1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
347 
braces  at  the  center  are  each  seven  feet  long-,  and  are 
placed  upon  the  frame,  making-  a  right  angle  above, 
and,  like  the  posts,  reaching  six  inches  below  the 
lower  rail.  Wherever  these  pieces  cross  they  are 
bolted  together  with  a  quarter-inch  bolt.  liarbed 
wires  are  stretched  from  post  to  post,  fastened  also  to 
the  braces. 
In  making  these  panels,  a  barn  floor  is  the  best 
workshop.  After  one  has  been  made  to  measure,  it  is 
laid  flat  upon  the  floor,  the  pieces  of  the  next  are  ar¬ 
ranged  in  place  just  above  those  of  the  first,  a  nail  is 
driven  into  each  crossing  to  prevent  displacement 
while  putting  in  the  bolts,  and  the  work  is  finished  by 
putting  on  the  wires  before  it  is  taken  up.  In  this 
way  a  large  number  of  panels  can  be  made  in  a  com¬ 
paratively  short  time.  The  supports  are  made  of  oak 
scantlings,  two  inches  square.  The  legs  are  4%  feet 
long,  bolted  together  without  notching  or  framing  of 
any  kind,  and  spread  to  a  width  of  four  feet  at  the 
base.  In  the  fork  above,  a  triangular  notch  an  inch 
deep  is  cut  off  out  the  inside  of  each  piece,  at  a  place 
where  the  opposite  sides  of  these  notches  are  four 
inches  apart,  or  just  wide  enough  to  receive  the  ends 
of  the  two  panels.  Two  feet  eight  inches  below  this, 
an  oak  board  six  inches  wide  is  nailed  across  the  legs. 
From  the  center  of  its  upper  edge  a  notch  four  inches 
wide  and  one  deep  is  cut,  making  two  feet  nine  in¬ 
ches  between  the  notches  that  are  to  hold  the  upper 
and  lower  panel  rails. 
The  points  of  superiority  claimed  for  this  fence  are 
lightness  combined  with  strength  and  durability, 
small  area  of  surface  presented  to  the  wind,  ease  of 
construction,  and  comparatively  small  cost.  On  level 
ground  the  panels  come  solidly  together,  yet  as  they 
may  be  two  inches  apart  above  or  below,  it  will  cross 
a  hill  or  valley  at  considerable  curvature.  That  it  is 
easy  to  handle  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  two  men  can 
take  down,  move  half  a  mile,  and  set  up  a  hundred 
rods  in  half  a  day.  s.  i*.  shull. 
The  American  Beet  Sugar  Industry. 
Synopsis  of  American  Experiments. 
PROF.  C.  L.  INGERSOLL. 
( Concluded .) 
Returning  westward  we  mention  Iowa. — The  result 
as  set  forth  by  Prof.  G.  E.  Patrick  in  Bulletin  15,  is  as 
follows:  “The  average  per  cent  of  sugar  was  14.14, 
and  the  average  yield  20  tons  per  acre,  and  the  cost  of 
growing  and  harvesting  $30.42  an  acre.  The  highest 
sugar  in  beets  per  acre  was  7,299  pounds  ;  purity  co¬ 
efficient,  75.5.”  In  the  State  at  large  the  sugar  per 
cent  was  8.87  to  14.63,  and  purity  63.09  to  78.84, 
taking  the  State  by  sections  and  giving  averages  for 
each. 
Kansas. — The  bulletin  is  not  yet  out,  but  an  average 
of  147  analyses  shows  10.5  per  cent  in  the  juice  which 
is  probably  too  low  if  the  beets  are  properly  raised 
and  typical  samples  taken.  The  work  is  to  be  re¬ 
peated  this  year,  and  greater  care  taken  to  insure  bet¬ 
ter  results.  The  chemist,  Prof.  G.  II.  Failyer,  is  of  the 
opinion  that  it  will  take  several  years  to  settle  the 
question  for  that  State.  (Correspondence.) 
Nebraska. — We  have  reserved  this  State  in  order  to 
speak  more  fully  of  its  work.  This  we  do  because  it 
has  been  pushed  more  fully  here  than  in  any  other 
State,  both  by  the  Oxnard  Company  as  manufacturers, 
and  also  by  the  experiment  station.  Bulletin  21 
gives  results  at  the  station  in  1891,  and  the  work  is 
being  vigorously  pushed  for  1892  in  continuation  of 
experiments  begun,  and  others  for  the  growth  of 
seed  from  “  mother-beets  ”  of  known  sugar  content; 
only  the  best  are  selected,  tested,  numbered,  set 
out  and  the  seed  grown  to  be  sown  another  year ;  each 
biennium  gives  the  result  of  the  previous  selection  and 
work. 
Table  X,  page  32,  gives  the  results  at  Grand  Island, 
showing  an  average  of  13.5  per  cent  sugar  content  in 
the  beets.  A  table  of  a  large  number  of  analyses  of 
beets  from  various  counties  shows  that  they  averaged 
13.6  per  cent  sugar  and  14.3  per  cent  in  the  juice.  It 
might  be  well  to  note  at  this  point,  after  reviewing 
the  work  of  the  States,  that  only  a  few  report  the 
per  cent  of  sugar  in  the  beet  and  in  the  juice  in  sepa¬ 
rate  columns  for  comparison.  Several  report  only  the 
per  cent  of  sugar  present  in  the  juice.  As  this  is  about 
one  per  cent  greater  than  the  per  cent  in  the  whole 
beet,  allowance  must  be  made  for  this  in  instituting  a 
comparison  between  the  reports  of  different  chemists 
and  States.  Purity  for  Nebraska  averaged  81.5  in  the 
table  where  all  were  competing  for  the  prize  offered 
by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture.  There  are  two 
factories — Grand  Island  and  Norfolk.  They  have  en¬ 
tered  the  season  of  1892  with  renewed  vigor  and  have 
full  areas  of  3,000  acres  each  engaged  and  considerable 
planting  done  at  this  date.  Prospects  are  bright  for 
full  supplies  of  beets  for  each  of  the  factories  for  a  full 
campaign.  We  hope  that  the  efforts  in  this  direction 
will  not  fail  from  any  apathy  of  the  farmers  in  pro¬ 
ducing  beets. 
The  matter  of  bounty  has  been  very  warmly  dis¬ 
cussed  in  connection  with  this  question.  The  govern¬ 
ment  bounty  of  two  cents  a  pound  continues  till  1895. 
There  arc  local  bounties  in  U  tali  and  Kansas ;  the 
former  pays  one  cent  per  pound  and  the  latter  three- 
fourths  of  a  cent.  Nebraska  did  pay  one  cent  a  pouud 
for  one  year  and  then  repealed  the  act. 
Sugar  Schools. — There  is  a  demand  for  men  edu¬ 
cated  with  the  specific  end  in  view  of  utilizing  their 
service  in  sugar  production.  Louisiana  has  estab¬ 
lished  such  a  school  at  Audubon  Park  (New  Orleans), 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Scientific  and  Agricultural 
Association  of  that  State.  This  for  the  more  especial 
purpose  of  educating  sugar  chemists  for  the  sugar 
planters  and  boilers  of  Louisiana:  so  rapid  has  been 
the  call  for  men  that  the  school  can  scarcely  prepare 
them  fast  enough  and  give  them  the  proper  experience. 
Caws  !  Fig.  165. 
This  school  is  to  be  provided  with  special  facilities  for 
instruction  and  will  turn  out  first-class  sugar  experts. 
(Fourth  Annual  Report  Louisiana  Experiment  Station, 
1891.)  We  are  pleased  to  see  our  Louisiana  friends 
doing  this  for  the  cane  sugar  industry,  while  Nebraska 
is  doing  the  same  for  the  beet  sugar  industry.  Her 
sugar  school  at  her  State  University  is  bound  to  have 
a  rapid  development  and  will  fill  an  important  niche 
in  the  work.  The  young  men  are  doing  much  of  the 
work  of  experiment  under  the  able  direction  of  heads 
of  departments,  and  thus  are  made  practical  men. 
The  effect  of  these  two  schools  both  North  and  South 
will  be  beneficial  and  lasting. 
Summary. — In  viewing  the  whole  situation  we  are 
led  to  make  the  inquiry  :  “  What  will  be  the  final 
outcome?”  We  have  but  our  convictions  to  offer,  but 
they  are  firm  in  the  belief  that  over  a  large  area  will 
finally  spring  up  a  series  of  beet  sugar  factories,  ably 
manned,  and  the  work  will  be  pushed  with  character¬ 
istic  American  energy.  The  general  results  attained 
in  the  area  from  California  to  the  Missouri  River  in  the 
growth  of  beets  as  to  tonnage,  acreage,  sugar  content 
and  purity,  are  all  that  can  be  desired;  the  States  east 
and  perhaps  Kansas  may  not  be  quite  so  productive  of 
phenomenal  results  but  do  reasonably  well.  Kansas 
can  produce  sorghum  cheaply,  and  through  the  efforts 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  this 
promises  to  become  an  important  adj  unct  to  the  sugar 
industry  as  developed  in  beets  and  ribbon  cane.  We 
have  not  mentioned  the  work  of  the  Department  be¬ 
fore.  as  it  is  so  well  known  that  its  representatives  are 
ever  ready  and  everywhere  present  when  there  is  an 
opportunity  to  labor  for  the  benefit  of  the  people. 
We  note  with  pleasure  that  in  nearly  every  State 
mentioned,  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar  beet  is  receiv¬ 
ing  more  marked  attention  in  1892,  than  ever  before  ; 
that  there  is  more  organized  effort,  more  reaching 
out  for  information,  and  a  stronger  desire  on  the  part 
of  the  people  to  clasp  hands  with  the  experiment 
stations  and  thus  assist  in  pushing  this  work  to  an 
unqualified  success.  What  is  to  hinder  the  realization 
of  our  highest  hopes  before  the  year  1900,  and  these 
Western  States — the  “  Great  American  Desert,”— from 
furnishing  the  “  sugar  dessert  ”  for  all  America: 
Nebraska  Experiment  Station. 
Two  New  Books. 
The  Business  Hen. — The  lien's  business  may  not 
always  be  important  to  others,  but  it  is  evidently  of 
importance  to  herself.  Watch  her  !  She  means  busi¬ 
ness  when  she  walks  towards  the  garden  ;  she  does 
business  when  she  arrives.  Does  any  one  show  more 
business  iustinct  than  the  hen  with  her  brood?  Then, 
when  well  treated,  and  when  born  under  a  favorable 
conjunction  of  the  planets,  observe  the  masses  of  eggs 
she  turns  out !  Is  not  this  business?  An  egg  a  day 
through  long  periods,  and  an  egg  so  large  in  propor¬ 
tion  to  the  size  of  the  layer!  The  hen  evidently  thinks 
so,  for,  after  each  laying,  she  indulges  in  a  cackle — 
a  psoan  of  triumph.  Yes,  the  hen  is  all  business,  if 
properly  encouraged,  and  a  book  that  is  written  upon 
“  Breeding  and  Feeding  Poultry  for  Profit”  is  rightly 
entitled  “  The  Business  Hen,”  but  we  might  perhaps 
improve  the  title  by  adding  so  that  it  should  read  : 
“  The  Business  Hen  and  the  Business  Man  Make  Profit 
from  Poultry.” 
The  hen  business  is  not  always  profitable.  What  busi¬ 
ness  is  ?  That  the  keeping  of  poultry  is  usually  profit¬ 
able  is  evidenced  by  the  many  flocks  to  be  found 
throughout  every  suburban  region.  That  the  hen 
business  may  be  profitable  is  certain.  Whether  it  is 
profitable  or  not  depends  upon  the  man,  as  does  all 
other  kinds  of  business.  There  is  a  wide  difference  in 
methods  and  results  between  the  hen  business  and  the 
keeping  of  a  flock.  In  the  one  case  we  must  use  busi¬ 
ness  methods  and  careful  watchfulness.  We  must 
study  the  relationships  of  foods  to  price  and  product ; 
the  relationship  of  the  treatment  of  the  food  and  the 
care  of  health  ;  the  relationship  of  food  and  treatment 
to  product,  price  and  breed.  We  must  discover  and 
rectify  mistakes  quickly.  We  must  follow  up  successes 
to  the  utmost.  In  short,  we  must  successfully  keep  in 
harmony  with  our  environment  in  order  to  attain  the 
best  results.  With  a  large  flock,  errors  are  apt  to  be¬ 
come  cumulative  and  disastrous,  and  intelligent  watch¬ 
fulness  and  action  are  requisites.  With  a  single  flock 
conditions  are  different.  Wc  can  utilize  the  waste  of 
the  household,  we  can  give  ample  range;  we  can, 
without  too  much  labor,  treat  each  hen  as  an  indi¬ 
vidual,  and  encourage  towards  business.  We  can,  in  a 
measure,  leave  the  hen  to  herself. 
The  successful  combination  of  the  business  hen  and 
man  has  been  a  matter  of  record.  When  we  analyze 
the  conditions,  we  find  the  words  intelligent  action  to 
cover  all  cases  as  a  paramount  factor.  In  “  The  Busi- 
Hen,  Breeding  and  Feeding  Poultry  for  Profit,  by  H. 
W.  Collingwood,  New  York  1 1892 1  ”  we  find  in  chapter 
XI,  page  95,  a  sufficiently  instructive  illustration  of 
success  in  hen  farming  to  justify  the  recommendation 
of  the  reading  of  this  book  by  any  one  who  desires  suc¬ 
cess  with  poultry.  “He  had  been  trained  to  think. 
The  first  thing  he  did  on  coming  to  this  little  farm  [of 
18  acres]  was  to  sit  down  and  think  out  a  plan  of  oper¬ 
ation.  He  kept  the  thinking  up,  too.  It  took  him  but 
a  short  time  to  see  that  if  he  followed  his  neighbors 
and  produced  hay,  rye,  second-class  milk  and  poor 
crops  of  potatoes  and  truck,  the  mortgage  would  fatten 
on  him  ;  as  it  was,  he  would  fatten  on  the  mortgage.” 
So  he  acted  on  his  intelligence — he  went  into  eggs  as 
a  part  of  a  rotation,  and,  after  12  years,  presents  for 
1890  a  schedule  of  receipts  amounting  to  $4,137.62.  His 
methods  are  given  of  keeping  the  hens,  the  source  of 
the  farm’s  prosperity.  He  believes  in  business  hens — 
“  a  good  laying  hen  acta  like  a  layer — she  is  active, 
busy  and  important.” 
There  is  much  more  in  the  book  which  would  bear 
quotation,  but  we  must  leave  the  hen  subject.  If  any 
one  desires  more,  then  he  must  go  to  the  book  itself, 
and,  in  the  14  special  articles  by  expert  poultry  men, 
he  will  find  much  to  interest  and  instruct,  and  no  per¬ 
son  who  desires  success  in  poultry  can  afford  to  ignore 
the  experience  of  others. 
Brains  in  the  Nursery. — In  a  late  trip  through 
California  I  saw  miles  and  miles  of  orchards  and  plan¬ 
tations,  the  trees  thoroughly  pruned  and  cared  for, 
the  land  clear,  the  fences  in  repair.  I  saw  placards 
posted  on  court  houses  bearing  the  orders  of  the  Hor¬ 
ticultural  Commissioners  with  regard  to  the  destruction 
of  insect  and  fungous  p?sts.  I  found  energy,  watch¬ 
fulness,  care  everywhere.  I  returned  to  my  Eastern 
home,  and  saw  neglected  trees,  the  coming  worm,  and 
the  waste  places  which  from  past  experience  I  know 
will  be  insect  nurseries  this  year  as  in  the  past.  I 
could  not  help  observing  the  contrast  and  could  not 
refrain  from  a  generalization.  There  intelligence 
applied  to  the  problem  of  money-making  from  fruit 
culture  ;  here  as  high  an  intelligence  certainly,  yet 
but  little  evidence  of  an  applied  intelligence.  There 
success  ;  here  failure.  There  every  one  appeared  to 
succeed  ;  here  only  the  individual. 
I  am  led  to  these  remarks  through  the  perusal  of  a 
small  book  entitled  “  The  Nursery  Book,  a  Complete 
Guide  to  the  Multiplication  and  Pollination  of  Plants, 
by  L.  II.  Bailey,  New  York  ;  The  Rural  Publishing 
Company  1891.”  We  have  many  books  written  with 
