SUGAR FROM BEET. (From the Australasian.)

Otago Witness, Issue 875, 5 September 1868, Page 12

SUGAR FROM BEET. (From the Australasian.)

In consequence of the great success of this branch of industry on the Continent of Europe, the subject has been again taken up in England, and once more it is to be tried if sugar cannot be profitably made there. The refiners import, or, more correctly speaking, did import, raw beet-root sugar largely from France, Belgium, Holland,- and North Germany, and do not see why it should not be made nearer Home. Former attempts failed, but these were made without the amount of knowledge now available, and were not persevered with. Very sufficient reasons can be given for a former want of success, and equally good reasons why beet ought now to be one of the most profitable crops the English farmer can grow; hut the question! is to be practically proved, so we may overlook these for the present and await the result. The movement for the growth of sugar-beet in New South Wales is likely to be abortive, as where the cane grows, beet cannot make way against it. And the main question with us is, whether we shall ever be able to make sugar from beet as cheaply as we can import it from neighboring colonies and islands in which the cane grows to such perfection. From the Hunter river north ward there are tracts of land near the coast of Australia especially adapted for the sugar-cane, and where, before many years are over, it will be cultivated to an extent far greater than sufficient to meet the constimption of the colonists. Then at New Caledonia, the Fiji Islands, and other groups in the South Seas now being so rapidly settled on by Europeans, sugar will be one of the most abundant and easily-raised products, so that, looking forward to the time when sugarmaking could be established as an industry here, prices must be expected to be much lower than they are now. The growth of this industry, commencing as it did under | the greatest disadvantages, has certainly been most wonderful in Europe, and although it may not promise to do very much for this Colony, not a little is to be learned from the history of the root itself, j as well as of the manufacturing processes in connection with it. In the first place, there has been a large increase in the proportion of sugar contained in the root, showing how much a plant can be made to meet the special demand upon it. The owners of factories were a few years ago content with a yield of 4 or 5 per cent, of sugar, but now the average for all Germany is said to be a clear 12 per cent, of sugar. The best roots contain even from 15 to 20 per cent. The larger yield of sugar is due partly to themode of growmgtheroots, and partly to improved processes of manufacture. None but the- kinds containing much saccharine matter are cultivated, and the sugar can now be more per ectly separated from the juice and pulp. The roots are either rasped down and pressed, the juice being then treated almost similarly to tha juice of sugar-cane, or the roots are sliced and then steeped in water \mtil all the sugar is extracted. The water is afterwards evaporated, and the sugar c^stallised in the usual manner. But as the roobs can only he kept green and fresh for a few months after they are taken out of the ground, it has become the general practice in Germany to have a large proportion of the crop dried, so as to afford material for the factories aH the year round. When this is not done the factories can only be kept at work during the winter, and have to remain closed while the roots are growing again. But all the large German factories have kilns erected at convenient spots in the districts from which they are supplied, where the roots can be dried and stored, and forwarded to the factory itself as required. During the process of drying four-fifths of the weight of water is driven off, and the saving in carriage for any distance more than pays for the cost of drying. Thus two objects are gamed — the factory can be supplied with material from a greater distance than it would ■ otherwise pay to draw the whole roots from, and this is obtained in the most convenient form, fit for either immediate

use or for being kept through the summer. The roots are sliced and slowly dried, care being taken not to scorch them, and when so treated the sugar ia as easily extracted from them as when they are fresh. At these factories enough ; cattle and pigs are kept to consume all the pulp, so that nothing shall be wasted. When the pulp is left verydry and with little nutritious matter, the potash and soda are extracted from it, and this pays better than using it as food for stock of any kind. Then the treacle and molasses are distilled on the same premises, so that there is strict economy in the manufacture of every marketable product the beet contains. And under Buch a system has the j growth of beet extended, "until it is beginning to have a direct influence on the sugar trade of the whole world. Twenty years ago there were about 1000 factories of no great size in the different countries of Europe ; last year there were 3200, turning out some 670,000 tons of sugar in the year, as well as spirits and meat in proportion. And some of these factories are of vast size. One of those in Germany covers twelve acres of land, with the central buildings, having besides fourteen branch establishments for the purchase of roots, with a store and kiln at each. The average weekly produce of sugar from this is 670 tons, and 300 head of cattle are always in the stalls. England began to import sugar in the raw state many yeara since, and this trade has gradually increaseduntil she now takes from the Continent moTe than a third of the whole amount consumed in the year. But as the extent of this trade is increasing rapidly, so is the nature of it now changing also. A year or two ago nothing but raw sugar was sent from the Continent, to be refined in England, but since the duties on raw and refined sugar have been almost equalised, it has become more profitable to send the sugar across in the finished state; and the Continental factories are being rendered still more complete than they were by the addition of refineries, fitted with the most improved aids in the shape of air pumps, vacuum pans, and centrifugal drying machines. And thus refined sugar can be produced at the lowest rate possible. From the very ground where the beet grows the refined sugar can T.e sent away, and art a price which is destroying the refiner's business in England. In regard to cheapness, Colonial made sugar cannot now compete with it, and having reached such a limit, no one can say where the progress of this in- ■ dustry will stop, especially as, under the complete system of combining cattlefeeding with sugar and spirit- making, the land improves rather than deteriorates. In the old sugar-growing Colonies, on the other hand, the land has all ''• failed, or is failing fast ; and, with failing prices, the owners cannot afford an outlay on manurial restoratives, so that competition on their paH becomes more hopeless than ever. It is rather a fascinating idea to be able to join in and take part in pushing on such an industry as beet-sugar making has proved ; but have we the slightest prospect of being able to do so profitably 1 It needed much fostering at first, and even now it can be only made to- pay with the aid of a large capital, and by practising the strictest economy in every part of the ' usiness. The beet will grow to perfection here, more particularly near Warnambool, and in some parts of Gipps Land ; but with such rough appliances as we can only hope for at first, and such a consequent want of economy, we would not be able to compete with sugar from New South Wales and Queensland, and the produce of these colonies will be in market nearly as soon as beet-sugar made here could be. The first difficulty would be to find capital for the factory, and that we much fear would be insuperable, as less money invested where the cane will grow would give a much better return for a while. We are too near what will very shortly be the great new and rising sugar countries, and as long as the land in them remains fertile we may trust to having as much as we want of their produce at a low cost. If we could hope for the sugar-beet system carried out in its complete and perfect state, the introduction of it would be most desirable, as tending to good and complete farming ; but this would be the work of years, years of short or nil returns, and capitalists have little patience. It is a question still whether the distillery company will ever get roots enough to keep their establishment at full work, unless they grow these for themselves, the offer of a certain market not sufficing to induce the farmers in the neighborhood to risk the growth of a new crop. Yet the beet is a valuable root for feeding purposes alone, and farmers ought to grow small patches of the best sorts of it, and thus familiarise themselves with its capabilities in one way. But as to sugar-making, we had better await the results of the English experiments before we say much more about that.