Chapter IX: Part I: Growth, Manufacture and Distribution (4)

In the laboratory, day and night, a corps of chemists is constantly engaged in the study of questions that arise in connection with the operation of the various departments. Polarizations for account of buyers and sellers of all raw sugars purchased, are made and checked there; hundreds of samples of liquors and syrups are tested daily for control work, as the purity of both must be known at all times and a record kept of their temperatures and densities. Samples of all the sugars entering the refining process, as well as of the finished product, are carefully analyzed, and upon these analyses are based elaborate calculations regarding yield and efficiency. The wash waters from the char filters are examined and tested frequently, the bone-char is tested every twenty-four hours as a check upon the process of revivification in the kilns, and once a month the bone-char is completely analyzed to determine the deterioration that has taken place in it.

Tests are made of materials used in the refining process, such as lime, soda, acids and lubricating oils; of the feed water for the steam boilers; of the fresh water used throughout the plant; and of the fuel, whether coal or oil. Even the gases from the fires under the boilers are tested as they pass through the smokestack, in order to determine whether or not the firemen perform their duties properly.

Taking all this in conjunction with frequent tests and experimental work on driers, condensers, evaporators and other apparatus, it will be seen that there is plenty to keep a large staff of chemists fully occupied.

In refinery work, what is to be feared more than anything is the house becoming “sour.” Raw sugars and sugar liquors, and particularly the sweet waters, have a tendency to ferment, and fermentation, like fire, if not checked and brought under control before it gains much headway, soon pervades the entire establishment, affecting all the liquors and syrups, thus turning the sucrose or sugar into glucose, which cannot be recrystallized. In a refinery of two million pounds daily capacity, there is double this quantity of sugar in the house in the form of liquors, syrups, sweet water, massecuite and raws. If all of this four million pounds turned “sour,” the money loss, with raw sugar worth four cents a pound, would be about one hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Such a contingency, while remote, clearly demonstrates that chemical control is an absolute necessity.

COST OF REFINING

In concluding that part of the story that deals with refining, some reference may be made to the refining cost and to the price at which refined sugar is sold.

The cost of refining sugar varies in different parts of the United States on account of the difference in the cost of commodities entering into the refining process, such as labor, fuel, cotton, burlap, containers, bone-char, etc. On the Pacific coast nearly all these items are higher than in New York, and consequently the cost of refining is probably greater.

In 1911 nearly all the sugar refiners of the United States appeared before the Hardwick Congressional committee at Washington and the testimony given by them before that body showed that the cost of refining ranged from 60 cents to 65 cents per 100 pounds.

On the day the Congressional committee began its investigation, raw sugar was selling in New York for 3.86 cents per pound, and the testimony regarding the cost of refining was no doubt based on this price for the raw sugar entering the refining operations.

It is therefore fair to assume that under normal conditions, with raw sugar at about 3¾ cents, the average cost of refining in the United States is 62½ cents per 100 pounds. This includes every item from the time the raw sugar is landed on the dock until the refined is loaded on the cars or boats for shipment. It includes the selling and overhead expenses, but not the transportation charges after the sugar leaves the refinery.

During the last six years (1909-14 inclusive) the actual differential in the United States between the purchase price of raw sugar and the selling price of refined has been 82½ cents per 100 pounds. The difference between this figure and the cost of refining represents the refiner’s gross profit; in other words, about 20 cents per 100 pounds, out of which he must pay for all additions and improvements to his plant. The remainder is available for returns on capital invested. This difference varies with the time of year and in different localities, but the average will probably hold good.

A refiner of cane sugar buys his raw product in the open market and must pay for all his operating and administration expenses and obtain his profit from the margin between the buying price of raw and the selling price of refined sugar. The cost of refining is not constant, as it varies with the fluctuating values of fuel, containers, labor, and particularly the cost of raw sugar. If it costs 62½ cents per 100 pounds to refine sugar with raws at 3.86 cents per pound, it will cost about 82½ cents per 100 pounds with raw sugars at 6 cents, assuming that such items as fuel, containers, labor, etc., remain constant. This is due to the greater value of the raw sugar lost in refining, to the heavier insurance premiums and higher interest charges. With high-priced raws, the margin between raws and refined must be proportionately greater to offset the increased cost of refining.

The refiner, like the consumer, would prefer to see sugar selling on a low basis, while the producer always hopes for the opposite.

SHIPPING DEPARTMENT

Here will be found every modern convenience for the rapid loading of cars and steamers. Adequate railway trackage is provided for the handling of shipments moving by rail, and on the waterfront side of the warehouses there is ample berth room for steamers that carry the sugar to cities and towns on the inland waterways and the seacoast, together with points tributary thereto. Facilities are also at hand for local delivery by drays.

Railroad cars are sometimes sent to refineries by water, on car barges, to be loaded with sugar and then towed to what are known as railroad terminals, where the cars are taken from the barges and started on their journey to destination. The capacity of a car varies from twenty-four thousand to one hundred thousand pounds. If an amount of sugar equal to that consumed in the United States in 1915 were loaded into cars containing 1000 sacks of 100 pounds each, it would require 81,087 cars, which would make up a train 768 miles long.

A large part of the product is delivered direct from the packing-room conveyors into the waiting cars and steamers, thus avoiding unnecessary handling. A single shipment frequently includes a number of different styles of package, and great care must be exercised to insure accuracy in count and description.

As dry granulated sugar readily absorbs moisture, every precaution must be taken to make the storage rooms thoroughly damp-proof, so that the sugar may always be in good condition when shipped from the refinery.

Shipments are made only on written orders from the sales department to the head of the shipping department. These orders set forth the name of the buyer, the kinds and quantity of sugar desired, the point to which the sugar is to go, the route by which it is to travel, the date on which it is to be shipped, and the terms of sale. At the proper time the sugar is loaded, shipped, and in due course delivered to the buyer.

MARKETING

The amount of sugar used in the United States in 1915 was 4,257,714 short tons. Of this, 3,389,175 tons were raw cane, the remainder consisting of 861,568 tons of domestic beet and 6,971 tons of foreign refined cane and beet. Of the 3,389,175 tons of raw cane, 150,000 tons were consumed in the raw state, and from the remainder, 3,239,175 tons, about 3,044,825 tons of refined sugar were produced. The per capita consumption was 83.83 pounds, and was made up of:

SHORT TONS PER CENT
Refined made from raw cane 3,044,825 74.94
Domestic and foreign beet 862,694 21.23
Foreign refined cane 5,845 .14
Consumed in the raw state 150,000 3.69
--------- ------
4,063,364 100.00

Among articles of food that contain a large percentage of sugar are jams, jellies, chocolate, canned fruits, condensed milk, confectionery, chewing gum and cordials. It is estimated by Willett & Gray that in 1915 the direct per capita consumption was 31.43 pounds, and that the remaining 52.40 pounds were used in various prepared or manufactured foodstuffs. Over ninety-nine per cent of all the cane sugar consumed in the United States is refined in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco. The beet comes chiefly from California, Colorado, Michigan, Utah and Idaho; the maple from the New England states, Ohio and Canada; and the small amount of full duty-paying foreign cane from Java, Peru, Mexico, Central America and Santo Domingo.

During the past eleven years the consumption in the United States has grown at an average rate of 3.57 per cent per annum. In 1911, on account of the abnormally high prices, the increase was practically nil.

The annual per capita consumption of sugar in some of the other countries of the world is as follows:

1914
Servia 4.60 lbs.
Greece 8.99 ”
Bulgaria 9.94 ”
Italy 10.45 ”
Portugal 13.60 ”
Spain 15.91 ”
Roumania 17.12 ”
Turkey 20.33 ”
Russia 29.26 ”
Finland 32.54 ”
Austria-Hungary 37.38 ”
France 39.01 ”
Belgium 42.79 ”
Holland 53.44 ”
Norway 60.37 ”
Sweden 60.48 ”
Switzerland 74.87 ”
Germany 74.95 ”
England 89.69 ”
Denmark 93.48 ”

The sale and distribution of large quantities of refined sugar is a serious problem and just as important as the production and the refining of the raw product. Competition is so keen, and the questions involved so complex, that the sale of the product really results in commercial warfare.

To dispose of the output of a large plant successfully requires great intelligence, a broad grasp of business principles, strict honor and integrity, and prompt, decisive action in times of fluctuating markets.

Sales managers of the sugar-refining companies of the United States command high salaries, for the success of the business depends to no small extent upon their ability and judgment. Their knowledge of human nature must be broad and sound and it is tested to the utmost in their selection of assistants and brokers, for representatives always reflect the ideals, principles and methods of the parent authority.

The selling of sugar by the refiner direct to the consumer has not been found practicable, as an organization complete enough to keep in touch with consumers in every city, town and village of the country would be so top-heavy and costly to maintain that the price of the commodity to the consumer would be needlessly increased.

As matters stand, people living in the frozen valleys of Alaska, in the scarcely accessible regions of the Rocky mountains and in the lumber and mining settlements of the West, many miles from railroads, can obtain their supply of sugar with almost the same facility as the residents of New York or San Francisco. A system of distribution that makes this possible leaves little to be desired, and a word or two concerning it will be timely at this point.

Sugar is sold by the refiner to the wholesale grocer through the medium of the refinery’s broker. From the wholesaler it goes to the retailer, who in turn delivers it to the consumer.

Brokers are important factors in distribution. In every large city and consuming center, each refinery is represented by its own brokers, who keep in constant touch with all the wholesale grocers and manufacturers of their district.

A thorough knowledge of men and methods, sound business principles, diplomatic talents of no mean order and the capacity to act rapidly, but coolly, in business crises are found combined in the successful broker. He occupies a position between the seller and buyer, and it is just as much his prime duty to see that in all transactions full justice is accorded to both as it is to sell the sugar.

Every refinery having its own broker in each consuming center, it follows that the competition for business among the brokers is very keen. When a broker obtains an order from a jobber or manufacturer, he telegraphs it to his principal. The order is usually confirmed and the goods shipped promptly. For his services the broker receives three cents for every one hundred pounds of sugar sold. This compensates him for the services of his salesmen and himself, his office expenses and cost of telegrams, which is heavy.

Manufacturers of foodstuffs of which sugar is an ingredient, buy their supplies through brokers. They do not resell the sugar as such, but use it only in the manufacture of their own special products.

Wholesale grocery jobbers, of whom there are about twenty-five hundred in the United States, are also very important factors in the distribution of sugar. As a rule, they are located in the large centers of population, and have efficient organizations for the purchase and resale of all kinds of foodstuffs. They deal in as many as three thousand different commodities, and their expense of doing business is apportioned over all of these items, thus reducing to a minimum the expense of handling any one of them. Generally speaking, they have large establishments where stocks of all kinds of goods are carried ready for immediate distribution. The aggregate capital tied up in these stocks throughout the country is enormous, but necessary, as the jobber must at all times be ready to deliver to the retailer whatever is wanted in any of his lines. Wholesale jobbers occupy a unique position in the scheme of things. They are to the commerce of the country what the bankers are to its finances. In other words, they are the bankers of commodities. Their operating staff consists, first, of the buyers, and, second, of the salesmen.

The buyers are men possessing special knowledge concerning the various articles handled by the house. For instance, in the grocery line one will buy nothing but teas and coffees, another canned goods, another sugar, and so on. These men as a rule have devoted years of study to the particular commodity which they are delegated to buy. They are shrewd, keenly alert and always ready to take advantage of market fluctuations in their favor. The margin of profit between the buying and selling price of any commodity is usually so small that the acumen of the buyer is an important factor in the final results.

The salesmen are trained, tactful, tireless and efficient. They travel from town to town and place to place, visiting every nook and corner where human beings congregate, in order to sell the goods carried by the firm. While his calling is a most useful one, the life of a “knight of the grip” is not always pleasant, as he meets with many deprivations and discomforts.

To compensate him for capital invested, for the expense of doing business and for the losses he incurs in bad debts and declining markets, the jobber probably obtains a gross return of fifteen cents on each one hundred pounds of sugar he sells.

The next important link in the chain is the retailer. It is roughly estimated that there are three hundred thousand retail grocers in the United States, many of whom handle and distribute almost as many articles as the jobber. Their lot on the whole is not cast in pleasant places, because of the severe competition they meet in selling their goods.

Competition is a word regarded almost with affection by the buyer, but for the seller of goods it is probably the most unpleasant one in the English language. There is an old axiom which reads: “Competition is the life of trade.” It may be so, but the expression was no doubt coined by a buyer.

Among sellers, competition is in direct proportion to the number engaged in any particular business. It therefore follows that as there are three hundred thousand retailers in the United States, and hundreds in each of all the large cities, the struggle to keep on their feet and continue their various enterprises must be severe. The number of failures occurring every year amply substantiates this assertion. Reckless and unscrupulous men engage in every business, and the competition thus forced on all others in their line is not only unfair, but positively dishonest. Any individual can break a price or introduce new and expensive experiments in selling terms, which must be followed with equally attractive terms by the other sellers, thus resulting in great loss to all. It is no satisfaction that such men finally fail and go out of business, for the losses sustained in the interim can never be recovered.

Another grave difficulty with which the retailer has to contend is the fact that the average individual to whom he delivers his wares is apt to be rather callous when pay-day comes around. It is sad, but true, that those best able to pay are sometimes the most unsatisfactory customers of the retail grocer.

A retailer’s expense of doing business is proportionately much greater than that of the wholesaler, and his losses, due to bad or uncollectible accounts, are much heavier. The cost of delivering goods to the consumer’s door is high, and a fact that should be remembered, but which is frequently overlooked, is that it costs the grocer just as much to deliver a five-pound package of sugar as a wagon-load. Householders are proverbially careless, and telephone calls for late and urgent deliveries are a source of great annoyance and expense.

To create a pleasing impression, the grocer must keep a clean, sanitary store, and the expense incident to attractive window and shelf displays to invite attention is an important item. Department and other stores in his town or neighborhood often advertise “leaders” to attract the buying public, in the hope of selling with these leaders other goods at a profit, or because they are overstocked with a particular commodity. Every retailer must, as a rule, meet this unfair competition or lose his trade.

Sugar more than any other staple article is used as a leader, and, as a result, the retail grocer’s profit on it is very small. What remains to him out of the selling price of one hundred pounds of sugar does not exceed thirty-five cents, and more than likely it has cost him twenty-five cents to sell it. It is the retail grocer’s employé who delivers sugar in the quantity desired to the housewife at her door, and through her hands the pure, glistening crystals reach the family table.

BEET SUGAR

SHORT REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF BEET SUGAR

The extraction of sugar from beets dates back to 1747, when Andreas Marggraf, professor of physics in the Academy of Science of Berlin, discovered the existence of a sugar in beets similar in its properties to that obtained from cane.

The discovery was little utilized at first, however, and the manufacture of sugar from beets did not attain commercial importance for over half a century, when Franz Karl Achard, a pupil of Marggraf, made discoveries which led to the construction of the first beet-sugar factory in the world, in Silesia, in the year 1799.

The work of Achard soon attracted the attention of Napoleon Bonaparte, who appointed a commission of scientists to go to Silesia to investigate Achard’s factory. Upon their return, two small factories were constructed near Paris. Although these two factories were not altogether a success, the results attained greatly interested Napoleon, and in 1811 he issued a decree appropriating one million francs ($200,000) for the establishment of sugar schools, and compelling the farmers to plant a large acreage to sugar beets the following year. He also prohibited the further importation of sugar from the Indies after January 1, 1813.

As a result of these and other drastic decrees, three hundred and thirty-four factories were erected in France during the years 1812 and 1813, and their production was seven million seven hundred thousand pounds of sugar, or an average of eleven and one-half tons to the factory.

SUGAR BEET]

ANOTHER TYPE OF SUGAR BEET]

With the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, disaster came upon this, one of his greatest achievements, and but one factory survived. The industry was destined to flourish again, however, under the reign of Louis Philippe. In 1836-37 there were five hundred and forty-two factories in France, producing thirty-five thousand tons of sugar, as compared with fourteen hundred and eight tons in Germany, which country had only recently begun the culture of beets.

When Napoleon III became emperor, he so stimulated the industry that in 1853 the French output had doubled. Meanwhile the Germans were making rapid strides, and in 1880 the German output of sugar exceeded that of France. As a result of legislative encouragement, Germany today is the largest beet-sugar producer in the world.

The first successful beet-sugar factory in the United States was constructed by E. H. Dyer, at Alvarado, California, in 1879. The next successful factory was erected at Watsonville, California, in 1888, by Claus Spreckels. The Oxnard brothers followed with the construction in 1890 of a factory at Grand Island, Nebraska, one at Norfolk, Nebraska, and a third at Chino, California, the last built in 1891.

From this it will be seen that the commercial production of beet sugar in the United States really dates back to about 1890, since only three factories of small capacity had been established prior to that date. The development of the industry since the year 1892 has been rapid, and the general results of the beet industry in the United States in 1915 showed the following:

Factories in operation 67
Acres of beets harvested 611,301
Average yield of beets per acre 10.10 short tons
Beets worked 6,150,293 ”
Sugar manufactured 874,220 ”

The season of 1916 promises a notable increase in tonnage.

THE SUGAR BEET

The botanical name of the sugar beet is _Beta vulgaris_. It grows exclusively in the temperate zone, and with satisfactory soil and climatic conditions a yield of thirty tons per acre has resulted. The average yield in the United States, however, is slightly over ten tons per acre. There are many varieties of beets, some of which do better in one locality than another, so that great care must be used in the selection of the seed.

The beet, unlike sugar cane, grows below the ground, is white in color and shaped like the ordinary carrot, but larger. The beets vary greatly in size, depending upon variety, soil and climatic conditions, the average weight ranging between one and two pounds.

The foliage has a rich, brilliant green color and grows to a height of about fourteen inches. The leaves are numerous and broad and grow in a tuft from the center or crown of the beet, which is usually level with or just above the ground surface.

The average composition of a sugar beet is about as follows:

Sugar 17.3 per cent
Marc or pulp 4.4 ”
Ash and organic non-sugar .7 ”
Water 77.6 ”

The value of the beet to a factory depends on the amount and purity of the sugar content. Factories as a rule decline to purchase beets containing less than twelve per cent of sucrose, as it is unprofitable to handle them. In order to induce the farmer to devote particular care and attention to the culture of his fields and thus increase the sugar content, the factories pay a premium for beets containing over fifteen per cent of sugar. The premium is usually twenty-five cents per ton of beets for each additional one per cent of sugar. Encouraged by this bonus, the California grower has improved the quality of his beets, until today they contain on an average about eighteen per cent of sugar of a purity from eighty to eighty-four.

PLOUGHING WITH CATERPILLAR ENGINE]

PLANTING BEET SEED]

SELECTION OF THE SOIL

The sugar beet, like sugar cane, needs a peculiar soil and climate for its successful cultivation. The most important requirement is that the soil shall contain a large supply of plant food, be rich in humus and have the property of retaining a great deal of moisture. A certain amount of alkali is not necessarily detrimental, as sugar beets are not especially susceptible to injury from this salt. The ground should be fairly level and well drained, especially where irrigation is practiced.

While the physical character is of secondary importance, as generous crops are grown in sandy soil as well as in heavy loams, still the ideal soil is a sandy loam, _i. e._, a mixture of organic matter, clay and sand. A subsoil of gravel, or the presence of hard-pan, is not desirable, as cultivation to a depth of from twelve to fifteen inches is necessary to produce the best results.

Climatic conditions, temperature, sunshine, rainfall and winds have an important bearing upon the success of beet culture. A temperature ranging from 60 degrees to 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the growing months is most favorable. Sixteen inches of rainfall are necessary to raise an average crop of beets without irrigation. High winds are very harmful, as they generally crust the land and prevent the young beets from coming through the ground. The best results are obtained along the coast of southern California, where warm, sunny days succeeded by cool, foggy nights seem to meet every requirement. Sunshine of long duration but not of great intensity is the most important factor in the successful cultivation of sugar beets. The nearer the equator is approached, the poorer the beets become in sucrose because of the shorter days and the greater heat of the sun. Beets have never been raised with success in the hot interior valleys, as the hot days followed by warm, dry nights sap the vitality of the plant. In the elevated Rocky mountain region of Colorado and Utah, where the temperature is high during the daytime but where the nights are cool, the quality of the beet is excellent.

In Michigan the long summer days and the influence of the great lakes result in satisfactory climatic conditions for sugar-beet culture, and the crops raised in that state are large.

In order to cultivate beets successfully the land must be properly prepared. Deep ploughing is the first principle of beet culture. It allows the roots to penetrate the subsoil without much obstruction, thereby preventing the beet from growing out of the ground, besides enabling it to extract considerable nourishment and moisture from the lower soil. If the latter is too hard, the roots will not penetrate it readily and, as a result, the plant will be pushed up and out of the earth during the process of growth. A hard subsoil is impervious to water and prevents proper drainage. It should not be too loose, however, as this allows the water to pass through more freely than is desirable.

The character of the surface soil is equally important. Careful preparation by harrowing should be done to afford a finely pulverized and clean bed for the seed.

To sum up, the soil should be deep, fairly fine and easily penetrable by the roots. It should also be capable of retaining moisture and at the same time admit of a free circulation of air and good drainage.

PLANTING

The preliminary preparation of the ground finished, the seed should be put in as soon as the soil is firm enough to allow it to germinate readily and the young plants to grow normally. The time of planting varies according to climatic conditions. In California planting begins as a rule in December and ends in March, while in Utah, Colorado and Michigan it ranges from March until May.

THINNING]

CULTIVATING]

About twenty pounds of seed to the acre are required to produce a satisfactory stand. The seed is planted in rows, about eighteen inches apart, and is drilled in solidly to a depth of from three-quarters to one and a half inches. The latter is the maximum, as any greater depth than this weakens the plant and should, therefore, be avoided. The soil around the seed is well packed by the planter in order to draw the moisture necessary for germination.

The production of beet seed presents many problems; the chief one is to obtain the particular kind of seed that will bring forth a hardy beet containing a large percentage of sugar of a high purity. The beets from which the seed is produced are selected with the greatest care, and for nearly a century the Luther Burbanks of Europe have devoted their time and skill to improving the quality. Until recently, practically all of the beet seed used in the United States was imported from Europe. Since the outbreak of the great war in 1914, however, the difficulties attendant upon securing a supply have caused the beet growers to turn their attention to raising seed in this country. Their efforts have been rewarded with a fair measure of success, and while the cost is greater than that of European seed, the germinating properties have proven to be excellent. The best results have been obtained in Idaho. Owing to the fact that the culture of the beets and the picking and sorting of the seed are done chiefly by hand, labor enters largely into the cost of production, and consequently, under normal conditions, the growers in the densely populated countries of Europe have a great advantage over those in the United States, where the main difficulty is securing labor for the field work.

Like sugar cane, beets are subject to plant diseases of various kinds, as well as to injury by insect pests, and great care has to be exercised to ward off these dangers.

Probably no other crop exhausts the soil so rapidly as beets, and, if they are planted for many years in succession, they deteriorate year by year. On the other hand, if crops are rotated so that beets are grown in the same ground every third year, peas, beans or grain being raised the other two years, it is a remarkable fact that all of these crops will improve each year. This is due to the intensive cultivation of the beets and to the humus left in the ground in the form of rootlets. Experience has taught the farmer that no other crop is so beneficial to the soil as beets grown in the right rotation and with proper care.

THINNING

As soon as the beets are up and the rows clearly defined, thinning becomes necessary. This is one of the most important features of beet culture and is a tedious and expensive operation. It consists of cutting out the plants so that individual roots remain, spaced about eight inches apart. The work is done by hand, a hoe being used to block out the spaces, and the roots surrounding the one which it is desired to retain are pulled up. Due partly to faulty germination, but principally to defective thinning of the beets, in which operation a great many of the small, tender beet plants are injured or killed, very much less than the theoretical number of mature beets are secured per acre. With rows eighteen inches apart and a plant every eight inches in the row, 43,000 beets per acre should be obtained, which, at an average weight of one and one-half pounds per beet, would mean 32.25 tons. Owing, however, to the facts just mentioned and to other causes, the actual yield is always much less. The average in California for a number of years past has been only 10.68 tons per acre.

FIELD OF RIPE BEETS]

TOPPING BEETS]

CULTIVATION

The purpose of cultivation is two-fold; first, to retain the moisture in the soil, and, second, to destroy the weeds and grass, as in the early stages of the growth of the beets weeds might spoil the stand by choking the plants.

Cultivation should be continued until the plants have attained such a size that the leaves cover the ground. It increases the fertility of the soil by opening the land to the atmosphere, thus facilitating the penetration of oxygen and absorption of air moisture and the resulting decomposition and assimilation of nutritious elements.

HARVESTING AND TOPPING

The time when harvesting takes place depends on the many factors that influence the growth and maturing of the beet. In the colder countries the harvesting lasts from September until the ground becomes frozen, while in warmer climates like that of California, where the seed is planted early, harvesting begins about July first and lasts for a period of from seventy-five to ninety days.

The beets are first loosened by means of a specially shaped plough, called the “puller,” which lifts them from the ground. They are then picked up by hand and the crown of each beet, together with the leaves, is cut off with a large knife. The leaves contain no sugar, and are, therefore, not taken into the factory, but are utilized for stock feeding, being quite valuable for this purpose. The sugar contained in the crown is accompanied by so many organic salts that it does not pay to extract it.

The topped beets are then loaded into wagons or railroad cars and transported to the factory, at which point they are carefully weighed. In this country most of the beets are raised by farmers and sold under contract to the factories, at so much per ton, so that the determination of the exact weight and sucrose content is important. For the season of 1915 the average price paid to the farmers for beets was $5.67 per ton.

On arrival at the factory a certain number of beets are taken from every wagon- or car-load, and these represent a fair average of all the beets of that particular delivery. They are sent to the laboratory and their exact weight ascertained, after which they are trimmed of all adhering roots, leaves and parts of the crown, if not properly topped in the field. Any remaining soil is carefully brushed off and the beets thoroughly cleaned. They are then reweighed and the difference between this and the first weight is the tare. This difference represents a certain percentage of the total of the sample beets weighed, and that small percentage is deducted from the gross weight of the total load. In this way the exact net weight of beets delivered by the farmer is determined and he is paid according to this net weight.

The sugar content of the beet and the purity of the juice must now be ascertained, for the price paid the farmer varies according to the amount of sugar the beet contains. As in the case of weighing, sampling and polarizing raw cane sugar, representatives of both parties—the farmer and the factory—are present when all weights are taken and tests made. There are several different methods for determining the percentage of sugar in the beet and the purity of the juice, but the following gives a fair idea of the general practice.

The sample beets having been cleaned, are cut into quarters, one-quarter of each beet being taken for the general sample. This general sample is placed in a grinding or shredding machine, the beets are disintegrated to a fine pulp and thoroughly mixed. A specific amount of this fine pulp is then accurately weighed and placed in a copper pan or dish called a capsule. A small quantity of dilute lead solution is introduced to assist in clarifying, and sufficient water added to bring the volume up to 200 cubic centimeters. It is then heated for about twenty minutes and vigorously agitated, so that the sugar-bearing juice of the beet will mix evenly with the water that was added. The mixture, after being allowed to stand for several minutes, is filtered through paper and a certain amount placed in the observation tube of a polariscope. The instrument will show the amount of sugar in the solution, and by multiplying the reading by two the per cent of sugar in the beets will be found. If in preparing the sample only sufficient water had been added to bring it to a volume of 100 cubic centimeters, the polariscope would give a direct reading of the percentage of sugar in the beets. Practice has demonstrated, however, that the method described is the more accurate.

HAULING BEETS]

DELIVERING BEETS TO THE FACTORY BY WAGON]

To ascertain the purity of the juice, the procedure is as follows: A part of the shredded sample is taken and the juice is squeezed out of it. The amount of sugar in this juice is determined by aid of the polariscope, and a Brix spindle shows the amount of solids it contains. By dividing the polarization by the Brix and multiplying by 100 the purity is obtained, which means the percentage of pure sugar in the total amount of solids contained in the solution.

The purity of the juice has an important bearing on the subsequent manufacture of the sugar. It is difficult and costly to extract sugar from low-purity juices, and the loss of sugar in the process is very high. The reverse is naturally true if the juices have a high purity. The purity of the juice in the beet is materially affected during the growing period by climatic conditions, rainfall, irrigation, fertilization, state of soil and cultivation. Great care and attention must be given the beet to insure high purity and heavy content of sugar.

From the above it will be seen how the net weight and the percentage of sugar in any particular wagon- or car-load of beets are ascertained, as well as the purity of all the beets that enter a factory. The efficiency of the work in a factory is based on the figures thus obtained.

MANUFACTURE OF BEET SUGAR

The process of making sugar from the beet is highly technical in its details and cannot be fully discussed within the scope of this work. A brief description, however, will give an idea of the general methods followed.

The process of manufacture may be classified under seven headings:

1. Transportation and cleaning of beets.
2. Extraction of juice, slicing and diffusion.
3. Purification, carbonation, filtration, concentration and
sulfitation.
4. Formation of grain.
5. Partial drying, purging crystals from syrup in centrifugals.
6. Final drying.
7. Packing.

TRANSPORTATION AND CLEANING

The beets, after delivery to the factory, are stored in V-shaped bins, in the bottom of which is a flume covered by removable boards. By removing the boards, one at a time, the beets are fed into the flume, where a swift current of water floats them into the factory. From this flume the beets are lifted by means of a large wheel, a helical screw or any other suitable device, and discharged into a washer.

The common form of washer consists of a horizontal, semi-cylindrical tank provided with rotating, kicking or stirring arms for keeping the beets in motion. In this tank the beet is completely cleaned and separated from adhering earth, weeds and pebbles.

DELIVERING BEETS TO THE FACTORY BY TRAIN]

GENERAL INTERIOR VIEW OF BEET-SUGAR FACTORY—SHOWING FILTER PRESSES IN FOREGROUND; PANS AND EVAPORATORS IN REAR]

The beets are delivered from the washer into an elevator, which takes them to a point near the top of the factory and discharges them into automatic weighing and recording scales. From the scales the beets fall by gravity into the slicing machines.

EXTRACTION OF JUICE, SLICING AND DIFFUSION

The slices are made in various shapes and forms. The slicing machines consist of revolving, corrugated knives which cut the beets into long, thin slices or “cossettes.” The object is to produce slices which expose the greatest amount of surface, and yet sufficiently firm to lie not too closely together when placed in the diffusion battery, thereby preventing the circulation of the diffusion liquors. The cossettes are conveyed on an endless belt, or through a hopper, to the cells of the diffusion battery.

As the term implies, the juice in the beet is extracted by diffusion, and not by crushing, as in the case of cane. When two liquids, separated by a membrane, are brought in direct contact with each other and allowed to stand for a time, they mix uniformly without the assistance of mechanical or other force.

Beets are made up of a great number of plant cells, the walls of which are porous membranes. These cells are placed in contact with water or juice of lesser sugar content than the juice in the plant cell, in consequence of which the juice is gradually diffused from the beet and carried away in the circulating water which is added. When this water, or rather juice, has reached a certain stage of concentration, it is drawn out of the cells and sent to the next stage in the process of manufacture.

A diffusion battery, or the apparatus in which the process of diffusion is carried on, consists of a number of tanks or cells, usually from ten to fourteen, cylindrical in shape and terminating in truncated cones provided with covers. There are two ways of arranging the cells of a diffusion battery; in the one case the cells are placed in a straight line; in the other they are grouped in a circle. These cells are filled with cossettes in rotation, and water is introduced into the one in which the cossettes were first placed.

Thus the water enters the tank in which the cossettes are nearly exhausted of their sugar, and it flows successively through the other cells that contain cossettes of greater sugar content until the last cell, or the one containing fresh cossettes, is reached. The juice passing through this cell is alternately sent to the measuring tank or to the next cell, which has just been filled with fresh cossettes. The process is continuous, one cell being emptied of exhausted cossettes while another is being filled with fresh ones, and the juice flowing either to the measuring tank or to the freshly filled cell.

The exhausted cossettes, now called pulp, are dropped from the bottom of the diffusion tanks into a large bin, from which they are conveyed or pumped to pulp separators and presses for the separation of the surplus water. This pressed pulp is usually stored in large bins or silos, where it is allowed to ferment before being fed to cattle.

Recently the practice of drying the pulp has been carried on to a large extent. In this process the moisture in the pulp is reduced to ten per cent, the same proportion as in cured hay. Dried to this point, it is packed in bags and may be stored for an indefinite period without deteriorating. After being treated thus it forms an excellent stock food, particularly if waste molasses is sprayed on it before drying.

PURIFICATION OF JUICE, CARBONATION AND FILTRATION

The diffusion juice obtained as above described is quite dark in color, and after passing through the measuring tanks it is conveyed to carbonation tanks where it is treated with from three to four per cent of caustic lime in the form of a thick milk.

DIFFUSION BATTERY—SHOWING DIFFUSION CELLS IN CIRCULAR ARRANGEMENT]

DIFFUSION BATTERY—SHOWING DIFFUSION CELLS IN STRAIGHT LINES]

After being thoroughly agitated, the mixture is treated with carbonic acid gas obtained from the lime-kilns, as the result of the decomposition of limestone and the combustion of the fuel used for burning it.

By this process some of the impurities in the juice are removed and the color reduced to a brilliant amber. As is the case in the cane mills and refineries, it is essential to keep the juice hot throughout the process. The carbonation is continued until the juice is only slightly alkaline, when it is passed through filter presses for the removal of the precipitated lime carbonate and other solid matter. The solid matter in suspension is retained in the frame of the press, and, as soon as the frame is full, the cake is washed by passing water through it. When the sugar content of the cake has been sufficiently reduced, the press is opened and the cake discharged and sent to the fields to be used as a fertilizer.

As a rule, the filtration is repeated for the elimination of any solids that may have passed through the first filtration. This double filtration is usually practiced in all the filtrations in the course of the juice through the factory.

The juice after being filtered a second time is again treated with carbonic acid gas for the further reduction of the caustic lime and then undergoes a third filtration, following which it is sent to the evaporators for concentration.

CONCENTRATION OF JUICE

When the juice reaches the evaporators it contains about eighty-two per cent of water, which, by concentration, must be reduced to about forty per cent. As already explained, the removal of water is generally accomplished in multiple-effects. The apparatus consists of a number of boiling bodies connected in such a manner as to secure a progressive decrease in atmospheric pressure.

The thin juice enters the first body where evaporation takes place under a slight pressure. The steam for this evaporation is usually the waste or exhaust from the engines and pumps. The vapors generated by the evaporation of water from the juice in the first body enter the heating tubes of the second body and are used in further concentrating the somewhat concentrated juice from the first body. The evaporation in this second body is conducted at a higher vacuum and corresponding lower temperature than in the first body. This proceeding is continued until five or even six bodies are used in the series. The last body is usually under a vacuum of about twenty-six inches of mercury.

It is obvious that by this arrangement the concentration of the thin juice is effected with the maximum of economy, direct steam being admitted into the first body only and the rest of the operation accomplished by the steam generated in the boiling of the juice.

SULFITATION

The thickened liquor leaving the last body of the evaporators is sent to the sulphur station and treated with sulphur fumes, in order to further precipitate the soluble impurities and reduce the color of the liquor. It is then heated to boiling point in closed tanks and passed through a double set of cloth filters. This is the final process in the purification of the beet juice, and it is then ready for graining.

In a cane-sugar refinery no sulfitation of the liquor takes place, and in a beet factory there is no char filtration for removal of color and impurities in the liquor. These two points constitute the main difference in the methods of making white sugar from the cane and the beet in the United States. In Europe, however, many factories make a raw beet sugar, which is subsequently refined with the aid of bone-char.

WEIGHING, FILLING AND SEWING BAGS IN A BEET FACTORY]

CATTLE FEEDING ON BEET PULP]

FORMATION OF GRAIN

The formation of the crystallized grain and its progress through the vacuum pans, centrifugals, driers, granulators and screens, and into the bags in the packing room, is identical with the process in a cane refinery, which has already been described.

STEFFEN PROCESS

In some of the beet factories the sugar left in the final molasses is extracted by what is known as the Steffen process. The final low-purity molasses is diluted with water and cooled to a very low temperature, after which finely powdered lime is constantly added to the solution at a uniform and slow rate. The sugar combines with the lime and a saccharate of lime is formed which is insoluble in the liquid. The suspended matter or saccharate is then separated and washed in filter presses.

The cake from these filter presses, which is the saccharate of lime, is mixed with sweet water to a consistency of cream and takes the place of milk of lime in the carbonation process. When the Steffen process is employed, about ninety per cent of the sugar originally in the beet is extracted. The loss of sugar that does take place is accounted for in the exhausted cossettes or pulp, in the pulp water which surrounds them when they are dumped from the diffusion cells, in the cake and wash waters from the carbonation presses and in the waste and wash waters from the Steffen process. As the water used in washing the saccharate press cake is rich in fertilizing qualities, it is used for irrigating the lands adjoining the factory.

The 6,511,274 tons of beets harvested in the United States during the season of 1915 contained an average of 16.49 per cent of sucrose, of which 14.21 per cent found its way into the sacks as white sugar. The difference, 2.28 per cent, represented the loss in working up the beets. As only a few factories, however, were using the Steffen process, a considerable amount of sugar was left in the waste molasses. For the same period, the beets produced in California contained 17.82 per cent of sugar, of which 15.64 per cent found its way into the sacks, showing a loss of only 2.18 per cent. This may be accounted for by the fact that probably more of the California factories were equipped with the Steffen process than the average for the United States, and that the purity of the juices of California beets was higher than the average for the United States.

A factory equipped with the Steffen process and running on beets containing 17.82 per cent sugar, with a purity of 82, should lose not over 1.9 per cent of the sugar in the beet. The same factory without the Steffen process would probably lose 5.04 per cent of the sugar.

It is interesting to know that, according to the testimony given before the Hardwick committee, the average cost of producing and selling one hundred pounds of white beet sugar in the United States today is about three dollars and fifty cents. The selling price, which is from ten to twenty cents per one hundred pounds less than the selling price of refined cane sugar, fluctuates with the value of raw cane sugar. For instance, if raw cane sugar is selling in New York at four dollars per one hundred pounds, the selling price of refined cane will probably be four dollars and eighty cents. Beet sugar, therefore, would be four dollars and seventy cents or four dollars and sixty cents. On the other hand, if raw cane were selling for three dollars per one hundred pounds, refined would probably be three dollars and eighty cents and beet sugar three dollars and seventy or three dollars and sixty cents. In the one case the beet factory makes a large profit; in the other a very small profit.

As the value of raw sugar is determined absolutely by the law of supply and demand in the world’s markets, it is clear that the fortune or misfortune of the beet-sugar producer is beyond his control.

THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL BEET-SUGAR FACTORY IN AMERICA—ALVARADO, CALIFORNIA]

A MODERN BEET-SUGAR FACTORY]