The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-17
WHY BUY SYRUP WHEN GARDENS
 CAN SUPPLY IT
One Bushel of Beets Will Produce 5 Quarts of Sweet
 Juice Say Experts

| Washington, D. C., May 17-Sugar for sugar making, but their value as a source of the family syrup supply has I been overlooked. Sugar beets suit able for syrup making may be grown wherever the soil of reasonable fer tility is available. The sweetness of the beets may be greater in one To- cality than in another, but all sugar beets contain sugar enough to make syrup, say specialists of the United
 States Department of Agriculture. The syrup may be made by very simple process, and a few rows in the garden will produce beets enough to give a family all the syrup needed.
 A bushe1 of beets will produce from three to five quarts of syrup. As the
 beets when mature should weigh from i to 2 pounds each, 30 or 40 of them win make a bushel, and as the beets after thinning stand about
 10 inches apart in rows about 20 inches apart, 1t is easy to determine
 how much ground to use for sugar beets if particular quantity of syrup is desired. A few rows in the garden
 generally will be sufficient.
 The ground is<plowed or spaded to a good depth, without turning up much raw soil, and is made firm, smooth, and free from Jumps as early in the spring as possible. It is then
 kept free from weeds until seeding
 time, which is not until the ground
 Is warm.
 The seed is planted half an inch or
 an inch deep, either in hills or in solid rows. If in hills, each hill contains from to 6 seed balls and the hills ar oh Q yoo If If in SQI-
 i'd rows the plants are blocked" by
 cutting out sections of the rows so that the plants remaining stand in
 tufts about 10 inches apart. The rows
 are about 20 inches apart.
 As soon as possible, the beets are thinned to one plant in each hill or tuft. This is done by hand, as the plants are very close together. Good cultivation is necessary. Where irri- gation is needed the surface of the ground around the beets must not be flooded as a crust will form and the
 air will be cut off from the root.
 For proper development, sugar beets require four to six months. When they are ready for harvest ing, the tops show a yellowish tinge and the beets will pull up with little dirt. After being loosened, the beets may be lifted with a tWo-tined fork. They are then topped by cutting off the crowns at the point of the lowest 1 leaf scar, as the crown contains much | Of the salts taken up during growth. l If not to be made into syrup at
 once, the beets may be stored in pits
 covered with earth or in some other way so as to keep them cool without
 freezing and without wilting.
 In making syrup the topped beets
 are cleaned by soaking a few min
 utes, then scrubbing with a coarse.
 stiff brush The next step is to cut them into slices as thin as one-six-
 teenth of an inch if possible. A but
 cher knife may be used, but a kraut
 cutter or some other slicing device 1 is easier
 The sliced beets are placed in a i tight barrel and just enough hot wa
 ter to cover them-boiling water if
 possible-is poured in at once. The ] barrel is then covered with several thicknesses of canvas to hold the
 heat. The sliced beats are allowed
 to soak for about 60 minutes. The
 barrel is agitated from time to time without being uncovered. This pro- 1 cess brings out the sugar from the beets. The liquid is then drawn off. strained through several thicknesses l of cheesecloth, and placed in a ket- tie or other vessel, in which it is boil i ed slowly until it has evaporated down to the thickness desired. It is important that the boiling be slow and the process will take several hours. The work may be done out doors if desired. Care should be talk
 en not to scorch the syrup. The scum which rises to the surface of the li- quid is skinned off, to remove the strong, beetlike flavor.
 The syrup Is bottled or canned
 while hot and sealed to prevent mold ing, It is dark in color, but has ,leasant flavor,