THE PENINSULA FARMERS' CLUB. 473 



of riita-bagrts ai'e as good as 100 pounds of hay; and these two are better fed 

 together, — better than twice the quantity of hay alone. The mangel-wurzel 

 is good also, but the soil must be very rich. Dr. Loring of Massachusetts raised 

 1,800 bushels on one and one-eighth acres. A ton of these is worth more than a 

 ton of any turnips, but the Swede may be raised at less expense ; so if they will 

 answer our purpose, they are as a rule the root crop for neat cattle. Squash 

 is no doubt valuable, especially for hogs. Mr. Tracy has fed them Avith a profit, 

 he thinks; but for late feeding nothing is better than roots. 



Mr. Parmelee. — What we should raise for stock depends much on our situ- 

 ation ; if our fields are full of stumps the hay crop may cost too much. This, 

 too, must be considered ; we do not want to run down our lands. Now, if 

 raising squashes requires high cultivation, it is a different question, and may 

 be attended with difficulty. In some sections, corn is raised crop after crop on 

 the same land. Then, to be sure, the season of sun heat — the decomposing 

 season — is longer than with us, though this question has never been tested 

 here I believe. I have always kept stock, though not as a business, and I en- 

 dorse what has been said of corn fodder. My young cattle, fed alone on corn 

 fodder, have come out in the spring good for beef. I wanted to hear what 

 those in this neighborhood who raised cattle as a business have to say on this 

 subject. I and many others about Old Mission have our farms mainly in trees. 

 I should like to hear what crops are best to raise in orchards. Now, I know 

 that trees need about the cultivation we give corn. You have better trees and 

 better apples when the trees bear, than if left in the sod. Mr. Marshall, of 

 Painsville, says after trying everything else among trees, he has settled down 

 upon corn fodder as the best. Now, if the crop will pay, it is just what we 

 want for trees, better than potatoes ; we dig them late and may start the buds. 

 Buckwheat exhausts the soil, putting nothing back. As a rule, those crops 

 which yield the heaviest quantities injure the soil the least. Now, corn roots 

 fill the whole ground. You would be surprised to find how wonderfully the 

 small roots are spread all through the ground. In raising hay we have this to 

 rely on : the decomposing sod is a fertilizer for almost any crop. In this way 

 the fertility of the soil may be kept up. At Old Mission it was shown lately 

 that roots and carrots may be, and ought, perhaps, to be sown in June, — late in 

 June, — thus escaping the attacks of the early insects. If this is true it is an 

 important fact. 



Mr. George Lardie, Sr, — It is objected that squash raising is too expensive; 

 but what will prepare land better for another crop? If we could raise ruta- 

 bagas as they do in New York, I would raise them. Corn fodder is good, but 

 six or seven tons of squash to the acre is better. 



Mr. Tyrer.— Years ago I landed three families at Whitewater late in the sea- 

 son. They each had a cow, put in turnips and wintered their cattle. Turnips 

 for calves, even with straw alone, will keep them in good order. Feed half tur- 

 nips and half hay if you want fat cattle. All dry feed won't do. So of horses: 

 two-thirds oats and one-third peas is the very best feed for horses. 



Mr. Parmelee, in reply to a question by Mr. McCallum, said when successive 

 crops of corn were raised for years on the same land, the stalks were not cut 

 for fodder, but were burned in the spring. 



Mr. McCallum. — And perhaps cattle allowed to run in the fields in the 

 winter. 



Mr. Montague. — Not only stalks but straw are burned in some fertile sec- 

 tions. Corn, no doubt, does not impoverish soil so much as some other crops. 



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