THE SUGAR-BEET INDUSTRY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2014, 4 June 1885, Page 4

THE SUGAR-BEET INDUSTRY.

Mu A. G. Au,A>i| of Peel Forest, -writes as follows to the \Timnrn Heivtld : — Notwithstanding the apathy and even opposition to the" promotion of the beet loot mdjjishy in the colony, it is to be hopod Tfyft befoie many years elapse such a cliangejuill take place in public opinion as> shall see beet largely mltnated, and laotorifs for its conversion into sngar piomincnt in e\eiy distuct. To cany out the piojeit successfully, it is necess.uy that the duty upon imported sugar be slightty inn eased. This could be aclomphsltfd without much haidslnp. Sugar is no doubt a necessity Wgilj used by both rich and poor, but also, it is no less true that \ast Minis of money go y early out of the colony for an article that can be easily and profitably raised and manufactured by omsehes. Conn tiies such as Get many, Belgium, Holland, poor indeed in compaiison to this, with a climate and soil inferior to our own, manufacture large quantities not only for homo consumption, but also foi export. Not later than ten ycais ago (1775) Frai.ce and Holland alone exported to the United Kingdom SO, OOO tons of beet sugar. Let us then glance at what this industry has accom phshed in France. In 18G3, with imperfect machinery and appliances, she maim factured 27^,000 tons of beet sugar, valued at £0,250,000. In addition to this, there was distilled, partly from the root and partly from molasses, 100,000 pipes of strong spirit, the value of which was £1,350,000, 20,000 tons potash valued at £500,000, also 1,600,000 tons of pulp, estimated to be worth €100,000, eagerly purchased for the fattening of horned cattle and pigs, for w Inch purpose it is highly adapted. Thus we see that the manufactuied produce of the beet harvest of that year in France represented a value of i 9.200.000. The bulb which flourishes in all temperate zones, glows lu\unantly in a rich, light, loamy earth, a species of soil met with in most parts of the colony. The labour expended in its culthation is not more than that expended on tinnips when drilled, or on mangel-wur/el, the Get man name for the common field beet. The field to bo operated upon must be matuued in autumn, twice ploughed, then hart owed, and again ploughed piewous to the planting and sowing. As an alternate or rotation ciop it is invaluable for cither wheat, oats or barley, especially as the formei has been prosed by ample experience. When these results have taken place in other countries, when the Unit d States Australia, Tasmania, England and lieland ha\e initiated this industry, why not commence it here, more especially when the Government is ottering a handsome bonus ! The machineiy is not e.\pensne. It was stated at a meeting that took place a few months ago in the Waikato district that a sugar null would co-st £23,000, and if fully supplied would turnout 1000 tons of law sugar woith £21,000, pulp woith £2000, molasses £51)0, waste feitihsors £250, or £27,750. Having taken some tiouble and expense to procure the most reliable infoimation on this mattei, I am in a position to show that one of the leading eii^ineciing firms in Engluid is reidy and willing to hud the necebsaiy machinery in Tiniaru, of the most appiovcd pattern, capable of operating upon 30,000 tons of beet, a six ycjirs' supply of the recently discoveied mineral for its crystalhsatioiij along with a ioi eman to erect the machineiy nnc\ instinct for the conveision of beat into sugar, fora sum a little o\cr £13,000. Moreover there is a certainty that this miueial, or earth, accidentally discoveied in the Highlands of Scotland in a peculiar manner, w hich converts the syrup instantaneously into crystallised sugar, exists to »n unlimited extent in many parts of the colony. Silesian beet, which produces the greatest proportion of saccharine matter, can be grown and supplied at ten shillings per ton, which would give a very satisfactory margin of profit to the producer. Even if wo could only raise tor the first ten years, sugar equivalent to the quantity annually imported," the ftrt>ney for which now goes to clothe the blacks and enrich Mauiitius planters, what "a boon it would prove to this colony. Vyho then are the practical men stated in your leader of the 10th ijjst., that "scout as utterly unworkable ,the beet sugar project," and what "promising industry would be ruined by the manufacture of sugar in this colony?" From the iinpro\ement made in machinery, crystallisation, and other appliances, it is a certainty, fiom calculations made by myself and otheis, that sugar for jam purposes could be produced at a l^d or 2d per lb. Where, then, would be the ruin of this industiy ? Fiom the want of such an mdustiy, w Inch would employ capital and labour to an unlimited extent, represented by the ignorant and thoughtless as a fad of Sir Julius Vogel, what do we find? In the country depression on every side, produce of all soits unsaleable, sequestrations, pounding?, And forced sales of daily occui rente; in towns, trade languid and empty houses, old colonists selling oil at any puce and seeking homes in other lands. Let me ask you, was it not lamentable, most humiliating, to see a leading statesman some months ago under the necessity of traversing the colony, after expending boi rowed money to the extent of fifty millions, most assuredly public and private, containing millions of acres of land of undoubted teitility, with only a population of half a million, ciying out and proclaiming to the world, Poverty ! Poverty ! What to do with our paupers ? Oh, for a Gladstone nnd a Bright to teach our senators the wisdom of how to govern ! Duiing his residence in England, I am informed on reliable authority, Sir Julius Vogel had for a lengthened peiiod carefully studied the beet sugar pioject, and came to the conclusion, as every other sensible man has done, that no other industry could be more profitably or more successfully carried out than these— scouted at by a few ig*ot ant bigots who have ne\cr gncn the subject one single moment's consideration

Edison's Proimux'iks.— Kdison in dulges in the following pi ('diction : As to the changed which will be ellcctcd by electricity withm fifty years in the city of NcwYoik, I would wy that I believe eleDtyiCity will propel the cars of the strbot and elevated railroads, light the city within and without its buildings, furnidh power for all purpcuc&, work telephones and burglar alarms, deliver tho opein, convey parcels, detect and signal fires, opeiato fire epgines and possibly displace animal locomotion for vehicles. The Bad and Worthless ar? never tmitalcf or counUifijtnf, Tina is osjocial'y true ofnfcunily mccliune, and it ts positive piocn that the remedy imitated is of the highest value. As soon aa it had been tested and proved by the whole world that Hop Bitten was the purest, best and the most valuable family medicine on earth, many imitations sprung up and began to steal the notices in which the press and the people of thu country had expressed the inci its of H. 8., and in every way trying to induce suffering invalids to use their stuff instead, expecting to inako money on the credit and good name of H. B. Many others started nostrums put up in similar style to H. 8., with variously devised names in which the word " Hop" or " Hops" were used in a way to induce people to believe they were the same as Hop Bitters. All such pretended remedies or cures, no matter what their style or name is and especially those with the word " Hop" or " Hops" in their name or in any way connected with them or their name, are imitations or counterfeits. Beware of them. 1 ouch none of them. Use nothing but genuine American Hopßitteis, ith a cluster of green Hops on the white label, and Dr .Soule'a name blown in the glass. Trust nothing else. Druggists and Chemists are warned against dealing in imitation* or countevfMt*.