1879.] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



71 



a yarn about the "Indian turnip;" if you 

 won't profit by it, it can lianu no one to know 

 what is known about it. — Very respectfully, 

 J. Stauffer. 



For The Lanoasteb Fabmeh. 



timbefJ^ and fences. 



Much has been said and written on the 

 subject of timbrr and its uses in tlie near 

 future. AltliouHli tlie discussion of the sub- 

 ject has contiuui'd for years, yet we find that 

 timber is clieaiur than it lias been lor a quar- 

 ter of a century. As a general rule, when 

 any species of merchandise becomes plenty 

 and low in price a scarcity will follow ; there- 

 fore let us not wantonly destroy what little 

 we have, nor cease the agitation of the subject 

 of reproducing it, through the American 

 Forest Association, of which Dr. Warder, of 

 North Bend, is the President. Notwithstand- 

 ing wire fences will eventually take the place 

 of wooden fences, and save millions of dol- 

 lars to the husbandmen of the Union, still we 

 will continue the use of and cannot dispense 

 with timber, for purposes too numerous to 

 mention. 



Nevertheless we ought not to forego the 

 pleasures of reproducing it for the general 

 benefit of our fcIlow-men. If for no other 

 purpose, it is an ennobling satisfaction to be- 

 hold the beautiful foliage as it bursts forth in 

 the spring through the " forces of nature," 

 wielded by one who is the author and 

 builder of all things beneficial to the human 

 family. Also, for the protection and enjoy- 

 ment of our feathered friends, who niake 

 their houses and their homes under the sombre 

 shades of our trees, chirping and singing 

 praises to their Creator, almost showing more 

 reverence for their Maker than those under 

 whose dominion their lot is cast. 



But, a truce to moralizing, as I propose to 

 say something about wire fences. They are 

 amply sufficient everywhere for middle fences, 

 and also for roadsides ; beautiful to look at, 

 straight as a line, and fastened every twenty 

 or thirty feet to a straight post. They require 

 from three to five lines ; people who do not 

 keep sheep on their farms only requre three. 

 Along roadsides, to keep out sheep and swine, 

 the barbed wire is the best and will deter all 

 animals from making an attempt to break 

 through. I may instance a neighbor, who had 

 a barbed fence around an enclosure in which 

 was his herd of cattle, including a bull. An- 

 other neighbor had turned his cattle into a near 

 adjoining field, among which was also a bull. 

 These bulls soon scented each other and com- 

 menced menacing each other with bellowing ; 

 the one in a wired enclosure and the other 

 separated by an old rail fence. The latter 

 commenced horning and pawing, making 

 desperate attempts to break through' and at- 

 tack his antagonist, who kept a respectable 

 distance from the barbed wires, although not 

 less furious in his menaces. The other, how- 

 ever, not succeeding in breaking through, the 

 fun was spoiled. Now, the bull inside of the 

 barbed wire fence kept from four to five paces 

 off from it, bellowing, snorting and scratch- 

 ing up the ground at a furions rate, but 

 cautiously keeping away from the barbed wire, 

 manifesting a dread to approach it too nearly. 

 It appears to me that this was a satisfactory 

 illustration of the merits of such a fence, and 

 that the cattle will soon learn its nature, and 

 avoid it. Wire fences also admit of cultiva- 

 tion nearer to them, and in the course being 

 easier kept clean of weeds and brambles. 

 I predict that in less than twenty years one- 

 half of the fences of the country will be made 

 of wire, unless fences should be dispensed 

 with altogether. In some parts of the coun- 

 try they have many miles of this kind of 

 fencing, and as far as I am able to learn it 

 gives general satisfaction.— i. S. B., War- 

 wick twp.. May, 1879. 



The Pennsylvania Board of Agriculture 

 will hold a grand meeting in the Hall of the 

 Permanent Exhibition Co., Fairmount Park, 

 Philadelphia, commencing on Thursday, June 

 5th. Our readers will please take notice. 



Selections. 



CIDER VINEGAR AND SUGAR FROM 

 SUGAR BEETS. 



Sugar beets are a crop very easily raised, 

 and in good soil the produce is abundant. All 

 cattle are fond of the leaves, which add much 

 to the milk of cows, without giving it that 

 bad taste which is unavoidable when they are 

 fed with turnips or cabbages, and which is 

 chiefly owing to the greater rapidity with 

 whicli the latter undergo the putrefactive fer- 

 mentation. 



The seed is sown in drills 20 to 24 Indies 

 apart, and thinned out to the distance of 8 to 

 12 inches from plant to plant in the rows. 

 From four to six pounds of seed are reciuired 

 per acre, and they should be steeped 48 hours 

 before planting ; the best depth for sowing is 

 from three-fourths of an inch to an inch ; the 

 culture is similar to that of carrots or pars- 

 nips, and the cost of seed, labor and fertilizers 

 will amount to about $40 per acre. 



The yield, according to the quality of the 

 land fertilizer used and the cultivation be- 

 stowed, should average not less than 27j tons 

 or 908i bushels beets per acre, and 5| tons 

 beet leaves. 



Analysis shows that 1,000 pounds of sugar 

 beets contain 184 pounds dry substances, 1.00 

 nitrogen, 7.10 ashes, 3.914 potash, 0..379 lime, 

 0.5;^G magnesia, 0.780 phosphoric acid. In 

 manufacturing these elements are distributed 

 as follows : 



d.s. nit. ashes, pot. lime. mag. p. arid 

 T's&B's, 19 0.24 1.15 0..S36 0.108 0.132 0.144 

 Fibre, 46 0.44 1.71 0.i585 0.390 0.100 5.105 

 Refuse, S4 0.60 1.20 0.380 8.040 0.350 0.3S0 

 Molasses, 25 0.31 2.47 1.741 0.141 0.009 0.015 

 Sugar, 85 0.57 0.872 0.040 0.072 



After harvesting the roots are first topped, 

 then washed and pulped in a grater, and 

 pressed to extract the juice. 



Fifty pounds pressure to the square inch 

 extracts 60 per cent, of juice ; 80 pounds 

 pressure to the square inch extracts 64 per 

 cent, of juice ; 400 pounds pressure to the 

 square inch extracts 80 per cent, of juice. 



Twenty-four pounds of pulp for every 100 

 square inches of press surface is the best pro- 

 portion to use. The cider-press and grater, 

 made by the Boomer & Boschert Press Co., of 

 Syracuse, New York, is worked by power, and 

 has a capacity, with the labor of two men, of 

 grating and pressing one thousand bushels of 

 beets per day of 10 hours, and yields 5,000 

 gallons of juice. 



The press and grater cost $510, and require 

 less than six horse-power to run them, and 

 the press is the best and cheapest there is for 

 this use. The ordinary cider-press will answer, 

 but it costs more to run it and not as much 

 juice is obtained, on account of its not being 

 able to produce as much pressure as the other. 



One bushel of sugar beets, mixed with nine 

 bushels of apples, makes a cider richer and of 

 superior flavor to that made from apples alone. 

 Sugar beet juice can be converted into vine- 

 gar in the same manner cider now is ; it 

 makes a stronger vinegar than cider does, of 

 equally good but different flavor, and if treated 

 the same as maple sap or sorghum juice, it 

 will yield a good article of brown sugar, and 

 all of this not used by the producer in the 

 brown state, would be readily purchased to 

 be refined by the refineries already established. 

 To refine sugar requires costly machinery, 

 such as vacuum pans, cenfrifigal machines, 

 filters of bone coal, &c., and also skilled labor, 

 but the manufacture of sugar from beet juice 

 requires only the evaporating pan and the 

 addition of some lime to the juice fo neutraUze 

 the acid. 



The best pan is that made by the Blymyer 

 Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

 4x15 feet of copper costs $210, has a capacity 

 to evaporate 4,000 gallons per day of 24 hours, 

 and requires three cords of wood or its equiva- 

 lent in coal. They also have larger and 

 smaller pans, both iron and copper ; the former 

 being lower in price. I have no personal in- 

 terest in presses or pans, and mention them, 



that each, for himself, can make an estimate 

 of the cost of the machinery required, and 

 what it will cost to convert his beets into 

 cider, vinegar or sugar. 



The estimated quantity of the sugar supply 

 of the commercial world in 1875 was 2,140,000 

 tons of cane sugar and 1,317,025 tons of beet 

 root sugar, of which latter France produced 

 462,256 tons as agaiTist 1,565 tons produced in 

 1828, which shows the promess of this industry 

 there. The consumption of sugar in the 

 United .States isabimt 700,000 tons, and is 

 rapidly increasing. We now produce of cane 

 sugar 100,()UO tous, and of beet sugar 1,000 

 tons, and there is no reason why this cannot 

 be inerea.sed to the quantity we rt^piire, if the 

 farmers will raise the beets. 



In France there is a heavy tax on the beet 

 root sugar they produce, and cane sugar is 

 admitted free, yet, notwithstanding these dis- 

 advantages, they successfully compete with 

 it ; here the reverse is the case— a heavy duty 

 on sugar imported and no taxes levied on its 

 manufacture ; certainly under these condi- 

 tions we should produce all the sugar we con- 

 sume, and have a surplus for export. 



After the juice is expressed from the rasped 

 beet, the dry pulp rf-maining is an admirable 

 food for cattle, sheep ami swine. The average 

 amount of pulp is 20 jxr cent, of the original 

 weight of the beet, and three tons of it for 

 feeding purposes are e<iual to one ton of hay, 

 and should be fed in connection with straw 

 and oil cake or cotton seed meal. As the 

 pulp is fed back to stock, the land is con- 

 stantly growing richer, all the mineral sub- 

 stances taken from it being restored in the 

 mauure ; this enables the farmer to raise 

 larger crops of various produce, and conse- 

 quently keep more stock, which enables him 

 to make more butter and cheese. 



The present cider mills and cheese factories 

 could add to their present machinery the pans 

 or presses as required, and by co-operation on 

 this, as in other products, we can produce 

 profitably all the sugar we require. This will 

 bring the business of sugar making within 

 the reach of small farmers, and is of vast im- 

 portance. 



The notion prevails that" to make sugar 

 profitably it must bo made extensively. This 

 is cerfainly erroueous, and the sooner the illu- 

 sion is dispelled the sooner we shall begin to 

 realize the productive resources of our lands 

 and employ our now idle laborers on a very 

 reiuunerafive crop now grown only to a limited 

 extent. The introduction of the cultivation 

 of the sugar beet generally, subsequently to 

 be converted into sugar or vinegar, would be 

 of great benefit to farmers. It would insure 

 to them superior methods of agriculture, in- 

 creased crojis, more remunerative prices, and 

 enhanced value of farms. 



It would create industry'and diversity of 

 labor, thereby increasing the general pros- 

 perity, intelligence and happiness of the com- 

 munity. 



It would eventually reduce the prices of 

 sugar, of bre.ad, and of meat, butter and 

 cheese, and render the United States more 

 independent of foreign countries. One acre 

 of land will produce 1,000 bushels of sugar 

 beets, which made into sugar will yield 4,800 

 pounds of sugar ; or into vinegar, 5,000 gal- 

 lons, or into proof spirits 1,000 gallons ; they 

 are profitable to feed to cattle, particularly to 

 milch cows, in connection with hay, and the 

 pail acquaints the farmer with the fact.— 

 Andrew H. Ward, Bridgewatcr, Mass. 



ONE-EYE SYSTEM OF POTATO- 

 GROWING. 



Mr. Gerald ITowatt, Placerville, Cal., writes 

 that he p/ocured the secret of potato-growing 

 advertised by Isaiah T. Clynier, of Quaker- 

 town, Pa., and found it to lie substantially a 

 reproduction of the method practiced many 

 years ago, and which he described as follows, 

 in the Country Ooitkman of June 2.5th, 1857 : 



I grew those potatoes on an old pasture 

 field without any manure of any sort. I 

 plowed in the spring (April) five inches deep, 

 then harrowed lengthwise of the furrows, then 



