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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 65
Value of Beet Root for Feeding and Farming Purposes
Value of Beet Root for Feeding and Farming Purposes.
According to Boussing and other experts 4 to 5 lbs of beet are equal to I lb of dry hay in nutritive power for feeding purposes. Beet root pulp, after it has been pressed for the extraction of the juice, has the same value as the original root which produced it—weight for weight, so that its price may readily be established on the basis of 4½ lbs of pulp being equivalent to 1 lb of dry hay—that is 100 lbs pulp to 22 lbs of good hay. Therefore, if 20 tons of beet is grown to the acre, and if the weight of pulp averages 18 per cent of that of the best roots, we find 8,064 lbs of pulp (equal to 1,774 lbs of hay) to the acre to be available for the purpose of feeding or fattening stock over and above the value of sugar extracted therefrom. The growing and harvesting of an acre of beets requires at the most 46 days of human labour (partly children's) and 14 days of horse labour.
In the West Indies 1 acre of sugarcane necessitates 172 days of humau labour.
In the pamphlet which M. Archard published he states that in addition to its yield of sugar the pulp would be valuable food for cattle; that the head of the root would be eaten by them; that much valuable manure, in returning to the ground. Would promote an abundant harvest of cereals; that the molasses could be converted into alcohol or vinegar.
Moreover, to fully estimate the advantage to be derived from this root allowance must be made for the undoubted fact that its culture as a rotation crop so prepares the soil that it need not lie fallow, and so improves the wheat that from ¼ to ¼ more is produced than before beet preceded it, and that cattle fed on the leaves and pulp are exceedingly prolific, while their milk becomes more abundant and of better flavour; so that the production of sugar adds to the supply of bread and meat, and these leading necessities of man's existence stimulate and aid each other.
page 15
"In the first rank of culture there is one which has been developed almost entirely since 1789, and which, perhaps, may be regarded as the greatest agricultural conquest of our time—sugar beetroot. It was feared at the commencement that the cultivation of the sugar beet would curtail the production of beef and corn by occupying the best lands and exhausting them, but this was an unfounded fear, in so far as regards the best cultivated lands. It has been proved at the present time that the manufacture of sugar in creating a new source of profit also increases other productions of the soil. The extraction of the saccharine matter deprives the root of but a part of its elements; the pulp and leaves afford abundant food for animals, and the profits of the sugar manufactory enable the fertility of the soil to be indefinitely increased by the purchase of chemical manures (engrais commerciaux). In 1853 the town of Valenciennes, the principal locality of this industry, was able to erect a triumphal arch with these significant words thereon—'Yield of wheat in the district before the manufacture of sugar, 353,000 hectolitres (a hectolitres—22 Imp. gal. very nearly); number of cattle, 700. Yield of wheat after the establishment of the sugar industry—421,000 hectolitres; number of cattle, 11,500.' These curious statistics are not altogether without a response, as one can ask if the production of cattle and corn would not have increased more during forty years if the Flemish farmers had entirely devoted their attention to it The English make no sugar, and the fortunate connection of beef and bread, solely by the rotation system, has increased enormously their yield. However, it may be, this department has been able, by increasing its manures, to cultivate yearly 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of sugar beet, and each hectare (2½ acres) produces from 1,000 to 3,000 francs (£40 to £120) worth of raw material. No other cultivation produces as much from the same extent. It is the chef-d'œuvre of our rural industry. Those engaged in this culture have been able by knowledge and care to create, by a persevering choice of seeds, artificial varieties of sugar beets, which yield more sugar than the other. The well-known principle of selection applies equally as well to plants as to animals."
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Production of steam | 925 |
| Washing and pulping | 1,967 |
| Defecation | 295 |
| Scums | 134 |
| Sacks, trays, sack washing | 620 |
| Carbonatation | 632 |
| Filtration | 595 |
| Evaporation of juice | 2,300 |
| Crystallisation and turbines | 760 |
| Bone black department | 257 |
| Pipes and cocks | 750 |
| Packing and unpacking | 400 |
| Tubs and tanks | 60 |
| Brickwork | 500 |
| Sundries and tools | 400 |
| Carriage of 200 tons machinery | 250 |
10,845page 16 |
|
| Brought forward | £10,845 |
| Erection of works | 2,000 |
| First cost of bone black | 312 |
| Extra freight, incidentals, and contingencies | 1,843 |
| Gives sum total required | 15,000 |
An acre of land, being one chain breadth by ten chains in depth, will contain 44 drills of ten chains each in length, at 18 inches apart. If the plants are left 9 inches distance in the drills there will be 825 in each of the 44 drills, or 36,300 plants in the acre. Assuming that each plant weighs 2lbs (the best average sugar-producing size), there would be 72,600lbs of beetroot, or over 32 tons to the acre, independent of the tops, which, for feeding purposes, are scarcely of less value to the farmer than the roots.
| £ | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ploughing | 16 | 0 | |
| 6 harrowiogs at 9d | 4 | 6 | |
| Drillings | 2 | 6 | |
| Scarifying | 5 | 0 | |
| Hand-hoeing | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Raising and carting on an average crop of 15 tons per acre | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Seed | 8 | 0 | |
| Manure | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| Rent | 12 | 0 | |
| 6 | 12 | 0 |
Ordinary land, having been in cultivation, estimated to produce 12 tons per acre, at 16s per ten would give a net profit of £3 per acre, allowing the above £6 12s, for cost of production; good land calculated at 15 tons per acre, same cost of production would yield a net profit of £5 8s per acre, and first class land producing 20 tons per acre, a net profit of £9 4s. Of course, if the farmer instead of merely growing beet for the factory is also a shareholder, he has the direct profit on the sugar production and this will be an advantage for the reason that if his beet crop is good, he makes a large double profit, if his crop is but an indifferent one the certain profit on the sugar production will compensate him. To the agriculturists, themselves shareholders in the factory and direct suppliers of the roots, the profit would be two-fold. From 60s to £9 4s nett profit per acre on a fourth of the farm under crop, and with the improvement in the soil for the succeeding three courses, would settle the question at once and for ever—will farming pay? If the pulp is not used by the factory, farming its own land and growing its own beets, then it will be for sale at a cheap rate to the beet suppliers, and may be turned either into meat and wool, or into milk for the neighbouring cheese and butter factories. It is calculated that the pulp in its natural state contains from 70 to 72 per cent, of moisture, and thus it embodies a much larger per centage of solid feeding matter than the root from which it is obtained.