The remainder of the constituents of the beet, and certain substances added as yeast, we have, in fact, the original beet, minus the sugar, converted into alcohol. process is therefore continuous, and leaves nothing to be desired more. Pure sugar, when wholly converted into alcohol, would give nearly its own weight of proof spirit, or, in round numbers, one ton would give 240 gallons of spirits. The low sugars sometimes used by distillers do not yield so much, the revenue estimating, we believe, the produce per ton at about 180 gallons. Beet root usually contains on an average, when properly grown, 10 per cent. of sugar, so that one ton of beet, if the whole of the sugar was converted into alcohol, would yield about 23 gallons of proof spirits. We recollect an experiment made at Cork, in 1846, by Mr. Joseph Shea, of that city, who, with the very imperfect means at his disposal for exhausting the roots, which were the common mangel wurtzel, obtained 17 gallons of proof spirits per ton of roots. Now, supposing the residue of a ton of roots to produce, for feeding purposes, only one-third of the price of the original roots, taken at 15s. per ton, namely, 5s., we should have, as the cost of the raw material of 17 imperial gallons, assuming merely the result of Mr. Shea's experiment, 10s., or about 7d. per gallon. A barrel of barley at 12s. is usually assumed to yield 10 gallons of spirit, and allowing the wash and grains to produce 2s 6d. we shall have Is. as the cost of the raw material of corn whiskey. But besides this there would be an enormous difference in the expenses of manufacture. The power required to slice the beet would be small compared to the expense of milling the grain, and mashing, in addition to which we should have to add the expense of malting part of the grain, the fuel for heating, the coppers for mashing, &c. The plant for a beet-root spirit distillery would perhaps not be more than one-sixth that of an ordinary corn spirit one. We believe this new industry is well worthy the attention of the distilling trade in Ireland. It may not supersede the ordinary corn whiskey for Irish consumption, as raw beet whiskey could not be drunk, but a great trade might be established with England, as the whole of the spirit consumed there is first rectified.—Annales de l'Agriculture Française-September, 1853. Process by which the juice obtained by re-pressing Beet-pulp in the manufacture of Beet-sugar may be profitably worked, by A. Cornill Woestyn. In the manufacture of beet-sugar the rasped pulp gives, under the most favourable circumstances, but 80 per cent. out of the 93 to 95 of juice, which the beet contains. It has frequently been proposed, and has even been largely practised, to re-moisten the pulp with water, and subject it to a second pressure, by which the greater part of the remaining juice may be obtained. No great advantage has been derived from this operation; 1st, in consequence of the very weak juice which was obtained, and which, therefore, required a very large quantity of fuel to boil it down; and 2ndly, because the juice of this second pressure was always more or less altered, and usually injured that resulting from the first pressure, with which it was always mixed, and thus diminished both the quality and the quantity of sugar produced. M. C. Woestyn, by a series of experiments, which he carried on on a very large scale in the factory of Count Alexis Bobrinski, at Michailosski, in the Russian government of Tula, has found a means of obviating all the disadvantages attending the re-pressing of the roots. He works the juice of the first pressing by itself, and then re-presses the pulp, and for this purpose uses a different set of presses, &c. By the second operation a juice is obtained of about one-half the density of the juice of the first pressing, say 3° to 4° of Beaumé, which he raises to 12° by mixing with it a quantity of the molasses of the third crystallization. The after operations are the same as with the first juice. In the factory of Michailosski, 80 per cent. of juice, averaging from 7° to 8° is obtained in the first pressing, and 10 per cent. at 4° by the second. In the whole season of 1852-1853, 9,600,000 kilogrammes, or about 9,449 tons of beet were worked up by the second pressing the pulp of this quantity yielded 19,200 hectolitres, or 507,240 gallons of juice, marking 4° of Beaumé, which treated as just described, yielded 190,400 kilogrammes, or 187 tons, 8 cwt. and 221b., or 2 per cent. of fine yellow sugar. About 4 per cent. of this quantity was derived from the molasses, that being about the quantity of very inferior sugar, which is usually obtained by allowing the molasses of the third crystallization to rest for three or four months in the crystallizing vessels, so that the clear gain of the new process was fully 1 per cent. of superior quality sugar. The additional apparatus which would be required in a factory working 9,000 to 10,000 tons of roots would be three hydraulic presses, a juice reservoir, a blowing-up pan, and a scum press. The vacuum apparatus should also be capable of making three additional boilings in twelve hours. This process, if properly carried out, would have great influence on the success of a beet sugar factory, and is therefore worthy of the attention of those intending to erect such establishments.-Moniteur Industriel. New Yellow Variety of the Sugar Beet.-M. Perier, manufacturer of sugar at Flavy-le-Myrtel, sent to the Central Society of Agriculture of France, a small bag of the seed of a new yellow pear-shaped variety of the beet, with very slightly coloured flesh, and containing apparently more sugar, on an average of a great number, than any of the varieties hitherto known. The following is the result of Payen's analysis : Purification and Application of Glycerine, by M. Bruère Perrin of Rennes.— Solid fats and oils are composed of two principles, fatty acids and a sweet oily substance, termed glycerine or fat-sugar. The process of making soap consists in boiling a fat with a ley of potash or soda, which unites with the fat acids and sets the glycerine free. In the manufacture of stearic acid for making stearine candles, by saponification with lime, a considerable quantity of glycerine is also produced. Until lately this substance formed the waste ley of the soap boiler, and was rejected as useless, or when purified was merely employed in the researches of the chemist. Its first practical employment was in certain diseases of the ear; subsequently it was found to be very efficacious in the cure of cutaneous diseases, for which it is now largely employed. M. Bruère Perrin has made several new applications of it, which are important; for example, he uses it for toilette soaps, to which it gives the property of softening the skin, and of healing it when cracked from exposure to cold or other causes. The soap thus made preserves its first consistence, and at the same time that it is quite unctuous does not grease the hands. He also prepares a cosmetic vinegar, which has been pronounced excellent. We may also state here that M. Barreswil has used it with success for preserving clay in a sufficiently plastic state to model with, and M. Chevallier, has proposed to mix it with the size used in preparing the warp of linen and cotton, in order to keep them damp and prevent the shuttle wearing the fibres. There can be no doubt that this idea is worth a trial, for glycerine could be much more easily removed, and would therefore oppose less obstacle to the proper bleaching and printing of the cloth subsequently, than chloride of calcium, which is often used at present. M. Bruère Perrin purifies the glycerine obtained by saponification with lime in the following manner. Having first determined the quantity of lime existing in the glycerine by means of oxalic acid in the usual manner, he adds sufficient sulphuric acid to convert the whole of the lime into sulphate of lime. He then concentrates it in a tinned copper pan; agitating it briskly during the operation, by means of an agitator armed with battledore-shaped plates, and set in motion with a winch; during the concentration there is a disengagement of vapours of a very disagreeable odour, and a partial decoloration of the liquid. When the liquid has acquired a density of 10° of B. (1·070) it is allowed to cool, and strained through cloth to separate the sulphate of lime; any excess of acid which may have been added is then saturated with carbonate of potash, and the liquid again concentrated with constant agitation. As soon as the liquid marks 24° (1·187) it deposits a quantity of sulphate of potash under the form of gelatinous mass; it is then allowed to cool, strained through linen, and the deposit washed with a little water, to which a very little alcohol has been added. It is again evaporated for the third time, until it attains a density of 28° hot (1-2258) or 30° (1·2459) when cold, and allowed to cool, by which a small quantity of sulphate of potash again separates, which is removed by filtration. The substance resulting from these operations is of amber colour, and without any marked odour; it has a sweetish taste and is unctuous to the feel. It is now treated in the cold with animal charcoal, and filtered, by which the glycerine is obtained in the form of an odourless and colourless syrup. Glycerine mixes with aqueous liquids, alcohol vinegar; it lubricates bodies without greasing them like oil; it does not evaporate in contact with air, and may be readily impregnated with the aroma of the volatile oils, and finally it is not susceptible of fermenting or of becoming rancid.-Bulletin de la Societe de l'Encouragement, May, 1853. Method to prevent the decomposition of Urine, and to preserve it for the use of Farmers, at Railway Stations.—Chevallier proposes to preserve the urine at railway stations, for agricultural purposes, in large cisterns, and to preserve it from decomposition by adding some (5 or 6 drops to each pound of urine) coal-tar or coal-tar oil, which acts in this way most effectually. (When we recollect that the urine of 400 persons in a year is capable of manuring about 10 acres of land, some means ought certainly be devised to preserve so valuable a matter. The employment of a little sulphate of iron or caustic lime in the water closets, would certainly be more effective in checking the effluvia than the present system of throwing a jet of water over the trough, the apparatus for effecting which is rarely ever in order.— Journal de Chimie Medicale, August, 1852. ART. IV.-Bulletin of Industrial Statistics. [Under this head it is intended to give in the course of the year an epitome of the most recent industrial statistics of all the chief States of Europe, the British Colonies, and such of the American States as we can obtain any information about. It is also intended to indicate all material changes in the Tariffs of the chief commercial nations, and everthing of importance connected with Commercial Legislation generally, which shall come under the knowledge of the Conductors.] PROGRESS OF FLAX CULTIVATION IN IRELAND. The recent increase in the growth of flax in Ireland has been extraordinary, as the following table, containing the number of acres under cultivation in each of the six last years, will show: 53,863 acres. 1851 ... ... ... 138,619 acres. There has thus been an increase of 29 per cent. last year over the crop of 1852; and 220 per cent. over that of 1848. The increase in the three provinces of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, of the crop of 1853 over that of 1852, has been 22 per cent.; and over that of 1848 no less than 436 per cent.-the number of acres under cultivation in these provinces in 1848 being 2,663, and in 1853, 14,279. Notwithstanding this enormous increase in the production of home-grown flax, so rapid has been the development of the linen manufacture of these countries, that the imports of flax and tow amounted in 1852 to 70,115 tons, or the produce of about 280,000 acres. And during the nine months, ending the 5th of October, 1853, the imports reached 62,264 tons, being an increase of 13,677 tons over the corresponding period of 1852. Flax is becoming an article of export from Ireland, and the trade will, no doubt, rapidly incrcase if the cultivation of flax still further increase, as Irish flax seems to be sought after for certain purposes, not alone in England, but on the ContiOf the crop of 1852, there was exported 6,696 tons of flax, and 2,308 tons nent. of tow-total, 9,004 tons; value, £392,500. Of this quantity 413 tons were exported to France. The export in 1850 was only 3,166 tons. In 1852, there were 956 scutch mills, with 5.053 stocks in operation, fifty being worked by steam. These mills employed about 15.000 persons, whose aggregate wages may be estimated at £160,000. Forty of these mills, with 340 scutching stocks, were in the province of Leinster, Munster, and Connaught. During the year 1853, the number of mills has considerably increased, but no return has yet been made. The Irish farmers are beginning to learn the value of saving the seed, as is shown by the fact, that 20.000 bushels of seed were sold during the past year in Belfast alone to the oil mills, or for exportation to England, the sum realised being £5,000. Three new oil mills, on Continental principles, have been erected in Ireland in 1853, two of them being in the south of Ireland. [See Report of the Flax Improvement Society of Ireland for 1853.] PROGRESS OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE IN RUSSIA. The cotton manufacture is rapidly increasing in Russia. It is scarcely more than twenty years since the first spinning mill was erected, and now it has 350,000 spindles in full activity, which produce more than 300,000 pouds of yarn (10,800,000lbs.)* The yarn spun is generally very low, the Nos. usually varying from 20 to 40 for the woof, because there is a large market for coarse fabrics. The principal seat of the manufacture of the coarse goods is central Russia, especially in the Governments of Moscow, Wladimir, Kalouga, Kostroma, &c. The peasants receive the yarn from contractors, and occupy themselves in weaving during the winter at very trifling wages. The goods thus manufactured in the villages may be divided into three classes, according to the quality of the yarn. The first includes those of the lowest quality, and which are sold at 18 to 24 copecks the arsheen (about 2 d. to 34d. the yard). The warps are formed of No. 28 yarn, and the woof of No. 30. The fabrics of a medium quality, valued at 25 to 28 copecks the arsheen (about 34d. to 4d. the yard), are formed of Nos. 34 and 36 warp, and 38 to 40 woof. The better class of fabrics are made of foreign yarn, Nos. 38 to 42 for the warp, and 44 to 48 for the woof, and sell at 29 to 32 copecks the arsheen (about 44d. to 4 d. the yard.) Besides the factories producing the classes of goods just mentioned, there are 140 others for the superior articles, without including cotton velvets and muslins. The former branch of manufacture has been greatly developed within the last few years, the chief market being China. Before the establishmant of the Russian factories the Chinese markets were exclusively furnished by Great Britain with cotton velvet; but at present that article, with cloth, forms the chief export to China; even so early as 1842, the quantity exported to China amounted to three millions of arsheens, or about 2,333,000 yards. The manufacture of printed cottons is said to have arrived at nearly the same degree of perfection within the last twenty years as in Manchester or Alsace. The chief seat of this branch is at St. Petersburgh, where it is chiefly carried on by the Swiss. The quantity made is estimated at about three millions of pieces, which is sufficient to supply the whole empire. At present not more than 1,500 pieces of the finest prints are imported for the use of the higher classes. The manufacture of muslins is also progressing. We may also add here, that several successful attempts have been made to introduce the cultivation of the cotton plant into the Caucassian provinces, and that the quantity grown increases from year to year. The total value of the cotton fabrics produced in Russia may be estimated at more than 40,000,000 of silver roubles, or about £6,400,000 sterling. The following table exhibits the imports of raw cotton and yarn into Russia, from 1846 to 1850:— Since 1850 the increase has been still more remarkable, if our authority is to be relied upon; for there are now 50 factories, with 600,000 spindles, employing 10,000 persons, and producing 700,000 pouds of yarn, or 25,464,500lbs.—From Deutsche Gewerbezeitung, Heft 2, 1853. We thus see that the importation of raw cotton has nearly doubled, while the import of cotton yarn has diminished by two-thirds. In 1832, Great Britain exported 19,587,781 lbs. of cotton yarns and fabrics, value £1,136,787; whilst in 1850, the total quantity of yarn imported from all parts of Europe was 5,602,248 lbs., or little more than one-fourth. [See Annales du Commerce ExterieurOfficial Journal of the Minister of the Interior of France, No. 679, March 1853.] CONDITION OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN SWEDEN IN 1851. There appears to have been a stagnation in the trade of Sweden in 1851, as the total value of the manufactures was only 24,305,603 rix dollars banco (£2,025,466), not including the products of the machine factory of Motala, which was estimated at 479,061 (£39,921 15s.) This sum shows an increase upon that of 1850 of only 17,609 (£1,467 88. 4d.) The number of factories has increased by 24, 2,537 being in operation, but the operatives had diminished by 179, the total number being 23,248. The total value of the products of the 156 cloth factories, protected by an absolute prohibition, was only 5,644,427 rix dollars (£470,369), being 1,273,430 (£106,119) less than in 1850. The consumption of woollen cloth is continually augmenting, without any sensible diminution of price; so that the decrease just mentioned, which is entirely confined to the finer articles, can only be attributed to the precarious state of the trade. The 17 silk factories, similarly protected, have also suffered a diminution in production to the extent of 58,436 rix dollars (£4,869 13s. 4d.), the total value being 909,667 rix dollars (£75,805 11s. 8d.) On the other hand, the production of cotton yarn was 6,005,081 punds, or 5,629,763 lbs. British, value 3,279,493 rix dollars (£273,291); that is, 270,749 punds. or 253,828 lbs. British, value 79,593 rix dollars (£6,632 15s.) more than in 1850. There was also an increase in the production of cotton and linen fabrics to the extent of 67,862 rix dollars (£5,655 3s. 4d.) Glass increased to the extent of 49,551 (£4,129 5s.); paper, 158,203 (£13,183 11s. 8d.); oil, 127,267 (£10,605 11s. 8d.); refined sugar, 79,230 (£6,602 10s.); tobacco and snuff, 197,478 (£16,456 10s.); and leather, 246,949 (£20,579).—[Idem, No. 737, October, 1853.] COMMERCE OF SWEDEN IN 1851. The total value of the imports and exports of Sweden, not including the precious metals, for the year 1851, was 54.458,000 dollars banco, or £4,529,500; being an excess over that of 1850 by 6,428,000 rix dollars, or £527,000. Of this sum the importations formed 27,500,000 rix dollars, or £2,291,666; and the exportations, 26,854,000 rix dollars, or £2,237,833. The external commerce of Sweden in the year 1851 was therefore very favourable; in importations it exceeded all previous years; and in the value of the exports, all except the year 1847, when, owing to the very large quantity of corn exported, the value of the exports rose to the sum of 29,588,000 rix dollars, or £2,465,666. If we compare the imports of Sweden in 1851, with those of twenty years previously, it will be found that the merchandize now purchased in other countries is more than double the value of that imported in the years 1831, 1832, and 1833. Among the imported articles, the consumption of which has especially increased, may be mentioned-raw sugar, of which 2,590,871 pounds Swedish were imported * 100 pounds Swedish equal about 93 lbs. avoirdupois. |