The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1904-01-22
shlawassee Farmers institute.

last week at the First M. e. church
Corunna. The next institute goes Il
Perry. The following officers wer
: elected Pres, G. b. Cook, Mapl'
River; vice president supervisor of eacl
township; secretary and treasurer, MARI
D. Circuit, of Morrice.
The sugar beet was a prominent topic
for discussion during the institute.
Sugar Beet Culture was taken up by
L. w. Oviatt, of Auburn, Bay county
the institute speaker. The sugar beef
industry has come to stay, he declared
and that it is one of the best of indus
tries. If the M. A. c. had never done
more than give us the sugar beet in
dustry, it would have paid its keep.
The first year in Bay county the ex-
perts directions were closely followed,
and there was good season. After
that, the farmers got careless did not
follow directions, and made partial
failure.
The first requisite in raising beets is
intelligence Soil is secondary; any
!, soil that will raise corn will raise beets.
Clay land is better than others. See
that your soil is free. from June grass
AS rule, plow in the fall that destroys
June grass. Pillow we'll; turn every
thing under. Plow deep, and begin
early to work the soil. Don't wait until
you are ready to plant. The soil must
be firm below with fine surface. Put
in beets with drill Keep your rows
of beets 16 to "a inches apart. Get into
the beets as soon. as they are up, and
then mercilessly Leave only one in a
place.
Give the beet crop a fair trial. If it
fails one year, try it again, as you would
another crop. The beets are Godsend
to our county and to our state. The
factories are honest with you; be honest
with them. Sometimes, when there is
dissatisfaction, a careless factory en-
ploye may be at the bottom of your
trouble.
John Y. Martin, of Corunna, was the
first called on to discuss the beet ques-
ton. He knew, he declared, less about
heets than any one else in the county
He believes that sugar factory employees
do not earn their money. Charles Whe-
Ian raised but two acres of sugar beets,
and never had horse in the field until
they were harvested. He did fairly
well, financially, too. Like others, he
bemoaned the exceedingly wet summer
that of 1903-which raised havoc with
the beets He believes it is unsatisfac-
tory for the sugar company to tare and
test beets without the owners presence.
The amount of seed should be, said
Mr.. Oviatt, a great sufficiency so that
much can be thinned out. Washington
Bingham thinks that beets are raised on
too poor soil.
A. b. Cook, of Maple River, offered
his testimony. He raised nine acres of
beets and got 1888. The beets cost about
$31. Seven of the nine acres were very
good and gave fneIprofit The beets
were not improperly thinned by an ire
sponsible class of help. Mr.. Cook work |
ed the past season with the Owosso |
Sugar Co., and defended the tareman |
who is usually honest and reliable. He |
believes beets must pay profit OF $50 |
an acre, net, or people will not raise |
them.
Frank Clark believes that the main
difficulty is in getting a good stand of
beets. Put in twelve pounds of seed an
acre and thin the plants until they are
ten inches apart. Too much is paid for
poor help 1t was brought out seed
should be planted half an inch deep OF a
little more.
Two other important talks of the in
stitute were those of State Senator Pal
mer, of Kalkaska, institute conductor,
and l. L. Snyder, president of the M. A.
G.
Mr.. Palmer took up the discussion of
The Centralized School Question
he said, is dear to the Am
erican people. Our rural schools are the
aost dear to us. The progressive spirit
Of this republic starts from the farm,
for we have-Slways upheld and worked
for the farm home No other institu-
ton has done more to upbGilS universe
lies and educational institutions in gen.
oral than the rural school.
There are some deficiencies in our
rural schools They have not progress
3D. for one thing. The average rural
school is small and the work not up to
The standard. There are many schools
with the average attendance at from
iveto fifteen pupils 1t is very hard for
q teacher to create interest among so
small number.
Our education today strives to get a
;hild to think for himself argue for
himself. Memorizing is not education;
. parrot can memorize. Yet memoriz-
-, &. abo,,t oil noxu Taught in tho ruroI |