102 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



DISCUSSION. 



Q. What do you pay for thinning? 



Mr. Richards: Twelve and one-half cents per row of forty rods. 



Q. What do you pay for topping? 



Mr. Suydam: Sixteen cents for forty rod rows. This includes pulling, topping, and 

 pitting. The beets are, of course, first "lifted." 



Q. At these rates is the topping better paid than the thinning? 



A. No, about the same. 



Q. Does that include board? 



Mr. Suydam: No, sir. 



Q. How do you get the beets into the windrow? 



Mr. Suydam: The beets are first lifted, as I have said. Each man takes two rows, 

 pulling with both liands. He raps the beets together to shake off the dirt and lays 

 them all one way. He comes back in tj^e same manner and lays the second two rows 

 the same as the first two. Two men work together. 



Q. How far apart are the rows? 



Mr. Suydam: Eighteen inches. But I believe the time is coming when we can put 

 the beets in about 16x12 indies and cultivate both ways. I am going to try it anyway, 

 and believe I can get as good or better yield. 



Q. How can you plant beets 12x16 inches? 



Mr. Suydam: We have got to get the machine men to give us a machine that will 

 do it, just the same as they have given us a machine that will plant corn in distances 

 we want it. 



Mr. Voorheis: I met a man this winter who had tried this and had done all work 

 by hand. He only used four pounds of seed per acre, and had boys do the sowing. 

 He saved enough seed to pay the boys. He had no trouble in cultivating, planted 14 

 inches apart, and had all the tonnage his land would bear. 



Mr. Palmer of Lenawee county had experimented with beets four years, and 

 believes in using plenty of seed. The following is his statement of results this year: 



Total expense of two and one-half acres of sugar beets. 



Use of 214 acres of land at $3.75 per acre $9 38 



Plowing and sub. 2i/, days at $3.00 per day 7 50 



Harrowing and levelling, one day 3 00 



Drilling, two men and team one-half dav 2 25 



Use of drill \ 50 



Cultivating land twice before thinning, hand cultivator 3 00 



Spacing and thinning, 120 hours at 12i^ cents 15 00 



Cultivating ground again, four times by hand 6 00 



Cultivating three times with horse 3 00 



Total expense up to pulling $49 53 



Total expense per acre, pulling, $19,812. 



Expense of topping and harvesting, 16 men 4 days at $1.25 per day $80 00 



Team plowing out the beets, 214 days at $1.50 per day 375 



Total expense of crop 83 75 



Total expense of crop $133 23 



Total expense per acre $53 315 



Expense per bushel ( 1,300 bushels) 1025 



Estimated yield per acre 12 tons. 



Per cent of sugar in beets, 16% ; proceeds per acre at factory $64 00 



Freight at $1 per ton, $12; 15 pounds seed at 15 cents, $2.25; total 14 25 



Net receipts per acre from factory to farmer $49 75 



