FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 61 



Mr. Burns had pulled a beet and left it exposed to observe its loss in 

 weight. He says : "I have weighed my beet. When harvested its weight 

 was 4 10-lG pounds, six weeks later it weighed 3 14-16 pounds and on 

 February 1st it weighed 2 4-16 pounds. One of my neighbors drew four 

 loads per day to the factory, loading two in the afternoon and letting 

 them stand until morning, and there was about 200 pounds less, every 

 day, on these morning loads than on the loads which he drew directly 

 from the field to the factory. 



"My last beets, which I drew in January, weighed 6,470 pounds per 

 load. The same number of bushels taken in November would have 

 weighed over four tons. I am convinced that no one can afford to let 

 beets freeze up and the quicker they can be taken to the factory the better. 

 From my experience, I shall hereafter cover mine with tops as soon as I 

 can after they are topped. Those which I will be obliged to hold for a 

 December or January delivery I shall place in long piles, putting every 

 10 or 12 feet a tile up through ; then cover with leaves and a good covering 

 of dirt, and load and haul to the factor}^ the same day, never letting them 

 stand over night on the wagon or sleigh." 



Mr. Suydam, agriculturist of the St. Louis factory, writes that unfrozen 

 beets taken from the pit and exposed to cold weather over night will 

 shrink from 3 to 5 per cent. One week's exjiosure will shrink them 10 per 

 cent. 



It is evident that the farmer living within hauling distance from the 

 mill has much advantage over those who must ship by rail. There is 

 usually considerable delay in the movement of freight of this class ; and 

 then cars come handy as portable store houses. Where companies receive 

 beets and take samples for tare and sugar testing at weigh stations, the 

 distant grower has small cause for complaint. 



Concerning the matter of tare, where all parties wish to give fair treat- 

 ment there need be no occasion for hard feeling. The more samples the 

 better.. An experienced yard man selects a sample which is representative 

 of the load. This goes to the tare room and ten kilos are taken to wash, 

 re-top if necessary and then re-weigh. The resulting loss is the tare from 

 the sample. The chemist obtains liis sample for testing for sugar content 

 from the same beets. This method seems sensible and fair. 



Since the more samples taken the nearer the result will come to the 

 absolute truth, there is an advantage with the grower who hauls to the 

 factory or to a receiving station. The wagon load man has the best 

 chance. 



Mr. Jotham Allen, of Alma, then explained his method of pitting beets. 

 If placed in a large pile immediately after pulling and well covered with 

 beet leaves, there will be a very slight shrinkage. If the weather becomes 

 cold, it will be well to throw some dirt over the beet leaves. When the 

 beets are pitted or piled in small heaps, they will be poorly protected from 

 the changes in the weather. 



The best results at Alma are secured with the rows twenty inches 

 apart and the beets ten inches apart in the row and this also reduces the 

 cost of thinning. Many of the failures are due to using too little seed, 

 and to late thinning. Any treatment which does not insure the plants a 

 vigorous start will make a marked difference at harvest time. A rational 

 use of fertilizers is also profitable, as, in unfavorable seasons, it gives the 

 plants a good start and if the crop is thinned at the right time and prop- 

 erly cared for it may add 50 per cent, to the yield. 



