508 
BEET  SUGAR. 
after  the  pressure  from  it  of  the  juice,  and  the  manufacture  into 
alcohol  or  vinegar  of  the  residues  left  of  the  sugar  manufacture. 
In  1799  he  made  the  first  sugar  from  a  farm  of  sixty  acres  in 
beet  cultivation.  A  commission  reported  favorably,  and  in  the 
same  year  the  subject  was  first  investigated  in  France,  and  the 
society  of  agriculture  of  the  Seine  awarded  a  gold  medal  to 
Archard.  The  wars  of  the  first  Napoleon  leading  to  a  blockade 
of  the  ports  of  the  continent,  sugar,  in  France,  rose  to  $1.20  per 
pound.  This  forced  Napoleon  to  a  consideration  of  the  best  ways 
of  obtaining  a  home-made  supply,  and  he  appointed  a  commission 
to  examine  and  report  on  the  matter.  In  1810  they  made  their 
report  in  favor  of  beet-sugar.  In  1812,  Benjamin  Delessert  suc- 
ceeded in  producing  refined  crystallized  white  beet-sugar,  for 
which  the  Emperor  conferred  upon  him  the  Cross.  Soon  after- 
ward lj  per  cent,  of  sugar  on  the  weight  of  the  beet  worked  was 
obtained,  at  a  cost  of  30J  cents  per  pound.  In  1813,  3,500 
tons  of  2,240  pounds  were  made  by  334  manufacturers. 
The  peace  of  1814  raised  the  blockade  from  the  ports,  and  the 
price  of  sugar  from  $1.20  per  pound  fell  to  14  cents,  causing  the 
stoppage  of  all  the  manufactories  that  had  been  erected  for  the 
production  of  beet-sugar. 
France  at  that  time  had,  as  cane-producing  colonies,  Martini- 
que, Guadaloupe,  Guyana  and  Boulon,  and  in  1814,  Louis  XVIII., 
King  of  France,  laid  a  duty  of  $80  per  ton  on  French  colonial 
sugar,  and  $200  per  ton  on  all  foreign  sugar.  In  1825  the 
manufacture  of  the  beet-sugar  began  to  revive,  and  in  1828  there 
were  58  manufactories,  yielding  2,685  tons  of  sugar. 
At  that  time,  in  order  to  encourage  the  refining  of  sugar  in 
France,  foreign  and  colonial  cane-sugar  was  admitted  in  its  brown 
state  only,  and  a  premium  upon  exportation  of  the  refined  sugar 
was  allowed  the  refiners.  These  opposed  the  manufacture  of  re- 
fined sugar  from  the  beet,  and  combining  with  the  shipping  in- 
terest in  the  foreign  and  colonial  sugar  trade,  demanded  an  in- 
ternal tax  upon  beet-sugar.  This  demand  was  defeated,  especi- 
ally through  the  political  events  of  1830,  and  the  production  of 
beet-sugar  increased.  In  1834  it  was  20,000  tons ;  in  1836, 
40,000  tons,  made  in  436  manufactories.  But  the  opponents  to 
this  domestic  production  continued  the  conflict,  and  at  last  sue- 
