Although the cane fields of the moist, hot countries yield great quantities of sugar, there are other sources from which this useful product comes. In the year 1747 a German scientist discovered that sugar can be made from beets, and now about two thirds of our supply come from these plants.

The sugar beet is not just like the plant of the same name which we raise for table use. It is white, and sometimes weighs as much as ten or fifteen pounds. Beets do not need so much water nor so much heat as sugar cane, so they can be raised in Germany, France, Austria, Russia, and other countries, as well as in California, Utah, and Nebraska, in our own land.

In some parts of California there are fields of beets stretching for miles. The seeds are planted in rows, which, after the plants have come up, are thinned. In four or five months from the time the seeds are planted, the beets are ready to harvest.

On most of the large ranches the beets are dug by machinery. Men then move back and forth in the fields, cutting off the leaves and a little of the upper part of the beet, for this contains too much mineral matter to be of value in making sugar. The workmen use large knives, and they walk on their knees.

The beets are now taken to the factory in wagons, or, if it is far away, they are sent on trains. When the loads of beets reach the factory, they are weighed. The teamsters then drive up an inclined plane to a plank roadway. There are generally several of these. On each side of the road or platform are deep V-shaped trenches with wooden sides, in which streams of water run. When the wagon has reached the right spot, the platform upon which it rests is raised in a slanting position, and the beets fall into the trench.

A basket full of beets is taken from each load and tested, to see how much sugar they contain, for this determines the price to be paid.

The stream of water in the trench carries the beets along, just as they would be carried in a brook. This, you see, is a quick and easy way of washing them.

The streams of water carry the beets into the factory, where they are cut up into strips by machinery. The juice is then washed out in vats containing warm water, and is boiled down in great tanks. The raw sugar is refined much as the cane sugar is. After the sugar has been dried, it is run through spouts into sacks held open to catch it as it comes out. One hundred pounds are put into each sack. One workman sews the sacks up and another wheels them to the wareroom. Train loads are carried away to be distributed in the parts of our country that do not produce sugar.