Diseases.—There are very many specific diseases of the sugar-beet ; some of them are due to bac teria, some to fungi, some to physiological or other causes. Only two of the diseases have proved es pecially serious in this country up to this time, namely, the leaf-spot, due to the fungus Cereospora betieola, and the western blight or curly top, the cause of which is not known. The leaf-spot may be controlled by thorough spraying with Bordeaux mixture. Rotation is to be advised. The most sig nificant fact in regard to the curly top is that it seldom occurs in two successive seasons in the same locality or in the same field.
Literature.
Some of the important treatises on sugar-beets follow : Hermann Briem, Die Entwicklungsge schichte der Riibensamenzucht (1889) ; same, Der praktische Riibenbau (1895) ; C. J. Eisbein, Der Zuckerriihenbau (1894) ; J. Fiihling, Der praktische Rlibenbauer (1877) ; Herzog, Monographie der Zuckerriibe (1899) ; Fr. Knauer, Ueber Riibensa menzucht (1857) ; IV. Kriiger, Die Entwicklungs geschichte, Werthbestimmung, and Zucht des Rii bensamens (1884) ; E. 0. von Lippman, Die En twicklung Der Deutschen Zuckerindustrie von 1850 his 1900 (1900) ; G. Marek, Die Ergebnisse der Versuche fiber den Zuckerriibenbau (1882); Wm. McMurtrie, Report on the culture of the sugar beet and the manufacture of sugar therefrom in France and the United States, United States De partment of Agriculture, Special report No. 28 (1880); F. Roditzky, Der Riibenbauer (1889); G. L. Spencer, Handbook for chemists of beet- sugar houses and seed-culture farms (1897); Lewis S. Ware, Sugar-beet, including a history of the beet sugar industry (1880) ; H. Werner, Der praktische Zuckerriibenbauer (1888) ; Harvey W. Wiley, Sugar beet Industry, Culture of the sugar-beet and manufacture of beet-sugar, United States Depart ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry, Bulle tin No. 27 (1890) (in collaboration with twelve experiment stations) ; Influence of environment on the composition of the sugar-beet, together with a summary of the five-year investigation, United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry, Bulletin No. 96 (1905). Some of the magazines are : American Sugar Industry and Beet-Sugar Gazette ; The Sugar-Beet ; Blotter fiir Zuckerriibenbau ; Centralblatt fiir die Zuckerin dustrie der Welt ; Die Deutsche Zuckerindustrie ; Jahresbericht der Zuckerfabrikation ; La Bette rave ; Neue Zeitschrift fur Riibenzuckerindustrie ; Oesterreichisch-ungarische Zeitschrift fur Zuckerin dustrie and Landwirthschaft ; Zeitschrift des Ve reins fiir die Riibenzuckerindustrie ; Zeitschrift ffir Zuckerindustrie in Bohmen.
The Manufacture of Beet-Sugar. Figs. A century has now passed since the first sugar was made from the sugar-beet, and the develop ment of the industry has been of such great mag nitude in the past twenty-five years that, with the steady perfection of the various parts of the machinery necessary in an up-to-date sugar mill, it has become possible to produce a high grade of sugar at a very reasonable price.
Details of beet-sugar-making.
The crop.—The seeds of the sugar-beets are planted in the spring in order that the beets will mature before the frost gets into the ground. The date of the campaign does not always depend on the maturity of the beet, but rather on the capac ity of the factory and the saccharine quality of the beet, which is determined by chemical tests.
Storage sheds. — Having reached the proper period in their growth, the beets are brought to the storage sheds of the factory either in cars or wagons, and unloaded by hand or with the aid of automatic dumps into the various bins especially constructed for them until they can be brought into the factory to be worked into sugar. These sheds are built like a " V," with a flume extending the entire length of each, in order that the beets may be carried into the factory with the aid of water. This prevents the beets being bruised and at the same time assists in cleaning them of adhering dirt. The water for this purpose comes from the condensers of the evaporators and vacuum pans, as well as from the overflow of the main water-supply tank.
Stone-catchers.--As the beets enter the factory they pass over the large stone-catchers, so built as to remove the stones and dirt that come from the sheds with the beets, and which, if allowed to pass on, would cause much trouble as well as material loss to the knives in the slicing machine. Not only would the knives be injured, but the beets would be torn instead of being cut into good, clean strips, which are necessary for the perfect working of the battery in the process of the extraction of the sugar, as well as in the treatment of the juices at the various stations in the mill.