398 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May $7 
SUGAR BEETS IN NEW YORK. 
HIGH QUALITY BEETS POSSIBLE. 
Needs a Large Family for Thinning. 
[We have corresponded with a large number of farmers who 
produced crops of sugar beets In New York State last year. We 
wish to learn what they think of the crop, and how it compares 
In profit with ordinary farm crops, such as fruit, potatoes, corn 
or wheat. The replies indicate that most farmers who grew the 
crop were well satisfied, though here and there we find a man 
who says that the crop is not satisfactory. The greatest trouble 
seems to be in thinning and weeding the beets. More care is re- 
qulred than for most of the crops ordinarily grown in New York 
State, and many farmers are not prepared for this careful culti¬ 
vation. We give a few answers below, which are typical of 
many others, and will give a fair idea of the feeling among farm¬ 
ers. One curious thing about it is the fact that many who grew 
the beets and fed them to stock were so well pleased with the 
result that they will grow them now anyway, In preference to 
mangels or other roots. The replies do not indicate any great 
enthusiasm on the part of farmers to invest money largely in 
beet-sugar factories. They are ready to raise beets at a fair 
price, but prefer the capitalists to take the risk of building. 
There is quite a general feeling expressed that few factories 
will be built until the policy with regard to the Spanish islands 
is developed. It is generally believed that if sugar production 
be pushed hard on these islands, there will be very little chance 
for the New York State sugar beets.] 
Too Much Hard Work 
My experience would hardly lead me to go into 
growing beets extensively, as there is no money, at 
present prices, in sugar beets, for the man who has 
to employ help at fair wages. For the man with a 
family of children who would work in thinniDg and 
weeding the beets while young, I think they would yield 
as good returns as most farm crops. I am satisfied 
that the content of sugar in western New York beets 
will compare favorably with those grown anywhere. 
The season was very unfavorable with me, as it was 
extremely dry. I am following the beets with straw¬ 
berries, and find the soil in fine condition for work¬ 
ing. I expect less trouble in fighting weeds, in con¬ 
sequence of the beets having been kept clean. 
Darien, N. Y. c d c. 
A Helpful Crop. 
This town is considered the poorest of any in 
Wyoming County, yet stock and sugar beets do well 
here, and are as easily raised and, as a crop, are as 
safe as, and more sure than corn, potatoes or beans. 
They have a longer season to grow, and are not dam¬ 
aged by early frosts in Fall like the other crops men¬ 
tioned. Beets stand drought better than potatoes, 
and are not as liable to blight or rot. 
With clean land and rows far enough apart to ad¬ 
mit of horse cultivation, the labor necessary to raise 
a good crop of beets would be but little more than 
that required for other crops. If the beets showed a 
tendency to grow out of the ground, I would use a 
double shovel plow, and hill them like potatoes, at 
the last cultivation, or as soon as the tops were large 
enough to admit it, and eo avoid, if possible, a large 
per cent of loss in topping. 
I cannot think of any good reason why the beet 
crop is not likely to succeed in western New York, 
and produce, on the average, as much as, or more 
than, in Germany or France, 10 to 12 tons per acre. 
With good soil, care, early planting, etc , it is easy to 
raise 15 to 20 tons per acre. It seems to me that, if 
$5 per ton were guaranteed at the factory or nearest 
railroad station, a majority of farmers would willingly 
turn their attention to raising beets as extensively as 
their conditions and other lines of farming would alio w. 
Wyoming County, N. Y. q m . 
A Promising Crop. 
My first attempt was not a fair test for the beets. 
It was late in the season before I made arrangements 
for the crop, and the only ground I had to use for 
that purpose was a heavy sod. This was plowed just 
previous to sowing the seed—about May 25. The 
ground proved to be full of Quack grass, and the care 
and expense of the crop were very heavy. By using a 
deep soil and plowing to a good depth in the Fall, 
and again in the Spring, I am satisfied that I can 
raise a crop at about one-third the expense of that of 
last year. 
Under ordinary conditions a crop of beets can be 
cared for as easily as a crop of potatoes. The heaviest 
work is at the time of harvest, and the tops and part 
of the beet which is trimmed off will pay for the ex¬ 
pense of harvesting, if carefully saved for feeding 
cows or hogs. 
The price last year, 84 per ton, is not enough. It 
should be at least 86, and the beets should be weighed, 
all shrinkage deducted, and settlement made, at the 
time of loading on cars. Last year the beets were 
shipped to the factory, where they were weighed, and 
the shrinkage deducted; it was January 1 before I 
received an accounting, and after January 10 before 
I received payment. This is not a satisfactory way 
of dealing for the average farmer. At 84 per ton 
sugar beets will bring about the same returns as po¬ 
tatoes at 30 cents per bushel. I believe that if guar¬ 
anteed a fair price, after some experience in growing, 
sugar beets will be as paying a crop as any now 
grown outside of tobacco. c. h. q. 
Baldwinsville, N. Y. 
It Did Not Pay. 
I sold mv beets to the sugar factory at Rome, and 
had enough from the net return to pay me for the 
money outlay on the crop, but nothing for profits or 
use of the land. I would not grow them again. I 
think the risk too great for the profit of the very best 
returns possible. I think the only farmer who can 
afford to grow the crop is the little fellow with a 
large family who need to be kept out of mischief. 
The r e are too many chances of failure to one of suc¬ 
cess I sowed too late, thinned too late, planted too 
close for horse culture; all these operated against the 
crop. The crop is a rank feeder, and needs the right 
kind of care at the proper time ; if one had proper 
tools to work and harvest the crop by horse power, 
there might be money in it for the large grower, but 
I doubt it. It cost me one-half the crop to harvest it 
and deliver at the cars. 
Some special tool is needed to top the beets while 
in the ground, because a man cannot pick up one of 
the beets, say 12 inches long and four inches in 
diameter, hold it in one hand, and cut off the top at 
the proper point with a knife in the other hand while 
standing. My men tried it, and gave it up as a bad 
job. We then plowed them out, shook off the earth, 
and threw them into windrows, allowed them to dry 
a little, then picked them up, cut off the leaves, put 
in piles and covered with straw. When the car was 
ready, we topped them, and found that it was no fool 
job to cut off the top from the large beet. The beet 
should be topped in the ground, either with a sharp 
spade or a hoe made for the purpose, and then the 
tops gathered either with forks or rakes ; then the 
beets can be plowed out and picked up with much 
less trouble and expense. l. b. r. 
Orleans County, N. Y. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH TUBERCULOUS COWS. 
THE MILK SHOWS NO GERMS. 
[editorial correspondence. I 
A Useful Experiment —Several years ago, tuber¬ 
culosis was found in the dairy herd at the New Jersey 
Experiment Station. In replacing the herd, care was 
taken to secure only healthy animals; but after a 
time, it was found that a number of cows were dis¬ 
eased. The tuberculin test showed that they were 
consumptive, and the question arose what to do with 
them. The first thought was, of course, to slaughter 
them as others had been destroyed. The idea had 
been that, whenever a cow reacted upon the tubercu¬ 
lin test, there was nothing to do but to kill her, 
whether she showed outward indications of the disease 
or not. It was thought better not to kill the cows at 
once, as there were certain questions that the scien¬ 
tific men wanted to “ask’’them These cows were, 
therefore, put by themselves in a small barn some 
distance away from the regular herd. There they 
have been ever since Up to within a short time, 
they have been well fed, and have given milk as usual. 
I saw them two years ago, and with most of them, it 
would be impossible for an outsider to tell that they 
had ever been sick. From time to time, they were in¬ 
jected with tuberculin in order to see what progress 
the disease had made. 
The Cows Dying. —Last week, I saw these cows 
again and what a change had taken place in their 
appearance ! Two of them, at least, gave every out¬ 
ward indication of tuberculosis. They were thin, 
rough-haired, feeble, and evidently sick. Others 
were in better condition, but the old cows that had 
been quarantined for several years had, evidently, 
about reached the end of their rope. Prof. Voorhees 
said that, so long as the cows were kept up well and 
fed a heavy grain ration, they kept in good appear¬ 
ance and were apparently healthy. When the grain 
was taken away from them, they rapidly declined. 
This seems to aecord with the general experience in 
human tuberculosis. Patients that are well fed, 
especially upon fatty food that is easily digested, 
often seem able to fight off the disease for a long 
time. One explanation given for this is the fact that 
fat foods increase the work of the lungs. It is not 
unlike adding fuel to the body, which is burned up at 
the lungs, and the increased work may stimulate 
those organs and keep them thriving. When the 
grain food was taken away from these cows, they 
rapidly fell off in condition. 
Cannot be Cured. —This experience seems to in¬ 
dicate that it is not possible to cure consumptive 
cows with ordinary treatment. You may keep them 
thrifty and in fair condition, but when once badly 
afflicted with the disease, it is not likely that they 
can be cured. The experiments in Denmark, which 
are often quoted by the authorities,'seem to indicate 
the same thing. By taking cows out of the herd, 
and keeping them by themselves under good sanitary 
conditions, the disease was arrested but not cured. 
The cows were able to do fair work at the pail, and 
to produce healthful milk, for several years after they 
were put by themselves. These cows have been in¬ 
jected with tuberculin again and again. There is no 
indication that this injection has any marked effect 
either way, either in curing the disease or in increas¬ 
ing it. 
The Milk Healthful. —There is one remarkable 
thing, however, about this experiment. The milk 
from these cows has been tested and analyzed again 
and again, but thus far no germs have ever been 
found in it. The milk has been Pasteurized before 
using. It is now used only for experiment. The milk 
from the various quarters of the udder is being 
examined for tubercle bacilli, but thus far no germs 
have been discovered. So far as science can deter¬ 
mine, these cows have produced clean and health¬ 
ful milk. The great lesson of this experiment seems 
to be a warning to veterinarians to go slow in their 
slaughter of cattle. There has been no time since 
these cows first reacted from tuberculin, when the 
milk has shown the germs of the disease. How wrong, 
then, it would have been to kill the cows as soon as 
they reacted ! The common-sense practice seems to be 
to use the tuberculin, and if the cows react, yet show no 
physical indication of the disease, to put them by 
themselves, watch them carefully, and milk them 
until it is evident aside from the tuberculin test that 
they are too sick to give good milk. This seems to 
be the common-sense lesson from the experiment, 
and such things ought to put a stop to the indiscrim¬ 
inate slaughter of all cows that respond to the deli¬ 
cate tuberculin test. h. w. c. 
AN ENGLISH POTATO CROP. 
PECULIAR METHODS OF ENGLISH FARMERS. 
Odd Ideas About Seed and Soil. 
Potatoes Alter Wheat.— The average tenant 
farmer by no means makes potatoes his only crop ; 
that crop comes only in his regular rotation, though 
on many small farms, wheat and potatoes alternate 
for years. As soon as convenient after the wheat is 
off, the ground is plowed six or seven inches deep, in 
furrows eight to ten inches wide. During the Winter, 
barnyard manure is hauled upon it, and spread evenly 
(from six to ten cart-loads per acre), and in early 
Spring, often in February, the ground is “ cross-cut ’’ 
or plowed crosswise the former plowing, thus turning 
the manure under. Then a drag (not a harrow) is 
run through it, thoroughly mixing the manure with 
the soil, which is then worked with harrows (and 
roller if requisite) until it is deemed fine enough for 
ridging. 
Furrowing and Fertilizing.— This is done with 
a two horse potato plow, the furrows being made 27 
inches apart, and six or seven inches deep. In these 
furrows are sown, either by drill or hand, from 600 to 
800 pounds of fertilizer, usually a specially-prepared 
potato manure costing from 815 to 870 a ton, perhaps 
on an average, 830 a ton. Then the seed (which is 
what falls through a riddle having a 1 %-inch mesh 
and stops on one having a lj^-inch mesh, gome of the 
larger ones being cut in two), is planted either by 
hand or machine, though largely by hand by women 
and boys, 12 to 14 inches apart. The furrows are 
then closed by splitting the ridges with the same 
plow, the team walking on the ridge, not in the fur¬ 
row. In a few days, a light roller is run over the 
ridges, three at a time, the horse walking between 
two, thus partially flattening them, and checking 
small weed growth. This is followed at intervals, as 
small weeds show themselves, or before, by harrowing 
with ridge harrows which take two or four ridges at 
a time, as the case may be. This is followed, a'ter 
the plants are up, by one or two harrowings with flat 
smoothing harrows, which do what the weeder does 
here, until the plants are too large for further bar¬ 
rowing. Then the cultivator is put to work between 
the rows, and the hand hoe between the plants in the 
row, generally about twice each, or may be cultivated 
three times. 
Weeding and Digging.— When the crop com¬ 
pletely covers the ground, the potatoes are hilled 
(with the same plow), and let lie, except that, should 
any large seed weeds show themselves, they are pulled 
out. Potatoes are planted from February to April, 
most perhaps in March, hilled in June, and in Sep¬ 
tember are ready to dig ; this is done either by hand 
or with a machine, or with the same plow that was 
used for ridging, splitting and hilling them. When 
used for digging, the double breasts are taken off, and 
a broader point and a set of prongs or fingers are at¬ 
tached. When ripe enough to dig, the tops are cut off 
with a scythe or the mower. A man will take three 
rows at a time with a scythe, and cut a great many 
