36 



will hanteu decompositiou. Having beeu proi^erly secured and well protected 

 from frost the beets will keep six months, and the sugar manufacture can be car- 

 ried on all winter. Experiments at the agricultural college have demonstrated that 

 not only roots from imported seed, but the seed itself, can be raised in this coun" 

 try without any deterioration in the quality. In the manufacture too, as good 

 results have been obtained as those reported from abroad. Neither is the Con- 

 necticut valley alone in offering the necessary conditions of success on this side 

 of the Atlantic. Excellent success has attended experiments in Maine and even 

 in Canada. In both cases the inception of the enterprise can be traced to the 

 agricultui-al college. To the question, is the sugar beet worth cultivating, Pro- 

 fessor Goessmau answers that no root crop is better worth cultivating in this sec- 

 tion. The necessary expense does not much exceed that of raising any similar 

 crop. In nutritive qualities the sugar beet is almost equal to the potato, and 

 tweuty-j&ve tons to the acre is only an average yield, so that, for feeding purposes, 

 aside from a ready cash value when sugar manufactories are at hand, it .is deci- 

 dedly the most profitable root crop that the New England farmer can give his 

 land to, and when the roots can be turned over to a manufactory, the cash price 

 obtained is clear gain, for the pressed cakes from which the saccharine juice has 

 been extracted, are almost as valuable for feeding purposes as the unground roots. 

 Every five tons of roots leaves one ton of pressed cakes worth $6 to $7,— thus 

 giving the farmer, say, twenty-four dollars' worth of the best food for his cattle, 

 besides his remuneration for the sugar. Moreover, what may be called the indi- 

 rect benefits of its cultivation are unusually great. The crop pays for a thorough 

 cultivation that leaves the ground in the best possible condition for other purpo- 

 ses. In France it has been abundantly proved that the laud produces much more 

 per acre of all staple crops than it did before the beet culture was introduced. 

 It is not advisable to raise the beets on the same soil year after year, but after a 

 beet crop the land is in excellent shape for grain on account of the thorough stir- 

 ring up of the subsoil. The sugar beet is much sweeter than the ordinary table 

 variety, which contains only about four to seven per cent, of sugar. Its length 

 is eight to ten inches, and the top is small. The keeping qimlities of the refuse 

 from the mill are good, so that it can be saved to feed in the spring when the 

 comparative leanness of the barns and cellars renders it especially valuable. The 

 molasses, or drippings from the sugar is worthless for domestic purposes, but it 

 is rich in alcohol, and, with the refuse, furnishes the very best potash in the mar- 

 ket. The farmers of the Connecticut valley have taken hold of this matter in 

 good earnest, and with five hundred acres of land subscribed to the enterprise, 

 and ten tons of seed imported, a thorough experiment, at the very least, is prac- 

 tically certain. The failure of European parties to furnish the necessary ma- 

 chinery at the time required, will prevent any attempt to manufacture the sugar at 

 Northampton this season as was planned, but the farmers will raise the crop for 

 their cattle and get practically acquainted with the best methods of cultivation, 

 so as to be in good shape for commencing operations next year, when a sugar 

 mill will undoubtedly be in opeiation. 



Professor S. T. Frost of New Marlboro spoke of "Massachusetts Agriculture, 

 its opportimities and its possibilities." Prof. Frost announced as the principle 

 that must guide New England agriculture in the future, the utilization for its ben- 

 efit of the same superior skill and intelligence that have given Massachusettfi pre- 



