not, however, until 100 years ago that the sugar cane industry assumed anything like the propertions which indicated its subsequent growth. About 1747 sugar cane was introduced into Louisiana and soon thereafter, about 1790, became one of the most important crops of that state. Until the beginning of the Civil War Louisiana produced a large proportion of the cane sugar consumed in the United States. During the Civil War the industry was almost totally destroyed, but since then it has grown until it has assumed greater proportions than ever before but constantly diminishing proportions in relation to the total supply. Louisiana is somewhat too far north for the most economic production of sugar cane, since it is subject to injury by frosts. Sugar cane is a plant which is very sensitive to cold weather and is usually killed by a hard frost. For this reason its greatest development has occurred in tropical countries, especially in Cuba, the Hawaiian Islands, and in other similar localities. At the present time by far the largest part of the sugar made from sugar cane in the world is produced in Cuba and the Hawaiian Islands, the Cuban crop amounting, in round numbers, to 1,200,000 tons. and the Hawaiian to about 400,000 tons.

Beet Sugar. The fact that beet sugar is contained in the common garden beet was first discovered by a German chemist, Margraff, in 1747. This important discovery remained dormant for nearly half a century when one of Margraff's pupils, the son of a French refugee from Prussia, named Achard, resumed the researches which had been started by Margraff and obtained results which were then regarded as of an astonishing character. Achard's statements were the subject of doubt and of ridicule and even his French co-laborers, members of the academy doubted the accuracy of his work, while thinking it of sufficient interest to look into further. A commission consisting of some of the most important members of the Academy of Science, among them Chaptal and Vauquelin, investigated the matter and announced that the attempt to make sugar was unsuccessful but thought perhaps the maple tree might be grown in France. Nevertheless the commission modified the methods of Achard and obtained better results. This was the beginning of that long series of investigations which has resulted in the establishment. of a beet sugar industry, making in round numbers six million tons of sugar per year, a quantity considerable greater than that produced from the sugar The name of Chaptal has been mentioned as belonging to the commission which was appointed to study Achard's process because it was through the influence of Chaptal, who had then become a Count, that the Emperor Napoleon on January 15, 1811, issued his decree establishing the beet sugar industry as a national industry of France and granting a subvention thereto. This decree ordered that one hundred thousand hectares should be planted in beets in France. Both the taxes and the octroi were withdrawn upon all sugar produced from beets for a period of four years. There were also to

cane.

be established, according to the decree, four central beet sugar factories, and it was ordered that the crop of sugar beets in 1812 and 1813 should reach two million kilograms of raw sugar. The disastrous Russian campaign and the subsequent fall of the Napoleonic dynasty interrupted but did not destroy the industry.

The establishment of an industry by imperial decree is perhaps a novel method of procedure and gave rise at that time to a caricature in which the Emperor Napoleon and the young King of Rome figured as the most important characters. The Emperor was represented as seated in the nursery with a cup of coffee before him into which he was squeezing the juice of a beet. Near him was seated the young King of Rome voraciously sucking a beet root while the nurse standing near and steadfastly observing the process is saying to the youthful monarch-"Suck, dear, suck, your father says it's sugar."

By reason of the embargo laid on commerce by England the cane sugar coming from tropical islands had been kept out of the continent, so in order to supply the deficiency the Emperor Napoleon issued the decree mentioned. Due to this impetus the industry grew rapidly in France even after the fall of the empire and in the course of 20 years had assumed proportions of commercial importance. About this period German scientists became interested in the matter and by studies directed to the improvement of the sugar in the beet and methods of manufacture laid the foundation of a great industry in Germany which has outclassed the similar industries of all other countries.

The production of beet sugar in the United States was only a few thousand pounds in 1879 and during that and succeeding years a number of factories were built. All of these, however, were unsuccessful except one which was located in Alvarado, California, and which has been continuously operated ever since. In 1884 the U. S. Department of Agriculture undertook anew the investigation of the conditions which were favorable to the sugar beet industry and as a result of these investigations a new start was made on a more substantial basis. The industry has since then extensively grown in importance until at the present time as much sugar is made from the sugar beet in this country as from the sugar cane. In order that an adequate idea of the magnitude of the sugar industry in the world may be had a statistical table is submitted on page 471, showing the production of sugar in the world during the year 1906.

The first important report on the beet sugar industry in the United States was made by McMurtrie as a special report No. 28 on the culture of the sugar beet, issued in 1880 by the Department of Agriculture. It is there recounted that two Philadelphians, as early as 1880, became interested in the beet sugar industry which was then in its infancy in Europe. Eight years later David L. Child undertook in a small way the production of beet sugar

in Northampton, Mass., and issued a small work on the subject, entitled "The Culture of the Beet and the Manufacture of Beet Sugar." He reports that he had grown beets that would yield 6 percent of sugar which cost not more than II cents a pound. He made in all about one thousand, three hundred pounds of sugar.

The first factory of any considerable size in the United States was erected in 1863 at Chatsworth, Ill., but this proved to be a financial failure. A beet sugar factory was erected in the Sacramento Valley, California, in 1869, and after various vicissitudes a permanent factory was established at Alvarado,

FIG. 68.-CORRECT POSITION OF A MATURE BEET IN THE SOIL.-(Farmers' Bulletin 52.)

as has already been mentioned. In 1874 as much as 1,500,000 pounds of beet sugar were made in California. In 1870 and 1871 New Jersey and Massachusetts enacted legislation exempting from taxation for a period of 10 years all property devoted to the production of beet sugar. Factories were established in Massachusetts and in Delaware later on, but these all suffered financial reverses. It was not until the latter part of the 80's that the beet sugar industry in the United States was placed upon a paying basis, and even since that date many ventures in the manufacture of beet sugar have resulted in financial loss and in the abandonment of the factories.

Conditions of Cultivation.-The sugar beet in the United States does not.

produce its maximum content of sugar in areas where the mean temperature for the three months of June, July, and August rises above 70 degrees F. The southern limit of this area is an irregular, waving line, as indicated in the accompanying map (Fig. 69). There are, of course, localities where highgrade beets can be produced south of this line, but in point of fact nearly every successful beet sugar enterprise has been located within the field indicated. There is really no limit to the northern edge of this belt except that of short seasons, incident to late frosts of spring and early frosts of autumn. To successfully compete in the sugar markets of the world the sugar beet should enter the factory with an average percentage of sugar of not less than

12.

Very much richer beets are often produced and in some of the irrigated areas of the west, where the climate is remarkably dry, an average percentage of 16 and 18 even has been obtained. In the whole beet sugar crop of the United States the average percentage of sugar in the beet is probably not far from 13 or 14. In this respect it is seen that the beet is richer in sugar than the average sugar cane of Louisiana, which does not contain over 11 or 12 percent of sugar.

Yield per Acre.-The average yield per acre of sugar beets in the United States is unfortunately very low, due chiefly to ignorance of the proper method of culture. The sugar beet is more of a garden than a field crop and requires special cultivation and fertilization. The average yield in the United States