62 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



The discussion proper was opened bj Colon C. Lillie, who advocated the 

 growing of sugar beets because he is in favor of fostering and developing 

 an industry which gives work to Americans. He is particularly pleased 

 with the beet crop, as it fits well into the rotation and does not conflict 

 seriously with other crops grown upon the average farm. 



With some people the matter of shrinkage is a great bugbear, but this is 

 really due to the loss of water and it does not materially affect the sugar 

 content. If the beets are sold by test, it really is to the advantage of the 

 grower to have them shrink as he has so much less weight to haul to the 

 factory. Of course, if sold at a flat rate, shrinkage causes a loss to the 

 grower. 



Because one load of beets does not test as high or weigh as much as 

 another, does not necessarily mean that the test is dishonest or that the 

 beets have lost sugar. Beets from the same row often vary to an appreci- 

 able extent in the percentage of sugar and in many cases the factories are 

 unjustly criticised in regard to the tests and tare. On the other hand, 

 high tare is frequently the result of improper topping by the tare man 

 who seems to have acquired the habit of cutting a certain amount from 

 each beet whether it requires it or not. 



CUCUMBER CULTURE. 



BY M. L. DEAN. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The growing of cucumbers for pickles and seed has increased rapidly 

 during the past ten years until Michigan ranks among the first states in 

 the attention paid to this crop. 



The first factory was established in 1878. At present there are fifteen 

 establishments with nearly 200 salting station,s. representing an invest- 

 ment of 1872,500. These probably handle 95 per cent, of the cucumbers 

 grown. Seven of these firms have 61 salting stations in 28 counties and, 

 in 1003, contracted for. 7.834 acres, from which they received 506,039 

 bushels of cucumbers, or an average of 63.66 bushels per acre. The yield 

 ranged from 15 to 150 bushels per acre. The value of the manufactured 

 products is estimated at |2,027,180.00. 



Montcalm county supplied the bulk of the cucumbers for eight compa- 

 nies and with Allegan, Berrien, Van Buren, Bay, Wayne, Kent, Jackson. 

 Mecosta and Branch counties furnished 80 per cent, of the acreage. At 

 the present time nearly as many acres of cucumbers are grown in Jackson 

 county for seed as for pickles. The profit per acre is about the same, there 

 being much less labor required in the harvesting of the seed crop than in 

 the gathering of the pickles. 



The contract price for pickles is 60 cents per bushel for No. 1 and 15 

 cents for No. 2. The No. 1 pickles must be from two to four inches in 

 length, regular in form, and the No. 2 include all over that size. Besides 

 drawing heavily upon the vitality of the plants, they barely pay the 

 expense of picking and hauling. The profit depends largely upon the 

 location and care taken in the preparation and cultivation of the land 

 and in picking the crop. The cost of growing pickles varies from $25 to 



