From the same report, I further quote an account of a meet¬ 
ing lately held at Fond du Lac for the discussion of the sub¬ 
ject of beet-sugar manufacture, and the practicability of mak¬ 
ing it successful in Wisconsin : 
“ Mr. Wiferling, superintendent of the works at Chatsworth, 
Illinois, gave the following statement, based on experience at 
