The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4. 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 827, 4 October 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4. 1877.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious o political # * # * * Here shall the Pres? the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by ga

The House has been exorcised on tbe subject of affording encouragement to the production of beetroot sugar in Now Zealand, but as yet nothing definite has cooie of their deliberations. On the 13th ulfc. Mr Sharp moved, "That in order to afford sufficient encouragement to capitalists and manufacturers to enter on the production of beet sugar in New Zea and, a guarantee should be given by the Government that it shall be free from excise duties up to the end of ten years from the present time, and that the Customs duties should remain as ab present upon all imported sngar for the same period." Suffice it for our purpose at present to say that the wording of this motion created great hostility. It was urged that the House could not pledge succeeding parliaments to such a course, freetraders were iv arms, and others, again, recommended tbe offer of a bonus as an alternative, Mr Macaridrew proposing that £10,000 should be given in two amounts of £5,000 for the firm first producing 500 tons of sugar in either island. Ultimately the House, which was in Committee, reported progress, and asked leave to sit again, with a view to having, at a future consideration of the subject, the report of the Beetroot Sugar Committee before them, which was not at that time printed, though laid some fortnight previously on the table of the House. The Auckland 'Herald' appears to have received some sort of digest of that report from its Wellington correspondent, on which it founded an article on Monday not altogether favorable to the manufacture of beetroot sugar in New Zealand. It seems, however, that others, and those having skill and experience in the matter, entertain a'different opinion, ; for we find Mr JSwansoa, a perfectly practical man, advooating the matter, aud asserting that as nobody disputed the propriety of manufacturing beetroot sugar in the colony what they had now to do was to encourage people who were able to manufacture it to do so. " Hβ was aware that a gentleman in Auckland was prepared to manufacture this sugar, if sufficient inducements to do so were offered him. He had the means and

the skill at his command j it was for the House to say whether he should go on." That person is Mr J. 0. Cairns, of Mangere, who intended erecting a plant capable of turning out some 600 tons of sugar yearly. As to the memorandum appended by Dr Hector to the report, referred to by the 'Herald,' we attach very little value to that. The Doctor's analyses of percentage of sugar iiom beet, may be correct, or they may not—we have a vivid recollection of his information to the Government at one time, that gold must not be looked for at the Thames. We shall prefer relying on returns from other sources. The most available source of information of the result of beet sugar production out of Europe is California. In 1870 the Alvarado Mill was erected, and the company worked the concern at a considerable profit. It had up hill work at first, for the machinery was not perfect, the skill was to be improved upon, and local experience as to the best sort of beet aud its best mode of cultivation had to be learned from experience. Yet it produced sugar in quantity, turning out at the first 8,000B) of sugar a day, cheaper than cane sugar could be bought, and at a profit to the company.. The Alvarado factory had a capacity for manufacturing 50 tons of roots per diem, which, at 8 per cent, sugar, yielded, as we have said, B,oooß> of sugar per day. Of this, 55 per cent, was first class, worth at that time 13| ceuts wholesale ; 20 per cent, was second class, worth 12£ cents; 12 per cent, third class, worth il£ cents, and the remainder fourth class, worth 10J cents per fl>. The gross daily yield was about 900dol. The per contra was as follows :—SO tons of beet, 3|dol. per ton, 175dol; 35 China-, men at 80 cents, 28dol. ; 35 wbitj£ labourers at Idol. 50 cents, 52do£ 56 cents ; coal, 70dol.; superintendence, interest, barrels, insurauce,iand incidentals, 105d01., making a total cost of 450d01. per day. Wβ take these figures from the San Francisco Daily and if th6y were anything near the niark, we can scarcely wonder thai the success of ( the Alvai'ado Company led »o the establishment of/a second factory ab San Jose, with a capital of 20p,000ddl, and that, as Mr gravers remarked when speaking against Mr Sharp's motion above alluded to, " Tn California beet Sugar is at present being produced without any bonus, because it was found to be an industry sufficiently profitable to justify the employment of capital in it without, a bonus."

So- much for the manufacture ; tbe question as to the growth of the beet, .has next to be considered. The experiments (tried at Huwke's Bay, Wellington, and . New Plymouth) says a contemporary, out the generally recognised law that the larger the roots tbe smaller the per-centage of sugar they contain." Granted, but not so the deduction that the sugar-producing quality of the soil (or rather climate) of New Zealand is one whit inferior for the purpose than that of the European beetroot sugar - producing countries. The question is simply one of the size of the root, and this wae early discovered by the Californians. The grower may produce large or small roots at pleasure. When the Alvarodo Mill first commenced work large beets were used and found to be unprofitable. Experience gave sft> as the largest weight desirable, and it was found that beets grown below the soil gave the largest percentage of sugar. To ensure a large crop of small-sized roots, the cultivators growing them for the mill planted them in rows, not more than fifteen inches apart, and thinned tbe plants out,, so that they stood not more than eight inches from each other in the row, and kept the root well earthed up to the lower row of leaves. The wrinkle is one which applies not only to sugar beet, and our settlers might find it more advantageous for feeding fi.ur poses to plant mangolds closer than they do, so as to improve the value of the root for feeding purposes.