104 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



such as corn or beets leaves tlie soil in bad shape to resist drouth. To resist 

 drouth you need, first, plenty of plant roots in the soil, and, second, frequent cultiva- 

 tion. It has been demonstrated that if we conserve all the moisture perfectly in the 

 soil, six inches of rainfall would be sufficient to grow the average crop. 



"Let me say again that the great future of sugar beet growing lies in correct 

 farming. We need to grow more than 12 to 15 tons per acre. I got 20 tons per acre 

 six years in succession in Iowa. Eemember that good corn land is good beet land. 



"Another important thing is to make good use of the by-products. After the sugar 

 is taken out of the beet nearly all of the substance that the animal really needs is 

 still left in the pulp, so your best business in ^Michigan is that of selling air in the 

 form of butter and beet sugar. You will luive cleaner and richer farms because you 

 .have sold a manufactured product instead of the raw material. Now this question of 

 beet jjulp. I talked with Claus Spreckles last year who feeds ])ulp daily to fiOO dairy 

 cows. I asked him if it paid him. He said pulp was the most profitable food he had 

 ever fed his dairy cows. We must, however, find a way by which to press the water 

 out of the pulp. It has been tried in California and is not expensive. 



C. C. Lillie: Why does Sec. Wilson advocate not feeding the beet tops? Of course 

 we need these elements returned to the soil. That is true of any crop, but is not a 

 crop better for feed first? We have to pay freight on the pulp. Why can't Ave save 

 a little by feeding all the tops? 



Secy. Wilson : I do not believe that you can get good milk or good butter or good 

 cheese if you feed beet tops to dairy cows. They are almost sure to taint the product. 



C. C. Lillie: It has not been my experience. 



A resolution was introduced ))y Jotham Allen, and after slight amend)nents, was 

 passed as follows: 



Lansing, ^Nlich., Feb. 27, 1002. 



We, representative agriculturists at the meeting of the IMichigan Farmers' Round-up 

 Institute, do sincerely believe that the lowering of the duty at the present time on 

 sugars would be a lamentable, serious and possibly death blow to our sugar beet 

 industry ; therefore be it 



Resolved, That we earnestly entreat and implore our President and Congress to 

 stand by and protect the tillers of the United States soil by i^taining the present 

 duty on sugars, thereby giving to our farmers and laborers one of the most profitable 

 branches of agricultvire we have ever had the privilege of enjoying. 



THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 



T. G. Adams, ])i'e.sideut of the Allegan Connty Institute Society, in 

 the chair. 



President Adams described the methods in vogue in Allegan county in 

 the conduct of institute Avork. There had been held this year 40 separate 

 institutes, in all 147 sessions. In the last four years forty thousand people 

 had been reached, with a membershij) in the institute society of over 

 fifteen hundred. A report is issued annually which gives a stenographic 

 report of the princi])al papers and discussions at the several sessions. 

 Allegan county is fully alive to the benefits of institute worlv, and the 

 late census shows that it is progressing as fast as any other county in 

 the State, if, indeed, its farmers are not progressing faster than those of 

 any other section. 



The topic for the afternoon was ''The Factors Entering into the Profit- 

 able Production of Meat in Michigan in Competition with the Corn Belt."' 



