32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



recommend all farmers to raise more than they do. If they liave doubts, let 

 them grow a moderate amount first, and if well treated and judiciously fed 

 out I have no doubt they will increase the amount every year. 



The report was accepted and placed at the disposal of the Sec- 

 retary, and the following resolve was adopted : 



Resolved, That the culture of the turnip, Avherever this root can be easily 

 and successfully grown, may be largely extended with profitable results. 



Mr. Chamberlain presented the following on the 



Culture of Carrots. 



In view of the price of farm labor in this State for a series of years, and 

 particularly tlie scarcity of help at present, we would be slow to advocate any 

 change in husbandry involving increased manual labor, where it is not clear 

 to our perception, that such change carries with it an increased net result. 

 We believe that the general agriculture of Maine would be improved in a ratio 

 corresponding with any increase of root culture. 



Next to the potato, the carrot is perhaps the most valuable of all the roots, 

 entering as it readily does into the food of nearly every living thing upon the 

 farm. If every farmer in Maine would raise half an acre of carrots this year, 

 a new era would dawn on our agriculture. In all future time the crop would 

 be held as indispsnsablc and quite as useful as Indian corn. There is no crop 

 better adapted to a thorough preparation of the land for any succeeding crop ; 

 and all crops do well after carrots. There is no other root so conducive to the 

 health of fiirm stock. They increase the flow of milk, and greatly improve the 

 quality. With good care, the crop need not fail oftencr than any other ; and 

 the yield is very large. In looking back a few years to the large crops re- 

 ported through the agricultural societies and otherwise, in New England, New 

 York, and Canada, we find the yield ranging from 1,000 to over 1,900 bushels 

 per acre. Let us call the average crop in this State 500 bushels, and then 

 examine the result, compared witli a crop of oats. 



Assume that oats yield 40 hushels per acre, and we have, at 3.') cents per 

 bushel, ,*j;14. To raise an acre of carrots need not cost more than !<20 over 

 that of an acre of oats. But we will call the excess $25 ; 500 bushels of car- 

 rots will weigh at least 12 1-2 tons ; and tliey are wortl) in the market from 

 $12 to $10 per ton. Call them $14, and we have 35 cts. per bushel — the 

 same as oats. Then 500 bushels at 35 cts. is $175. Deduct $25 — excess of 

 cost in cultivation, and we have $150 — equal to the sum realized on ten and 

 five-sevenths acres of oats. Are we justified in placing so high a value on 

 carrots ? 



The American Veterinary Journal says : " Carrots are very excellent feed 

 for horses that have been long kept on highly carbonaceous food, and whose 

 digestive organs may be out of order, in conseciuence of their constant activity 

 in reducing meal and oats into the elements of animal nutrition. By examin- 

 ing the excrements of a horse fed in part on carrots, it will lie found to contain 

 no undigested hay or oats, and therefore we may safely infer that they promote 

 digestion ; so that by the use of carrots, less quantities of hay and oats will 

 sufiice than when a large amount is consumed and parted with in an undi- 

 gested state. For fattening animals, carrots are exceedingly valuable, as tlicy 

 possess the ]m)perty of gelatinizing the contents of the stomach, thus aiding 

 in the manufacture of fat out of other food which might otherwise pass out of 

 the system. Two bushels of oats and one of carrots are better for a horse than 

 three bushels of oats without carrots, and when the animal is used for light 

 work only, the quantity of carrots may be increased." 



Stewart, author of a book on Stable Economy, advances ideas similar to the 

 above, and says ; " Not only do carrots give strength and endurance to sound 

 horses, but also give recovery and health to such as are sick." 



