BEETROOT SUGAR.

Bruce Herald, Volume V, Issue 214, 3 June 1868, Page 7

BEETROOT SUGAR.

The question as to the profitable cultivation of beetroot for sugar in Ireland has been discussed in several leters that have appeared within the last fortnight in the ' Times '. The few experiments hitherto made have been failures. But it is most likely the attempt will be again made under more favourable circumstances. As regards the growth of beetroot in England for the same purpose, the following letter from Mr.J. Caird, M. P., is worthy of atten tion : — v The question of supplying from our soil a portion of the vast consumption of suo*ar in the United Kingdom is too important to be allowed to rest on an experiment which failed in Ireland 20 years ago. The success of beet sugar-farming in the north of Franco and Belgium, in the same latitude, and on similar soil, may fairly tempt us to try the experiment in England. Great improvement has been made in the process of manufacture within the last ten years. Improved hydraulic presses have increased the yield of sugar from the roots the introduction of carbonic acid greatly facilitates the clearing of the juice, and the use of steam, passed from one evaporating pan to another, has cheapened the cost of evaporation. The pulp, when squeezed dry in the state it leaves the hydraulic press, is said to keep fres stored in pits in ihe ground tor two years, and retains every quality except the sugar. It can thus be m<>st conveniently used for cattle feeding, and its consumption on the f.irm secures for the land almost the entire benefit of a home consumed green crop. "A sugar refiner in the City, Mr James Duncan, "of 9. Mincing-lane, who at present use-? 300 tons of French beet sugar a-wpek, is desirous of making a beginning, and is so well satisfied with the sujrar producing qualities of English gro-vn su<rar beet, as tested by himself, that he is willing at his own cost to take the risk of erecting buildings and machinery for the extraction of the sugar He proposes to place these near a railway station, in a •rood root growing locality in one of the Eastern Counties, and is prepared to contract for 6000 tons of roofs in the comiDg season at 18s a ton. He intends to carry the process of manufacture here no further than the extraction and thickening of the juice to such an extent as will enable it to bear carriage to his sugar refinery in the Victoria Docks, where it will be mixed with West India sugnr, and the process of manufacture be completed. The dry squeezed nulp will be returned to the farmer at a little more than a nominal prine. " The kind of beet is the white Silesian , aud the average weight of the of the roots must not exceed 3£ H>. The land therefore, must not be over manured, and the roots shonld be grown at closer intervals than where the object is to produce weighty roots. These are matters of detail which any experienced root grower will be able to arrange without difficulty. " Here th^n is one condition towards success which was wanting in the Irish experiment — a certain market for the roots when grown. The present price of corn is not likely to be maintained after the next crop is reaped. And the return from a crop of sugar beet, at 18s a ton, will bear favorable comparison with a crop of corn at the average price. Should^his experiment prove successful it may be. the means of developing a new and important branch of agriculture in this country, and I therefore request insertion of this short statement in your columns."