6d6 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 26 
SUGAR BY THE ACRE. 
How the Sugar-Beet Crop is Grown in Michigan. 
The other day, I called on Thomas Mark, a promi¬ 
nent farmer and fruit grower, near South Haven, 
Mich. “I hear you have gone into sugai'-beet rais¬ 
ing,” I said. ‘‘How did you come to do that, with all 
this fruit on the place, to say nothing of the regular 
farm crops?” 
“Well, after the freeze of last February, things ap¬ 
peared a trifle blue for the fruit output, so I looked 
around for some quick cash crop with whicu to help 
out the shortage. After talking with a representative 
of the recently-started Benton Harbor sugar factory, 
I decided to try four acres of the beets. A contract 
was signed whereby the factory agrees to take the 
crop on a basis of $4 per ton for beets analyzing i2 
per cent sugar, and $5 per ton if they average 15 per 
cent sugar.” 
“Who does the analyzing, and who pays the 
freight?” 
“It is claimed that an agent of the State will be on 
hand to oversee the analyzing and weighing of the 
crop at the factory. As to the freight, a special low 
rate of 50 cents per ton has been made from here. 
The grower pays it. The factory representative has 
been around here several times, helping and advising 
as to planting, thinning, and best methods of culti¬ 
vating; he says that the grower’s and factory’s in¬ 
terests are identical, and that no expense or trouble is 
being spared to help the farmer succeed in the new 
venture. Towards Fall, he is coming again to show 
me—and others—when to harvest the crop. The pull¬ 
ing and topping must be done at just a certain time, 
and only an experienced hand can tell when that time 
has come.” 
“When did you sow the seed, and how?” 
“May 12, with a hand drill. The seed is furnished 
by the factory, and charged up against the crop at 
15 cents per pound. I used 15 pounds per acre, and 
found two acres to be a good seeding for one man in 
one day. The seed was drilled in pretty thick in a 
continuous row, so as to be sure of a good stand; it is 
better to have too many plants than not enough. The 
rows, as you see, are 20 inches apart.” 
“How about thinning and working the plants?” 
“The thinning is the hardest and most costly part 
of the whole work. When the plants became large 
enough, they were ‘blocked out’ with a hoe, into little 
clumps about eight inches apart; then these clumps 
were thinned by hand to one strong plant each. It’s 
slow work and hard work, but has to be done only 
once in the season, fortunately. As to the working, 
it has all been done with a hoe. My soil is fairly 
free from weeds, and so far, two good hoeings have 
sufficed. We tried a one-horse cultivator, but found 
that the horse stepped on too many plants—20 inches 
gave him hardly room enough to walk; the wheel and 
hand hoe seem better suited to this crop.” 
“Why not put the rows farther apart?” 
“Because the beets then have too much room, and 
grow too large, coarse and watery; besides this, you 
would be cutting down the yield considerably by using 
wider rows.” 
“What soil^ is considered most suitable for this 
crop?” 
“A good sandy loam with a clay subsoil, not too 
low to be over-Avet, and not too high to be over-dry. 
In growing sugar beets, we have to consider both 
quantity and quality. A large quantity alone would 
not pay; the beets must analyze at least 12 per cent 
of sugar to be really profitable, and every per cent 
above this standard is clear gain. It costs no more to 
grow a 15-per-cent beet than a 12-per-cent one, while 
the increased net profit is considerable.” 
“Did you give the ground any special preparation 
before sowing the seed, or use any special fertilizer?” 
“No, it is good soil naturally, in fertile condition 
and not worn out. Perhaps we plowed a little deeper 
than usual, followed by thorough harrowing and 
smoothing. That was all. The ground does not as 
yet seem to need fertilizers, outside of an occasional 
dressing of stable manure. The land is fairly new. 
This was a forest only 20 years ago.” 
It hardly seemed possible. Not a stump was in 
sight, and the large, healthy-looking peach and pear 
trees growing in the well-kept orchards all around, 
made the idea of recent virgin forests seem almost im¬ 
possible. Yet I know it is so. In reply to further 
questioning, Mr. Mark said: 
“The raising of sugar beets is claimed to be not ex¬ 
haustive to the soil, as a large part of the roots are 
Avater, and as the tops and leaves are not taken from 
the land; these tops can either be left where they 
grew, or fed to stock and put back in the shape of 
good stable manure. It is further claimed that suc¬ 
cessive planting on the same ground can be practiced 
for, at least, five years, with good results. Personally, 
however, I should prefer to rotate this crop with 
others, and sooner or later, add fertility enough each 
year to keep the soil up to its present good standard.” 
“What yield do you expect per acre on your soil?” 
“The factory expert says 15 to 25 tons—a fair aver¬ 
age yield.” 
“About how large do individual beets get at ma¬ 
turity?” 
“Five or six pounds each is considered a fair and 
desirable size.” 
Mr. Mark has 40 acres of land, mostly in peaches, 
SUGAR BERTS THREE MONTHS OLD. Fig. 229. 
One-sixth Natural Size. 
pears, strawberries and hay. His specialty is peaches, 
and he is one of the fetv lucky ones this year, having 
a fair crop in spite of the great February freeze. The 
orchards are in remarkably thrifty condition. 
Van Buren Co., Mich. w. e. Andrews. 
A TALK ABOUT INSECT KILLING. 
GREAT POSSIBILITIES FOR KEROSENE AND WATER. 
More About the San Jose Scale. 
Last week, Prof. John B. Smith gave an interesting 
report of the San Jos6 scale at River Edge, N. J. He 
STUARTIA PENTAGYNA. Flo. 230. 
She Ruiialisms, Page 610. 
advised the use of kerosene and water, or crude pe¬ 
troleum, as a spray in fighting the scale. In talking 
with him about the matter several points were 
brought up which will, probably, prove interesting to 
many of our readers, so we give a few notes from 
the conversation: 
“What is the mechanical mixture of water and kero¬ 
sene?” 
“As we all know, kerosene and water will not mix 
under ordinary conditions. When churned violently 
with soap and water, or in some cases, Avith milk, the 
kerosene forms an emulsion, in which form it is lairly 
soluble in water. It has been found, however, that 
farmers, as a rule, don’t take kindly to mixing this 
emulsion, and so this excellent insecticide has been 
neglected. When kerosene and water are mixed un¬ 
der ordinary conditions, the oil will rise to the sur¬ 
face. If, however, Ave force them together in definite 
proportion, as in the form of a spray, Ave find this 
mechanical mixture nearly perfect, and Ave can regu¬ 
late the amount of kerosene with accuracy. Sprayers 
are now made Avith a small tank of kerosene, so regu¬ 
lated that any amount of the oil can be sprayed out 
Avith the Avater. When forced out under pressure in 
this Avay, the mixture is perfect, and the kerosene is 
quickly and surely made available.” 
“Is it probable that this mechanical mixture of 
kerosene and Avater will entirely take the place of the 
kerosene emulsion?” 
“I think so, as it is quite as effective, easier to 
operate, also cheaper.” 
“Against what insects will it prove most effective?” 
“It will be available against all soft-bodied sucking 
insects, feeding openly so as to be Avithin reach of 
actual contact. It is inferior to the arsenites as 
against chewing inseets that eat the actual leaf tissue, 
and cannot be satisfactorily used against Potato 
beetles. It will not replace the arsenites in usual 
orchard work.” 
“You speak of applying crude petroleum as a Winter 
spray. What nozzle is best for spraying this sub¬ 
stance? It would seem that a nozzle like the Mc- 
GoAvan would give best results.” 
“The finer the nozzle the better the work in all 
cases, Avhatever insecticides are used. This applies, at 
least, as strongly in the case of the crude oil as any 
other.” 
“I notice that you advise the use of petroleum in 
Winter, while you speak of using the kerosene in 
Summer, or while the leaves are on the trees. Why 
not use the petroleum at all times?” 
“Undiluted petroleum chokes the leaf. The oil con¬ 
tains a greasy substance that doesn’t evaporate, and 
which chokes the pores. The kerosene evaporates 
completely, and this makes the difference.” 
“Is it likely that Avater or coal-gas tar will be found 
useful as insecticides?” 
“It is not at all improbable that the thicker pro¬ 
ducts may find a use, but the greater the percentage 
of vaseline, or other clogging substances, the greater 
the danger of choking trees. Coal tar has been used 
on trees, with varying effect, and is not now employed 
to any extent. Tar Avater has, also, failed.” 
“Have you found the scale on blackberry and rasp¬ 
berry crops?” 
“Very rarely, and it is less troublesome on them, 
because the old canes are always cut out, and the 
new shoots bear the crop the year folloAving.” 
"Many currant bushes were groAving in the orchard 
at River Edge, and you said that it would be almost 
impossible to kill the scale if it once reached these 
bushes. Why is that?” 
“It is not easy to cover currant bushes completely 
with a spray, and there is a tendency on the part of 
the scales to get doAvn very close to the ground, in 
some cases, even a little beloAv the surface. There 
is no thickening of the bark, as in the case of trees, 
at this point, and so the scale can maintain itself even 
a little underground. From a practical standpoint, 
also, it Avould hardly pay to spray the currants. The 
margin of profit would hardly be large enough to 
cover the expenditure for oil and labor.” 
And now it is proposed to use liquid air for refrigerat¬ 
ing California fruits on their journey across the conti¬ 
nent. Liquid air has many advantages over ice for this 
purpose. 
California fruit growers are trying to devise a plan for 
establishing a new transportation line in opposition to the 
companies that recently advanced the charges for carry¬ 
ing fruit. 
Fruit inspectors at Seattle and other points in Wash¬ 
ington have been seizing apples and pears from Califor¬ 
nia, on the ground that they were infested Avith Codling 
moth. Present legislation in Washington compels inspec¬ 
tion of fruit coming into the State, for this pest. This 
gives a new complication in interstate commerce, though 
without doubt, the law was enacted with the vieiv of 
protecting Washington’s valuable fruit interests. 
Western Horse Canneries.— The Portland Oregonian 
states that the horse cannery at Linnton, Ore., where 
horse meat is prepared for European export, is again in 
operation. Owners of range horses, who cannot care for 
the animals through the Winter, will be glad to dispose 
of them in this way, and the sheep and cattlemen, who 
find the grass growing scarcer and shorter every year, 
are pleased to see the useless horses disappear. The 
people who buy horse meat in Europe probably would 
not buy our beef, and it appears more numane to kill and 
pickle a fat, healthy horse than to allow the animal to 
starve on a storm-swept range in Winter. 
