Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1910-01-27
FARMERS INSTITUTE
Continued from page one,

l>dIAVett6 Itt
Hamilton-Seth Curtis
North Star-D Cawdrev
Newark--R Notion
North Haven Mrs Maggie Town
send
North Shade-Ro Cushman
Fulton-Jessie Walker
Washington. Bruce Stevenson
Elba d Bickford
Emerson-Ira v anderventer
Ithaca--Bert Saw
In the afternoon Mr.. Oviatt lectured
on sugar beets and their culture. In
the first place he opposed to much
blowing as being unnecessary; when
raising beets he thought once in
three or four wear rotation was
sufficient 1t was profit and no tn
amount of from each acre that the
farmer was looking for. Hence, he
must cut down all unnecessary plow-
ing which was financial burden
A good rotation he found was corn,
then beets and then oats. He recon-
mended w ide rows and few beets. but
10 keep them we'll welded out. TO his
surprise he found by actual experience
on his farm that the thinning out of
the beets did not have the effect of
decreasing his tonnage ner acre as he
expected il would The reason was
that the beets that he did get were OF
q larger size than when the beets
were grown closer. The one which
ne particularly emphasized was the fact
that the farmer must begin early In
his cultivation and not wait. Be-
gin early was his watch word.
This speech was followed by a lively
discussion. Manv of the audience were
successful sugar beet raisers and they
had some ideas upou the subject them
selves.
Mr.. lothian Allen, agriculturist for
the Sugar beet factory. was called to the
platform bv the president. tie dlsa-
greed with Mr.. Oviatt on one point.
he thought the disc harrow used in
cul,ivsting the beets should be the
ordinary narrow ones while MT. Oviatt
held that just double the width was
the better size. They agreed however
in the idea that the fsrmer should
begin early with his cultivation and
also that there should he not more
than one blowing in a rotation
Z. w. Hooper thought that the
factories were getting too much and
the farmer to little out of the sugar
beet business. Mr.. Cviatt replied
that be was not an authority on the
subject but suggested that if all the
farmers thought the same. they might
form a cooperative company for the
purpose of taking care of their
products.
When the discussion was finished,
the president. Mr.. Coleman was
Obliged to leave. He thanked the peO-
uie of Alma for their support of the
institute and the mebmers for the
honor Of again being reelected to the
presidents office
Mr.. Clapp again spoke this time on
the care of the farm orchard. He adj
vised each farmer planning to grow
fruit 70 choose that species which
grew best in this part of the country
What that was he was not prepared
TO saw The rows should be forty feet
apart and the trees about thirty two
feet apart. and when planted should
be inclined sliEhtelv tOwnard the west,
as the winds from that direction would
bend the tree if not leaning slightly
when il was planted He be lieved in
keeulug the land under the trees well
cultivated lie advised not to raise
grass under the trees although clover
was not harmful. liz pruning precau
ton should he taken to begin early.
before the..limbs had to be sawed and
chopped He had a little instrument
about the size of pocket knife which
ne said he used for the purpose of
pruning. Inc IOD- mOsJ DTdHC0es
should he triwmed as the lower ones
were much easier and less expensive
TO pick from. For spraying he
recommended solution Of four
pounds of sulpher and four pounds of
nuslacked lime to fftv gallons of water
For certain insects and scab he used
arsenate of led in this solution.
although paris green might be used
just as well. This solution was not
injurious to the pasturage under the
trees. Spraying should begin about
May and continue until July. 1t
should be resumed again In August.
as about that time the moths begin
laying their eggs As to patent
preparations, he said that 1t had been
found that the home preparation was
much the more effective than the
boughten ones. A.wesk solution of lime
and sulphur prevents plum rot and
charrv rot