The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom by P. L. Simmonds

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As the expense of this manufacture greatly exceeded the value of the
sugar produced, according to the price of colonial sugar, it was only
by the artificial encouragement of a monopoly and premiums that it
could be carried on to advantage. The process is one of mere curiosity
as long as sugar from the sugar cane can be obtained cheaper, and the
import duties laid upon it are not so excessive as to amount to a
prohibition; and in this case it is almost impossible to prevent its
clandestine introduction.

Another mode of making sugar from beet root, practised in some parts
of Germany, is as follows, and is said to make better sugar than the
other process:--The roots having been washed, are sliced lengthways,
strung on packthread, and hung up to dry. The object of this is to let
the watery juice evaporate, and the sweet juice, being concentrated,
is taken up by macerating the dry slices in water. It is managed so
that all the juice shall be extracted by a very small quantity of
water, which saves much of the trouble of evaporation. Professor
Lampadius obtained from 110 lbs. of roots 4 lbs. of well-grained white
powder-sugar, and the residuum afforded 7 pints of spirit. Achard says
that about a ton of roots produced 100 lbs. of raw sugar, which gave
55 lbs. of refined sugar, and 15 lbs. of treacle. This result is not
very different from that of Chaptal. 6,000 tons of beet root it is
said will produce 400 tons of sugar and 100 tons of molasses.

Beet root sugar in the raw state contains an essential oil, the taste
and smell of which are disagreeable. Thus the treacle of beet root
cannot be used in a direct way, whereas the treacle of cane sugar is
of an agreeable flavor, for the essential oil which it contains is
aromatic, and has some resemblance in taste to vanilla. But beet root
sugar, when it is completely refined, differs in no sensible degree
from refined cane sugar. In appearance it is quite equal to cane
sugar, and the process of refining it is more easy than for the
latter. Samples made in Belgium were exhibited at a late meeting of
the Dublin Society. It was of the finest appearance, of strong
sweetening quality, and in color resembling the species of sugar known
as crushed lump. The most singular part of the matter is, that it was
manufactured in the space of forty-five minutes--the entire time
occupied from the taking of the root out of the ground and putting it
into the machine, to the production of the perfect article. It was
said that it could be produced for 3d. per lb. An acre of ground is
calculated to yield 50 tons of Silesian beet, which, in France and
Belgium, give three tons of sugar, worth about L50; the refuse being
applied in those countries to feeding cattle. But from the superior
fitness of the Irish soil, as shown by experience to be the case, it
is confidently affirmed by persons competent to form an opinion, that
8 per cent. of sugar could be obtained there on the raw bulk.

The following figures are given as illustrative of the expense of the
cultivation of one acre of beet-root in Ireland:--

Two ploughings and harrowing L1 1 0
Expense of manure and carting 5 0 0
Hoeing and seed 0 6 0
Drilling and sowing 0 5 0
Rent 2 0 0
-------
L8 12 0

An average produce of 20 tons, at L15 per ton, would leave a profit of
L6 8s. per acre, leaving the land in a state fit for the reception, at
little expense, of a crop of wheat, barley, or oats for the next year,
and of hay for the year ensuing; a consideration of no small
importance to the farmer. The following estimates, recently given, are
not by any means exaggerated:--

61,607 tons of beet, at 10s. L30,803 10 0
Cost of manufacture, at 11s. per ton. 33,883 17 0
-------------
64,687 7 0
Produce 7 per cent of sugar, at 28s. per cwt. 136,767 10 0
-------------
Estimated profit L72,080 3 0

The quantity of sugar made from beet-root in France in 1828, was about
2,650 tons; in 1830, its weight was estimated at 6 million
kilogrammes[24] (5,820 tons); in 1834, at 26 million kilogrammes
(24,000 tons); in 1835, 36,000 tons; in 1836, 49,000 tons. At the
commencement of the year 1837, the number of refineries at work or
being built was 543; on an average 20 kilogrammes of beet-root are
required for the production of one kilogramme of sugar. The sugar
manufactured from the beet-root in France a few years ago was stated
to amount to 55,000 tons, or one half of the entire consumption of the
kingdom. The _Courrier Francais_ calculated that the beet-root sugar
made in France in 1838 amounted to 110 million lbs., and the journal
added, there is no doubt that, in a few years, the produce will be
equal to the entire demand. The cultivation then extended over 150,000
acres, and in the environs of Lille and Valenciennes it has sometimes
been as high as 28,000 lbs. per acre.

From returns of the produce and consumption of beet-root sugar
published in the _Moniteur_, it appears that on the 1st Dec. 1851,
there were 335 manufactories in operation, or 81 more than in the
corresponding period of 1850. The quantity of sugar made, including
the portion lying over from the previous year, amounted to 19,625,386
kilogrammes, and that stored in the public bonding warehouse to
10,556,847. At the end of June, 1852, 329 manufactories were at work,
or two more than at the same period in 1851. The quantity sold was
62,211,663 kilogrammes, or 9,167,018 less, as compared with the
corresponding period of the previous year. There remained in stock in
the manufactories 91,434,070 kilogrammes, and in the entrepot
4,597,829 kilogrammes, being an increase of 2,568,662 kilogrammes in
the manufactories, and a decrease of 1,292,962 in the entrepots. The
manufacture of beet-root sugar is every year assuming in France
increased importance, and attracts more and more the attention of
political economists as a source of national wealth, and of
government, as affording matter of taxation. Thirty new factories, got
up upon a very extensive scale, are enumerated as going into operation
this year. They are located, with but two exceptions, in the north of
France; fifteen of them are in the single department of Nord. Indeed,
the manufacture of beet-root sugar is confined, almost exclusively, to
the five northern adjacent departments of Nord, Pas de Calais, Somme,
Aisne, and Oise. The best quality retails at 16 cents the pound.

I take from a table in the _Moniteur_ the following statement of the
number of factories and their location, with the amount of production
up to the 31st May, 1851. At that date the season is supposed to end.
A separate column gives the total production in the season of 1842,
showing an increase in ten years of more than double, viz., of
41,582,113 kilogrammes, or, in our weight, of 93,559,754 pounds.

Number of Kilogrammes Kilogrammes
Departments. Factories. Prod. 1850-1. Prod. 1843.

Aisne 30 5,307,754 3,103,178
Nord 155 44,142,224 15,334,063
Oise 8 1,589,939 751,746
Pas-de-Calais 70 16,665,084 5,856,944
Somme 23 3,404,776 2,683,421
Scattered about 18 2,707,190 3,505,602
------ ------------ ------------
304 73,817,607 30,234,954

This information was given by M. Fould, Minister of Finance, upon the
introduction of a bill making an appropriation for the purchase of 455
_saccharometers_, which had become necessary by reason of the late law
ordering that from and after the 1st of January, 1852, the beet sugars
were to be taxed according to their saccharine richness. The Minister
declared that at that date there would be in active operation in
France 334 sugar factories and 84 refining establishments.

The _Moniteur Parisien_ has the following:--

"Notwithstanding the advantages accorded to colonial sugar, and the
duties which weigh on beet-root sugar, the latter article has
acquired such a regular extension that it has reached the quantity
of 60,000 tons--that is to say, the half of our consumption. France
(deducting the refined sugar exported under favour of the drawback)
consumes 120,000 tons, of which 60,000 are home made, 50,000
colonial, and 10,000 foreign. The two sugars have been placed on the
same conditions as to duties, but it is only from the 1st inst.
(Jan. 1852), that the beet-root sugar will pay a heavier duty than
our colonial sugar. In spite of this difference we are convinced
that the manufacture of beet-root sugar, which is every day,
improved by new processes, will be always very advantageous, and
will attain in some years the total quantity of the consumption. In
Belgium the produce of the beet-root follows the same progress. The
consumption of sugar there was, in 1850, 14,000 tons, of which 7,000
was beet-root, made in 22 manufactories. This year there are 18 new
ones, and although their organisation does not allow of their
manufacturing in the same proportion as the 22 old ones, they will
furnish at least 3,000 tons. The quantity of foreign sugar in that
market does not reckon more than 4,000 tons. This conclusion is the
more certain, as in 1848-1849, the beet-root only stood at 4,500
tons in the general account. It may therefore be seen from these
figures what progress has been made. The same progressive movement
is going on in Germany. In 1848 it produced 26,000 tons, and in
1861, 43,000. The following table shows the importance of this
improvement. It comprises the Zollverein, Hanover, and the Hanse Towns:--

Cane Sugar. Beet-root. Totals.
Tons. Tons. Tons.
1848 60,500 26,000 86,500
1849 54,000 34,000 88,000
1851 45,000 43,000 88,000

Thus we find that in the period of four years cane sugar has lost
15,000 tons and it will lose still more when new manufactories shall
have been established. The consumption of Russia is estimated at
85,000 tons, of which 35,000 is beet-root, and what proves that the
latter every day gains ground is, that the orders to the Havana are
constantly decreasing, and prices are getting lower. In 1848 Austria
consumed 40,000 tons, of which 8,000 were beet-root. Last year
(1851,) she produced 15,000 tons. The production of the continent
rising to 200,000 tons, and the consumption remaining nearly
stationary, it is evident that Brazilian and Cuban sugars will
encumber the English market, independently of the refined sugar of
Java, which Holland sends to Great Britain. When the continental
system was established by the decrees of Milan and Berlin, the
Emperor Napoleon asked the savans to point out the means of
replacing the productions which he proscribed: it is to the active
and useful impulse which his genius impressed on all minds, that
France and Europe owe this fresh manufacture--a creation the more
valuable as its fortunate development required the co-operation of
chemical science and agricultural improvement."

The quantity of sugar extracted from beet-root in the commencement of
the process, amounted to only 2 per cent.; but it was afterwards made
to yield 5 per cent., and it was then supposed possible to extract 6
per cent. On this calculation the fiscal regulations for the
protection of colonial sugars in France were founded; but recent
experiments have been made, by means of which as much as ten and a
half per cent. of sugar has been obtained. The following notice of the
improved process is given in a number of the _Constitutionnel_:--

"It appears that a great improvement is likely to be made in the
manufacture of beet-root sugar. Those who are acquainted with the
process of this manufacture, are aware that M. de Dombasle has the
last six years exclusively devoted himself to bring to perfection
the process of maceration, of which he is the inventor. Adopting
recent improvements, this process is materially altered, and has now
arrived at such a point of perfection that it could scarcely be
exceeded. The Society for the Encouragement of National Industry
recently appointed committees to examine the effect produced in the
manufactory of Roville. They witnessed the entire progress of the
work, every part of which was subjected to minute investigation.
Similar experiments have been made in the presence of many
distinguished manufacturers. We have not the least intention to
prejudge the decision which may be made on this subject by the
society we have alluded to; but we believe we are able to mention
the principal results that have regularly attended the works of the
manufactory this year. The produce in coarse sugar has been more
than eight per cent. of the first quality, and more than two per
cent. of the second quality, in all nearly ten and a half per cent.
of the weight of beet-root used; and the quality of these sugars has
been considered by all the manufacturers superior to anything of the
kind that has hitherto been made, and admits of its being converted
into loaf-sugar of the first quality. The progress of these
operations is as simple as possible, and the expenses attending the
manufacture are considerably less than that of the process hitherto
adopted."

The cultivation of the beet in France appears likely to prove still
more advantageous, in consequence of the discovery that the molasses
drawn from the root may be, after serving for the manufacture of
sugar, turned to farther advantage. It appears that potash may be made
from it, of a quality equal to foreign potash. A Monsieur Dubranfaut
has discovered a method of extracting this substance from the residue
of the molasses after distillation, and which residue, having served
for the production of alcohol, was formerly thrown away. To give some
idea of the importance of the creation of this new source of national
wealth (remarks the _Journal des Debats_), it will be sufficient to
say that the quantity of potash furnished by M. Dubranfaut's process
is equal to l/6th of the quantity of sugar extracted from the beet.
Thus, taking the amount of indigenous sugar manufactured each year at
seventy million kilogrammes (each kil. equal to 2 lbs. 2 oz. avoird.),
there may besides be extracted from this root, which has served for
that production, twelve million kilogrammes of saline matter,
comparable to the best potash of commerce; and this, too, without, the
loss of the alcohol and the other produce, the fabrication of which
may be continued simultaneously. According to the present prices, the
twelve millions of kilogrammes represent a value of from fourteen to
fifteen million francs.

The States composing the German Union possessed towards the close of
1838, 87 manufactories of beet-root sugar in full operation, viz.,
Prussia, 63; Bavaria, 5; Wurtemburg, 3; Darmstadt, 1; other states,
15; besides 66 which were then constructing.

The only returns given for Prussia and Central Germany are 1836 to
1838, and the annual production of sugar was then estimated at eleven
million pounds. The quantity now made is, of course, much greater.

At the close of 1888, Austria produced nine million pounds; she now
makes fifteen thousand tons.

The growth of beet-root in Hungary, during the years 1837 and 1838,
was extremely favorable, and the manufacture of sugar from it has
become very extensive. It has been greatly encouraged by the Austrian
government. It was estimated that fifty millions of pounds were
manufactured in Prussia and Germany in 1839. In Bohemia there were, in
1840, fifty-two factories of beet-root sugar, and nine for the making
of syrup out of potato meal. In 1838, the number was as high as
eighty-seven.

The Dutch papers state that in a single establishment in Voster Vick,
in Guilderland, about five million pounds' weight of the beet-root are
consumed in the manufacture of sugar.

The following is a Comparative Statement of the number of Sugar
Manufactories, and the Quantity of Beet-root upon which duty was paid
for the Manufacture of Sugar in the Zollverein during the years ending
the 31st of August, 1846 and 1847:--

-------------------+-------------+-------------------------------------
| |Quantity of Beet-root upon which duty
| |was paid for the Manufacture of Sugar.
| +---------+---------+-----------------
| Number of | | | Comparison in
Name of the State |Manufactories| | | 1846-7 with the
of the Zollverein | | 1845-6 | 1846-7 | preceding year.
+------+------+ | +---------+-------
| | | | | More in |Less in
|1845-6|1846-7| | | 1846-7 |1846-7
-------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
Prussia | | |Cwts. ** | Cwts. | Cwts. | Cwts.
Eastern Prussia | 2 | 2 | 12,393| 29,941| 17,548| --
Western Prussia | -- | -- | -- | -- | --- | --
Posen | 7 | 8 | 101,422| 121,914| 20,492| --
Pomerania | 5 | 4 | 89,865| 121,061| 31,196| --
Silesia | 16 | 22 | 590,545| 711,632| 121,087| --
Brandenburg | 3 | 3 | 140,421| 148,066| 7,645| --
Prussian Saxony | 38 | 42 |2,676,084|3,547,891| 871,817| --
Duchies of Anhalt | 4 | 5 | 266,345| 288,082| 21,737| --
Westphalia | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Rhenish Provinces | 2 | -- | 2,479| -- | -- | 2,479
-------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
Total in Prussia | 77 | 86 |3,879,554|4,968,587|1,079,043|
-------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
Luxemburg | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Bavaria, Kingdom of| 8 | 7 | 50,952| 46,142| -- | 4,810
Saxony, " | 1 | 2 | 20,887| 34,230| 13,343| --
Wurtemburg, " | 2 | 2 | 59,521| 141,366| 81,845| --
Baden, Grand Duchy | 2 | 2 | 316,968| 328,608| 11,640| --
Hesse, Electorate | 2 | 3 | 25,376| 23,529| -- | 1,847
Hesse, Grand Duchy | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Thuringia | 2 | 3 | 36,127| 38,218| 2,091| --
Brunswick, Dukedom | 2 | 2 | 65,707| 52,796| -- | 12,911
Nassau, Dukedom | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Frankfort, FreeCity| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
+------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
Total, exclusively } | | | | |
of Prussia } 19 | 21 | 575,538| 664,889| 89,351|
+------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
Total in the | | | | | |
Zollverein | 96 | 107 |4,455,092|5,633,476|1,168,394|
-------------------+------+------+---------+---------+---------+-------
[** Prussian cwts. are equal to 80 English cwts.]

This statement proves that the cultivation of the beet-root, and the
subsequent manufacture into sugar, has greatly increased in the
Zollverein. Eleven manufactories had been added to the number in the
previous year, and an increase of 26 per cent. took place in the
quantity of beet-root which was manufactured into sugar. Each
manufactory used, upon an average, the following quantity during the
undermentioned years:--

1841-2 1844-5 1846-7
Cwts. Cwts. Cwts.
In Prussia generally 38,161 50,384 57,774
In the province of Saxony 55,412 70,423 84,473
In the province of Silesia 33,595 36,909 32,347
In the Zollverein, on an average
in each manufactory 27,237 46,407 52,634

The increase is chiefly evident in the province of Saxony, where, in
1846-7, an augmentation of 1,087,851 cwt. of beet-root; in comparison
to the preceding year, took place. If we compare the quantity of
beet-root employed in Saxony with that of the whole Zollverein, we
find that the former province requires 63 per cent, of the whole
quantity used for the manufacture of sugar. The great activity in that
province (chiefly in the district of Magdeburg) is rendered more
apparent by the following table:--

Comparative Statement of the Number of Manufactories, and their
Machinery and Utensils, employed for the Manufacture of Beet-root
Sugar in the Prussian Province of Saxony during the years 1841-2 and
1846-7 respectively.

------------------------------+-------------------+--------------------
| |In the neighbourhood
|Province of Saxony | of Magdeburg
+---------+---------+---------+----------
| 1841-2 | 1846-7 | 1841-2 | 1846-7
+---------+---------+---------+----------
| No. | No. | No. | No.
Manufactories | 40 | 39 | 15 | 15
Apparatus for grating | 58 | 65 | 27 | 32
Hydraulic presses | 136 | 209 | 72 | 93
Clarifying pans, with open | | | |
firing | 81 | 68 | 24 | 24
Ditto, by steam | 50 | 76 | 33 | 42
Evaporating pans, with open | | | |
firing | 130 | 123 | 55 | 54
Ditto, by steam | 46 | 71 | 28 | 32
Clarifiers, with open firing | 23 | 21 | 14 | 10
Ditto, by steam | 23 | 28 | 19 | 21
Boiling pans, with open firing| 76 | 61 | 33 | 24
Ditto, by steam | 20 | 35 | 12 | 17
Of which there are vacuum pans| 8 | 21 | 3 | 9
Steam-engines | 19 | 40 | 12 | 20
Horse-power | 210 | 457 | 153 | 267
Cattle mills | 19 | 9 | 4 | 2
Cattle employed | 79 | 38 | 19 | 12
| | | |
| Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt.
Quantity of beet-root used} | | | |
for manufacture } |2,349,774|3,387,280|1,433,293|1,889,463
Or on an average in each} | | | |
manufactory } | 58,744| 86,853| 95,553| 125,964
------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------

The increase of power by machinery is surprising, chiefly by steam and
hydraulic presses, which has not only effected a greater produce, but
likewise a much larger increase of the quantity of beet-root required
for manufacture. The works where draught cattle are employed have
decreased, and are only in use where the manufacture of beet root
sugar is combined with a farm.

In Russia, in 1832, there existed only 20 manufacturers of beet root
sugar, but this number subsequently increased to 100, and they
annually produced the twelfth of the total quantity of sugar which
Russia receives from foreign parts. The number of those manufactories
in 1840, was 140, and the importation of sugar, which reached to
1,555,357 lbs. in 1837, amounted to only 1,269,209 lbs. in 1839. The
production of indigenous sugar is now set down at 35,000 tons.

In France, for many years past, the production of beet-root sugar has
been rapidly increasing, in spite of a gradual reduction of the
protection which it enjoyed against colonial and foreign sugar, until
it has reached a quantity of 60,000 tons, or fully one half of the
entire consumption. Independent of the refined sugar exported under
drawback, the consumption of France may be now estimated at 120,000
tons, of which 60,000 tons are of beet-root, 60,000 tons of French
colonial, and 10,000 tons at the outside of foreign sugar. The
beet-root and the French colonial sugars are now placed on the same
footing as regards duty, and a law was recently passed, subjecting
beet-root sugar, from the 1st of January, 1852, to even a higher duty
than French colonial sugar. Nevertheless, it is admitted that the
manufacture of beet-root sugar is highly profitable and rapidly
increasing, so that it is likely in a very short time to exclude
foreign sugar from French consumption altogether.