SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 74, 17 January 1947, Page 2

SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY

CROP MAY BE BEST IN TWENTY YEARS

Although Britain now grows well over the amount of sugar beet necessary to provide the domestic sugar ration, the crop was introduced into the country as recently as World War I.

The Dutch were the first to cultivate sugar beet in a big way. From Holland it spread to France, arriving in Britain in 1914. The first factory was set up in 1919, since when the Government has taken over, and the industry is one of the most efficient in the world. There are eighteen factories in the Eastern Counties alone.

Processes are complicated. The beet crop is sent to the factories with leaves and a small portion of the crown “topped,” since those parts have no sugar extraction value. The beets are first automatically cleaned of all dirt and small stones, then weighed and sent to a slicing achine. Slicing causes the least rupture of the plant cells, which means that the juice obtained is far purer than could be got if the beets were crushed.

The juice is extracted by a diffusion process, consisting of 10-14 vertical cylindrical tanks, or “cells,” forming an endless chain. As one cell is filled with the sliced beets, it is filled with heated water. Meanwhile the next cell is filled with beets. The water then passes through from the first cell, and so on through the chain. The raw liquid, known as “thin juice” is drawn off periodically, and purified by a chemical process known as “carbonisation,” and by filtration. Next, the “thin juice” passes through multiple-effect evaporators, which yield a heavy syrup known as “thick juice.” This is then boiled in vacuum-pans until the sugar attains its final crystallised form. Farmers are sending in their crops now. They do not get paid by the weight of their crop. Tests are made to determine the exact sugar percentage of the beets, and they are then paid for the ‘weight of sugar that will be produced. They get 90s a ton if the sugar content of their beet is 15i per cent, and 3s 4d for each per cent, above that.