1210 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
will pay to raise as a steer. In these days of spe¬ 
cial purpose breeds it is hard for many dairymen to 
l)elieve that a cow can itossihly jcive a l)ifc yield of 
milk and at the same time make hijrh-class beef. 
In his younger days the writer of this Avorked on a 
dairy ranch in Colorado. At the liead of the herd 
was a good Shorthorn bull of the dairy type. The 
heifers developed into superior cows and the young 
bulls Avere in gi’eat demand by i-anchmen foi- use on 
the range. Itecords both in this country and in 
England shoAV the average milk yield of milking 
.'Shorthorns fully up to the performance of other 
breeds. There are single records of 18,000 and 19.000 
jiounds of milk in a year. On the beef side of the 
ai-gument there are cases Avhere cows after serving 
fer years in the dairy have sold for !i!200 or even 
more as beef. These cattle are not all AAiiite like 
this bull. They are also red, roan or of broken 
colors. 
ties. When boiled down to the proper consistency, 
the syrup is canned or bottled Avhile hot, and tightly 
sealed. .Some of our readers speak of straining the 
.syrup Avhile it is hot and before the canning, e.spe- 
cially Avhen the lime is used in it. That is all of the 
operation. We have tasted several samples of the 
.syrup made in this Avay. If anyone expects to make 
good sugar or high-class syrup by this process he 
Avill be sadly disappointed. The syrup Ave have 
tasted Avas SAveet and of a dark color. It Avas useful 
for cooking, and a feAv of our people liked it on 
buckAvheat cakes or bread. We thought that it had 
a strong and rather disagreeable flavor at times, and 
Ave did not call it equal to the ordinary syruj) sold on 
the market. It Avas sweet. hoAvever. and for many 
cooking pui’poses made a very good substitute for 
molasses and sugar. The plan is AA-ell Avorth trying 
by those Avho luiA'e the sugar beets, as it is not ex¬ 
pensive and easy to Avork. but Ave do not Avant any 
In Avi-iting these things about the milking Short¬ 
horns Ave are not trying to disparage any of tlie 
other excellent dairy breeds. They have each their 
place, having been lu-ed and selected for it, and they 
have served our Eastern farmer Avell. The Avar and 
its demands upon the farm and the farmer have 
created new conditions and these must be met by 
neAv jiiethods, neAV implements and noAV kinds of 
stock. Among other things these new conditions 
liHA-e certainly made a ])lace on the Eastern farm 
for a breed like the milking Shorthorn. The labor 
situation is getting Avorse, and there is an increa.sed 
demand for good meat. Thus on many Eastern 
farms there must be a change from special dairying 
to such farming as Prof. .Tudkins describes in loAva, 
Avhere a combination of milk and beef is ])roduced. 
In the I'eadjustment of farming, Avhich must folloAV 
the war, a type of cattle like the milking Short¬ 
horn must come back to many of our farms, and 
they Avill bring prosperity Avith them. 
Making Beet Syrup at Home 
I am Avriting you in hopes you may be able to direct 
me for information regarding the transforming of sugar 
beets into sugar or syrup. We raised a few beets this 
year and feel that they might help to relieve the strain 
on an impoverished sugar bucket if Ave could make a 
sugar .substitute from them. I Avrote the Department 
of Agriculture about them at the time of writing for in¬ 
structions in making a tireless cooker. They sent the 
instructions for the cooker and ignored the beet question 
(■ntirely. (’an you help me, either by reference or in- 
.struction ? F. AA^ c. 
Ma.ssachusetts. 
T he plan recommended by the Department of Ag¬ 
riculture, and those of our readers Avho report to 
us. is very simple, q^hey let the sugar beet.s groAV 
until (hey are Avell matured. The beets are pulled in 
the ordinary Avay, and the top is cut off clean. The 
beet is then thoroughly washed and scrubbed Avith a 
brush, so as to remove all the dirt. The clean beets 
are then sliced, making the slices as thin as possible, 
as the thinner the slices the more rapidly the sugar 
is taken out. q'his slicing can be 
done Avith a sharp hatchet, a butcher 
knife, or anything Avith ji sharp 
edge. Our people i-ecommend what 
is knoAvn as a kraut cutter, often 
used in slicing cabbage for making 
kraut. A picture taken from the 
Department bulletin at the left 
shoAvs Avhat this kraut cutter is. 
There is a hole under the knife 
.shoAvn under the board through 
Avhich the slices of beef fall doAvn into the barrel. A 
bushel of sugar beets Avell sliced Avill make about 
tAvo bushels in space. This is put into a clean bar¬ 
rel and covered at once Avith about 10 gallons of 
hot Avater. Do not use too much water, for that Avill 
mean longer Avork in boiling it dOAvn. Boiling Avater 
is used to advantage. After the hot Avater is poured 
on, cover the barrel Avith .several thicknesses of can- 
A'as or cloth to hold in the heat. The slices soak for 
about 00 minutes, and the barrel should be shaken 
from time to time. That is all there is to it. After 
an hour in the hot Avater the liquid is draAVu off and 
strained through several thicknesses of cheesecloth. 
No pressure is required. Soaking does not remove 
all the sugar, but if the slices are thin the greater 
part of it will be Avashed out. The liquid Avhich re¬ 
sults is of a light broAvn color and a SAveetish taste 
containing a bitter principle. This liquid resulting 
from sdhking the beets is boiled doAvn in a kettle the 
same as Avould be the ca.se Avith maple sap or .sor¬ 
ghum juice. It is better to boil .sloAvly. 'I'lie liquid 
should be stirred from time to time. A scum Avill 
rise to the surface of the I'quid and this must be 
skimmed off carefully to remove much of the strong 
flavor ef the beets. Some of our readers also suggest 
using a small quantity of pure lime mixed in Avith 
the .syrup, as they claim that this takes out some¬ 
thing more of the beet taste and some other im])uri- 
of our readers to understand that The K. N.-Y. calls 
this .syrup high-class or equal to the commercial 
pj'oduct, because it is not. 
Quotations on Bags and Paper 
F eed sacks are much in demand, we are told. 
They bring more than they did a feAv years ago, 
but not in proportion to the price that i.s asked for 
them. If Ave buy feeds we are told that it costs five 
or six dollars a ton more on account of .sacks if in 
hundreds. The Food Administration says that sacks 
should be .saved, because they cost 25 cents apiece, 
and Avill cost 90 .shortly. This is practically Avhat 
the feed dealers say. I Avrote the Administration 
Avhere I might be able to sell sound sacks to advan¬ 
tage. They replied that I should see my feed dealer. 
The feed dealer, Avhlle he is ready to sell sacks full 
of feed at 30 cents for the sack, is not in the busi¬ 
ness of buying .sacks as a usual thing. Where he 
does buy them he pays about 10 cents. I have been 
offered by buyers Avho come through the country for 
the purpose of buying, 12 cents if they are good 
sacks, but if a hole should be found he cuts the price 
considerably. It seems hardly the thing for the Ad¬ 
ministration to urge just such saving as that, al¬ 
though it may be for the advantage of the public In 
f 
a Avay. It is certainly for the advantage of dealens. 
Paper is said to he .'scarce and high. Everybody 
has a lot of paper that is supposed to be of some 
value, unless they have been fortunate enough to 
keep it -Avell burned up as received. Some .say it is 
worth 40 cents a hundred, but I cannot find a place 
where it can be sold at any price. If useful, as we 
are told, somebody ought to be buying It. Some¬ 
where there seems to be a leak in relation to such 
matters. ii. ii, L. 
It. N.-Y.—We have a large number of lime bags on 
hand, but cannot get CA’en a quotation. As fur paper, 
there is a vast quantity Avasted in circulars and bul¬ 
letins of advice Avhich no one ever reads. 
Choice Fruit For High-Class Markets 
Developing an Orchard From the Bottom 
Part II. 
OVERCOMING MISTAKES.—As stated (‘arUer. 
Mr. Schauber soon .saAV that he must avoid earlier 
mistakes in enlarging his fruit busine.ss. The earlitu- 
years of his AVork Avere occupied in the nursery and 
plant business, so Avhen he decided to become a 
choice fruit specialist he determined to groAV his OAvn 
trees and thus to knoAv his stock from the begin¬ 
ning. He budded and greAV trees for a second 10- 
acre orchard, and set them in the field in 1913, and 
another orchard of the same size Avas set in 191(1. 
Several kinds in the 1913 orchard are already pro¬ 
ducing good crops. These trees sIioav the best of 
training and care, as indicated by their shapely tops 
and healthy, vigorous groAvth. While many young 
oi'chards nearby shoAV heavy loss from the extreme 
Aveather conditions of the past Winter, there Avas less 
than five per cent of loss in this orchard. In the 
191G orchard the only damage occurred on an area 
tliat was in second-year groAvth of straAvberries, and 
so could not he kept cultivated last year. In other 
Avords, the trees that made the best groAvth last 
year suffered the least from Winter injury. 
LESSENING WINTER IN.IURY.—Mr. Schauber’.s 
experience from the test of the most .severe Winter 
on fruit trees seen in Northern Ncav York in 25 
years seems to indicate that hardy varieties, high, 
well-drained soil and e.specially good culture early in 
the season, folloAved by Aveed or crop groAvth on the 
soil late in the season, are the most essential factors 
to reduce Winter injury of young trees. An orchard 
of standard pears just beginning to produce profit¬ 
able crops is already proving a good source of profit 
from the fact that the much-despised Kieffer Ayas 
used as a filler. These are ahvays young bearers, 
Oc'tol)er 2(>, lois 
heavy producers and easy handler.s. They are bar¬ 
reled and .shipped to New Y’^ork or sold at the door 
to hucksters who peddle them out. 
CL( )8E-PLANTED TE8T ORCHARD. — Perhap.s 
the most interesting feature of Mr. Schauber’s Avork 
is the test of Avhat a close-planted orchard of many 
standard A’arieties AA’ill do. EleA’en hundred square 
feet Avas set in 1909 to 12 standard varieties. Tavo 
objectives Avere sought; one to test the adaptability 
of varieties, and the other to see what a small area 
Avill yield in a period of y<^ars. At the end of 10 
years of groAvth the trees touch at all sides, and yet 
even this year. Avhen nearly all fruit Avas killed hy 
the severe Winter, most of the McIntosh Red trees 
are AA-ell loaded Avith choice fruit. ^In 1913, four 
years from .setting, the .sales on this small plot 
(about one-fourth acre) Avere $57, Avhile in 191G. 
the best .A-ear, they amounted to .$3.50. The order of 
yield for varieties thus far has been (1) YelloAV 
Tran.sparent. (2) McIntosh. (3) Oldenburg, (4) 
Wealtlpy, (5) Jonathan. (G) Hubbardston, (7) 
Grimes Golden, (S) Rome Beauty, (9) TAventy 
Ounce, folloAved by small yields from the King, 
Spitzenberg and Sutton. The present year the Mc¬ 
Intosh and a feAA' other kinds are bearing heavily, 
although fruit buds in general Avere nearly all killed 
last Winter. 
HILL-TRAINED STRAWBERRIES.—Like many 
of his neighbors, iMr. Schauber had for years been 
groAving straAvberries and selling them in competi¬ 
tion Avith other groAA-ers, and getting the ordinary 
prices at the rush of the picking .season. Two ideas 
occurred to him that he might profit by. One Avas 
to have his straAvberries ready for market late, and 
the other Avas to have such choice fruit that they 
Avould sell Avell above the usual market price. Most . 
of the straAvberries supplied to the Saratoga and 
Schenectady markets are groAvn on .sandy loam soil. 
Avhile much of his soil is clay loam. This of itself 
Avould cause his berries to ripen about a Aveek later 
than the average. By keeping the mulch on the 
plants longer than most people thought .safe it Avould 
be possible to dela,v‘the ripening at least a Aveek. 
The A'arieties cho.sen to give superb berries of big 
.size Avere the Sample, and BrandyAvine and Prolific 
u.sed as filler.s. Size, high color, firmne.ss and even- 
ne.ss in ripening are all desirable qualities found in 
these A-arieties. The plants are set one foot apart 
in the roAvs and 3)4 feet betAveen the roAvs, and all 
runners except Avhat may be needed to produce 
plants to re](lace dead ones, are kept closely nipped 
off. This causes strong, A-igorous plants Avith big 
clusters of fruit. In groAving plants in this manner. 
hoAvever, it is necessary to groAV a small area each 
year in matted roAvs in order to get plants for set¬ 
ting a neAv field each year. The labor of caring for 
the crop for a full year before any returns are se¬ 
cured is found to be heavy. The runners must be 
nipped off six or seven times throughout the season, 
thorough coultivating and Aveeding are necessary, 
and plenty of fertilizer is essential to produce strong, 
vigorous plants. 
FINE FRUIT.—In the hill sy.stom of groAving, the 
color and .size are both better than with the matted 
roAvs. A dozen of tho.se big luscious berries Avill often 
fill a quart basket, and this, together Avith the rich, 
even color, makes them .sell readil.v at not le.ss than 
five cents a (luart above the ordinary price. Over a 
period of five years prior to 1917 the Avhole.sale price 
has averaged 15 to IG cents, Avhile last year it Avas 
nearly 23 cents. Under this system of groAving Mr. 
Schauber finds an aA-erage yield,to be 4.000 quarts. 
On this basis his crop last year made gross sales of 
$900 an acre. Even in Avar times very little trovible 
has been experienced in getting i)ickers. The farm is 
located near a small village Avhere Avomen and chil¬ 
dren are aA’ailable and glad to have the employment, 
q'he greatest difficulty is to get them to handle the 
fruit Avithout touching it, and ahvays to snip the 
stem instead of pulling the fruit off. 
.SIDE L1NE.8.—Mr. .Schauber is not only knoAvn 
as a succe.ssful fruit groAver but also as a plant 
breeder. For .several years he has Avorked in co¬ 
operation Avith the State College of Agricultux'e in 
develoidng a valuable variety of corn and several 
varieties of potatoes. His potato Avork is neAV, and 
ha.s not advanced to a point Avhere marked results 
can be seen, but his corn Avork is a notable success. 
About 12 years ago I’rof. Webber developed the va¬ 
riety AAdiich he named Cornell No. 12, but Avhich later 
has been given his oAvn name. With a desire to get 
this variety groAvn in a commercial Avay, the plant¬ 
breeding experts at the college arranged Avith Mr. 
Schauber to help put it on the market. By the ear 
to the roAV system of growing, and by selection for 
earlines.'-', he has developed a high yielding .strain of 
early silage corn. cras. s. fiielfs. 
