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IRISH BEET-ROOT SUGAR.

Among the reports presented to Parliament by command of her Majesty, last session, one of the most interesting was Sir Robert Kane's "Inquiry into the Composition and Cultivation of the Sugar-Beet in Ireland, and its application to the Manufacture of Sugar." This Inquiry was originally un- dertaken at the request of the Royal Agricultural Improvement Society of Ireland, with a view to give information to Irish agriculturists as to the re- lative composition and feeding value of different varieties of turnips and of mangold wurzel, and was extended to the sugar-beet with special reference to the value of that plant as a source of sugar. Along with the report an appendix is given, containing a great deal of information as to the chemi- cal composition of the beet, the probable cost of its cultivation in Ireland, and the amount of sugar which may be obtained from Irish-grown beet. From a number of statements furnished by practical agriculturists, it ap- pears that the roots could be delivered at a sugar-manufactory for about 88. or 9s. per ton ; and as Mr. Maguire, in his recent work on "The In- dustrial Movement in Ireland," states that the price paid for beet at Mountmellick factory is 15s. per ton, we may safely conclude that the cultivation of that crop will give a good profit to the farmer. As regards the success of the beet sugar manufactory, the report is not so very decided. In speaking of the experiments conducted at the Museum of Irish Industry by Dr. Sullivan, although the yield of sugar is said to have been "fully equal to that usually calculated on by the tontinental makers," Sir Robert Kane cautiously remarks, that "in considering the position of the manufacture as to Ireland, it must be assumed that the manufacture should be conducted with the most perfect means, most ac- curate knowledge, with careful economy and judicious business manage- ment; for should those conditions be not fulfilled the manufacture would necessarily fail to succeed here, as it should fail elsewhere from the like causes." That the manufacture ought to pay, at present prices, a very have profit on the capital invested, ie placed beyond doubt by the follow- ing statement of Mr. Maguire, in the work referred to. "There have been several stales of the Mountmellick sugar in Dublin ; and on each occasion the price paid for this sugar—of which about 100 tons were sold up to the month of March last—ranged from 2s. to 3s. per hun- dredweight higher than that paid for the best Colonial or cane sugar. I should not wish to base any calculation on this fact ; and for this reason, that the price paid was what might be called a 'fancy price,' in conse- quence of the novelty of the article, which people were anxious to buy as an experiment, or from a desire to assist the undertaking. But one thing it is necessary to state—that the Mountmellick sugar was fully equal, in quality and flavour, to the best cane sugar in the market, and was described as such to me by persons extensively engaged in the trade, and whose judgment could not be questioned. Then, supposing that the beet sugar brings the same price as the cane sugar, or even something less, it must be clear, from the statement of Professor Sullivan, that it will pay. If it bring an average price of even 38/. per ton, and can be produced at 181. per ton, it would cer- tainly be a good speculation. Including duty, the cost to the maker would be 281.—at the outside 301.; and the readers of the Irish trade reports have seen that the prices of the best Mountmellick sugar ranged from 421. to 451. per ton. An average price of 401., or even 381. for the best beet sugar, may be taken as a very moderate and guarded calculation and, surely, if it can be brought into the market at 28/. per ton, duty-paid, it must pay well if sold at 381."

With such a rate of profit, the only wonder is that the manufacture of beet sugar does not proceed more rapidly than it seems to have done hitherto. Mr. Maguire calculates that the annual consumption of sugar in Ireland is not less than 50,000 tons ; but that, we suspect, is consider- ably beyond the mark. Assuming it to be correct, and that Ireland could produce a half of the sugar it requires, the cultivation of the roots and the conversion of them into sugar would, according to his estimate, give em- ployment to 50,000 persons.

The great obstacle we suspect, to the extension of this branch of in- dustry in Great Britain or Ireland, is the unwillingness of our capitalists to invest their money in what they still consider a kind of hothouse manu- facture, notwithstanding the progress it has made on the Continent. In France, Belgium, and Germany, the beet-root factories supply half of the entire quantity of sugar consumed in each of those countries • and the latest accounts describe the manufacture as rapidly extending. How long they will be able to compete with the Sugar Colonies of the West and East Indies remains to be seen. Liebig, in the latest edition of his "Letters on Chemistry," does not give them much encouragement. After showing how much cheaper the production of the cane is than that of the beet, he puts the case of the German beet-root sugar manufacturers in the follow- ing terms.

"The makers of beet-root are in advance of the colonists in having better

16.4) 8, at is, in saving labour ; they have a climate better adapted to ews= that up of the juice ; and they have, perhaps, in general, more in- telligence. But that the manufacture of beet-root sugar continues among us at all, is owing to accidental circumstances, the duration of whioh is quite uncertain. The planters of the Colonies are already infinitely better in- formed than formerly ; an entire revolution in their methods has begun ; they will cease to be negligent and wasteful. it is quite inconceivable that they should continue as hitherto, out of the 20 per cent of sugar in the cane- juices to lose 12 and to gain only 8 per cent. The discovery of a simple means of preventing the fermentation of the juice in hot climates, and, as a consequence, an increased return of sugar, even to the extent of only4 per cent, would suffice to render the manufacture of beet-root sugar in Europe impossible, economically speaking. It is for this reason that the latter has no future to look to."

This very decided expression of opinion was, no doubt, known to 'Sir Robert Kane; but as his inquiry did not embrace the question of Colonial competition, he merely glances at the possibility of the manufacturing speculation becoming, "by improvement in the management of the Co- lonial sugar industry, or by any other cause, less probably successful than it now appears to be," and then winds up with the remark, that even in the event of that result, "there should still have been conferred on Ire- land a great advantage in the improved practice of green crop husbandry, which would be certain to remain." That, however, would hardly satisfy the manufacturers who had embarked their capital in the speculation without paying due attention to Liebig's warning. If what he says is correct, the future of the beet-root sugar trade is not the most promising; nor would it be wise to encourage a large investment of capital in it without some better guarantee against a large reduction in the price of cane sugar than either Sir Robert Kane or Mr. Maguire can offer.

THE BOOT AND SHOE TRADE.

Of all the branches of industry which suffered from foreign competition, for the first few years after the reduction of the duties on imported manufactured goods, the boot and shoemakers—one of the most numerous handicrafts in the kingdom—felt the change most severely. In all the finer kinds of boots and shoes our artisans were behind those of Prance, and the consequence was a large increase in the importation of that class of goods, under the reduction of duty. During the last two years, the quantity of boot-fronts, and of men and women's boots and shoes im- ported, fell off considerably ; and the workmen were beginning to con- gratulate themselves on the fact that they had been able to compete suc- cessfully with their French rivals. This year, however, the tide has turned. Owing to the enormous increase in our export of boots and shoes to the Australian market, the cost of labour has risen considerably ; and the result is shown in the increased importation of French boot-fronts manufactured out of Irish calf-skins, and boots and shoes, during the first seven months of the present year, as compared with the same period of 1852.

Boat-fronts pairs Men's Boots and Shoes Women's Boots and Galoshes s. Women's Shoes of Silk. Satin, Stuff, or Leather 48,978 .... 77,913

This sudden increase of foreign imports shows that a very slight ad- vance of wages is sufficient to give our Continental rivals the advantage of us. As the advance in the price of labour is still going forward throughout the country, it will be interesting to watch the effect it is likely to have on our imports for some time to come. Meanwhile, it is satisfactory to see that our exports of boots and shoes are increasing in a much greater ratio than our imports. During the month ended 5th August 1851, we exported 132,514 pounds weight; in 1852, 261,029 pounds ; and in 1853, 440,616, an increase of considerably more than 200 per cent. On the entire seven months included in the last trade returns, the increase is nearly as large ; and, as might be expected, the rise in the declared value of the boots and shoes sent abroad is greater than in the quantity ; the value having been 154,885/. in 1851, and 594,224/. in 1853. Supposing the whole of the increased quantity to have gone to Australia, there seems a prospect of that market being speedily glutted, unless the consumption of such commodities at the Anti- podes is much greater than in England.

While the consumption of leather is proceeding at so quick a rate, the importation of the raw material is keeping pace with it ; as will be seen from the following comparison of the quantities imported last year and this.

SEVEN MONTHS ENDED Ira AIIGUST 1853.

Dry untanned Hides cuts. 64,821 117,938 Wet untanned Hides „ 204,219 266.624 Tanned and dressed Hides lbs. 1,201,570 4,005,925

Before the abolition of the import-duty of 9d. per pound on tanned hides, our entire annual importation did not average more than 150,000 pounds or so : this year it is likely to reach 6,000,000 pounds ; as the threatened scarcity and rise in the price of hides in South America, from which we import largely, will probably give foreign tanners an advantage, which they will readily seize. As for the Australians, although they have hides almost for nothing, it will be a long time before they have skilled labour in such abundance as to make it worth their while to convert them into boots and shoes.

SEVEN MONTHS ENDED 5TH ATGEST

isis- 311,044 17,403 14,059

1853. 373,380 44,290 25,726