136 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
May, 1918 
Wisconsin fio rticultitre 
Published Monthly by the 
Wisconsin State Horticultural Society 
12 N. Carroll St. 
Official organ ot the Society. 
FREDERIC CRANEFIELD, Editor. 
Secretary W. S. H. S., Madison, Wis. 
Entered as second-class matter May 13, 1912, 
at the postoffice at Madison, Wisconsin, under 
the Act of March 3, 1879. 
Advertising rates made known on application. 
Wisconsin State Horticulture Society 
Membership fees fifty cents, which includes 
twenty-five cents subscription price of Wiscon- 
sin Horticulture. Remit fifty cents to Frederic 
Cranefield, Editor, Madison, Wis. 
Remit by Postal or Express Money Order. 
A dollar bill may be sent safely if wrapped or 
attached to a card, and pays for two years. 
Personal checks accepted. 
Postage stamps not accepted. 
OFFICERS 
N. A. Rasmussen, President Oshkosh 
J. A. Hays, Vice-President Gays Mills 
W. A. Toole, Treasurer Baraboo 
F. Cranefield, Secretary Madison 
EXECUTIVE C 0 M M I T T E E 
N. A. Rasmussen Exofficio 
J. A. Hays Ex-Officio 
W. A. Toole Ex-Officio 
F. Cranefield Ex-Officio 
1st Dist., A. Martini Lake Geneva 
2nd Dist., R. J. Coe Ft. Atkinson 
3rd Dist., E. L. RolofT Madison 
4th Dist., Henry Wilke Milwaukee 
5th Dist., Jas. Livingstone Milwaukee 
6th Dist., E. S. Bedell Manitowoc 
7th Dist., L. H. Palmer Baraboo 
8th Dist., M. O. Potter Grand Rapids 
9th Dist., L. E. Birmingham Sturgeon Bay 
10th Dist., F. T. Brunk Eau Claire 
11th Dist., J. F. Hauser Bayfield 
BOARD OF MANAGERS 
N. A. Rasmussen F. Cranefield 
W. A. Toole 
Plant Flowers in the War 
Garden. 
Flowers will help win the war. 
We do not live by bread alone. 
We can’t send the flowers to the 
boys in France, but we can tell 
them about our flowers. They will 
be glad to know that mother and 
sister or even dad have geraniums 
in bloom and that there is a bowl of 
nasturtiums on the dining room 
table just as it used to be. 
Flowers won’t take up much 
room and surely we will find time 
to care for a bed or border of 
blooming plants. We will need 
the fragrance, the beauty and the 
cheer their presence brings. Plant 
flowers in the war garden and else- 
where. 
Sugar Beet Syrup. 
It can’t be done. A wise (?) 
theorist connected with the bureau 
of sugar investigations of the Fed- 
eral Department of Agriculture 
wrote a pamphlet about it, the 
Literary Digest copied it, a lot of 
half-baked enthusiasts endorsed it, 
President Rasmussen knocked it 
and then the war was on. 
Rasmussen was sure he was right 
and proved it. He made some 
syrup according to directions and 
sent the writer a sample. It tast- 
ed sweet , at first, but the after taste 
was like bed bugs. Tried it on 
the family cat, the cat lapped it 
all, and was ill, very ill. 
Here is the beginning of the 
story. The wise sugar man at 
Washington advised every kid and 
every grown-up war gardener to 
plant a few sugar beets and next 
fall make sirup for family use. 
Slice the beets in a barrel, pour 
boiling water over them, draw off 
the water and boil until proper 
consistency. Sounds fine but its a 
humbug. Here are the documents 
to prove it : 
Mr. W. D. James, 
Ft. Atkinson, Wis. 
Dear Sir: — 
I am sending you today a sample 
of sugar beet syrup made at home, 
strictly following directions in Y. 
S. Government Bulletin on this 
subject. 
From 40 pounds of beets, with 
4 hours labor and 11 hours boiling 
we got 2(4 16 s - syrup or a trifle 
over a quart. As to quality — you 
may be the judge. As to purity — 
I am enclosing a copy of a letter 
sent to Prof. R. A. Moore by Mr. 
McCormick in reply to an inquiry 
about home manufacturing of 
syrup. 
The raising of 40 lbs. beets. 
Labor in preparing, 4 hours. 
Fuel, 11 hours. 
Sum Total, 2(4 lbs. syrup (Qual- 
ity?) 
I think this will convince Mr. 
Hoard and others that my state- 
ment “Do not grow sugar beets 
in the city garden. It is not prac- 
tical,” is not without foundation. 
Sincerely yours, 
N. A. Rasmussen. 
March 7, 1918. 
Prof. R. A. Moore, Agronomist, 
Wisconsin College of Agriculture, 
Madison, Wisconsin. 
My Dear Mr. Moore : — 
I have your letter of March 2, to- 
gether with a copy of Mr. Andrews 
of Oglesby, Illinois, letter and 
note with some interest the state- 
ment of Mr. Andrews relating to 
manufacturing their own syrup 
from beets. 
I have been engaged in the man- 
ufacture of beet sugar for 18 
years, and while I have much to 
leam. I am obliged to sav from my 
knowledge of the process, that it 
might be possible to make either 
sugar or syrup at home in a kettle 
by the same process that you 
would make maple sugar, but the 
home made product would retain 
all of the impurities which the 
plant takes from the soil; such a 
sugar would contain the potash 
and other salts which give the pro- 
duct the offensive odor and un- 
pleasant taste and dark color which 
to a very considerable degree would 
make it unpalatable. The use of 
such syrup or sugar thus made 
