The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1914-04-28

soon as the rows can be seen, but
do not throw the dirt over the beets.
Block and thin the beets Just as soon
as they are large enough to handle.
Space with reference to the strength
and moisture-holding capacity of the
soil.
Rotate with other crops to improve
pests. Keep plenty of live stock to
utilize the beet tops and other feed
and supply stable manure In har-
vesting the beets see that they are
all gathered, properly topped, and as
free as possible from dirt Cover the
beets as soon as topped to prevent
evaporation, and utilize beet tops,
pulp and lime with view to improv-
ing soil conditions.
The by-products of the beet field
and sugar mill that are of particular
Importance to the farmer are the beet
tops, the pulp and the waste lime. If
properly handled, the beets form a
valuable asset for the beet grower,
and in considering the value of beet
crop they should be reckoned at their
real worth as stock food. Many
farmers sell their tops at a cash price
ranging from $3.50 to SIS per acre, In
which case the grower is the loser
for the reason that the tops are of
greater value to him as a stock food,
and if he allows the tops to leave his
farm he loses their manurial value,
consisting of a large part of mineral
plant food taken up by beets in the
process of growth, and also their
humus value, which results from re-
turning the tops to the soil in the
form of stable or barnyard manure.
The most economical way to handle
the tops is to gather them into piles
soon after they wilt and before
they become thoroughly dry. In this
condition they can be gathered with
much less loss than would be the case
if they were left scattered over the
ground until dried. After they have
cured in the piles they should be
hauled to the feed yard, where they
should be fed in properly constructed
racks to avoid waste
Beet pulp is an excellent stock food.
This by-product is the refuse that re-
mains after the beets have been
sliced and the sugar extracted AS
a stock food it may be used either as
green pulp, that is, just as it comes
from the mill, or it may be dried.
Waste lime is a by-product of the
sugar MILL which under certain con-
ditions is of considerable value to the
farmer for correcting the acid condi-
ton of the soil. 1t is well known that
a soil should be neutral or slightly
alkaline in order to produce the best
results. Lime has the ability to com
bine with the injurious acids that de-
velop in the soil and thereby render |
them neutral. Ordinarily an applica- |
ton of from 500 to 1000 pounds of |
waste lime per acre will correct the |
acidity and otherwise improve the soil. |
Poultry as Food.
Although not as many varieties of |
poultry are in common use in the |
United States as in Europe, and al |
though eggs form perhaps the most
important part of the total poultry |
industry in the United States, enough |
birds are raised and sold for their |
flesh to make poultry an important |
item in the list of foods, says the de-
partinent of agriculture. Chickens
are, Of course, far the most common |
Of the kinds of poultry Next come
turkeys; then ducks and geese, fol
lowed by capons and squads, the other
varieties, such as guinea fowl, pleas
ATS and quail being least common of
all.
In raising birds for the market spe-
cial fattening has not heretofore been
practiced in this country with any
thing like the same frequency as in
Europe; but American breeders are
gradually coming to ii more and more,
especially on the large poultry farms
which are springing up in many places.
The extreme methods used so much
in France are not, however, consid-
cred advantageous by most American
breeders.
Live poultry is very commonly mar
keted, especially in the southern
states, where it is the custom to kill
a short time before cooking, but, con-
sidering the country as a whole, 1t
is doubtless true that the dressed
birds are marketed more than the
live, and the buyer must depend
mainly on the appearance of the skin
and flesh to tell him how fresh the
bird is, and whether it has been prop
erly dry-plucked or plunged into boil
ing water to make the plucking cas-
Ter. In most cases. also, the age must
be determined by the pliability Of the
breastbone or, in duck and goose, of
the windpipe
The methods of cooking poultry are
in general the same as those for other
kinds of meat The tougher the bird
the more cooking will be needed to
make It tender and easily digested,
and the larger 1t Is the more heat will