No. 6. 



Mode of preparing Land for Rtita Boga. 



173 



tivatton, and proper and economical use of 

 this invaluable root, much sooner than many 

 people expect, who luive ma^de the subject a 

 part of their study. Indeperidantly, however, 

 of the farmers individually comprehending 

 tills matter, it is essential also, tliat the la- 

 bourers should understand, and by practice, 

 properly and directly at the first, become 

 expert with tiie hoe, and in singling out the 

 yon|^' plants without even for a moment 

 thiimng of touching them with their fingers, 

 however close they may be in the row. In 

 entering into a consideration of the expense 

 stated to have been incurred (one hundred 

 and thirty days at a cost of $99,) in the cul- 

 ture of three acres of turneps, [ must confess 

 that I never was so much at fault in my life, 

 in being unable to comprehend how it was 

 possible so large an outlay of labour could 

 have been devoted to that object. It is pre- 

 sumed that in New Hampshire, hoes have 

 not, as yet, found their way, but that the 

 good farmers there proceed on the principle 

 that " fingers were made before forks," and 

 have used them where the hoe, plough or 

 drill ought to have been exclusively made 

 use of. Besides, sotnething is said about 

 making out the land in squares, and shaking 

 over each intersection, seeds contained in a 

 box, two or three in a place, transplanting 

 where they failed to come up, &c., altogether 

 a bundle of absurdities and perfectly con- 

 temptible, were it not that this was the first 

 attempt on the part of the New Hampshire 

 farmer, to raise a crop, (in which he appears 

 to have been eminently successful,) of the 

 root of all roots, notwithstanding President 

 Muse's famous recorded declaration that they 

 are " utterly worthless, composed chiefly of 

 fibrous matter, a simj)le hydrate of woody 

 O ! what a sentiment for the president of an 

 agricultural society to deliver ! To be char- 

 itable, however, it is inferred that he never 

 saw a crop of turneps which had been sown 

 in proper season. From this digression I will 

 proceed to say, that I never saw any thing 

 more than half a crop of any root obtained by 

 dibbling, or what is the same thing, dropping 

 seeds here and there ; and early observed that 

 the principle was wrong, and the practice pro- 

 ductive of nothing but disappointment of a 

 very grievous nature. Whoever is parsi 

 monious in seed, particularly turnep seed, or 

 beets for field crops, will reap his just re- 

 ward. One pound of the former, and four of 

 the latter, is the proper quantity which the 

 drill in use on this farm will distribute with 

 the utmost precision, the plants standing in 

 the row, on an average, half an inch from 

 each other. But why have them so thick ] 

 That is a question which has been put to roe 

 a hundred times. The answer has invariably 

 been : You cannot obtain a. full 'plant in their 



proper flares, except there are a superabun- 

 dance of them to enable you to make a pro- 

 per selection when they are hoed to their 

 proper distance. But, there is yet another 

 argument in favour of thick sowing. An 

 attentive cibserver of the turnep crop will 

 remark a vas-t disparity in the general ap- 

 pearance of the plants as regards strength, 

 and of their fitness to remain, four days after 

 they are up. How can this circumstance be 

 accounted for. Certainly not, that some 

 seeds are more favourably situated than others, 

 as respects germination, &c., for it is found 

 that plants in close afllnity, present the same 

 striking contrast, and may be noticed every 

 where along the rows. Is it constitutional 

 in seeds, as in animals to produce weak and 

 strong of their kind? The writer has long 

 thought so, from the result of several experi- 

 ments he has made with difi:erent seeds, par- 

 ticularly the turnep, and uniformly arriving 

 at the same conclusions, that one-fourth are 

 unfit to be retained to stand for a crop. 

 Hence, the importance of a liberal allowance 

 of seed. Should the foregoing reasoning on 

 this peculiar character of seeds be deemed 

 by you of any i\nportance, a fijrther elucida- 

 tion from so competent a source, would be 

 interesting and useful. In harvesting a crop 

 of turneps, that plan is best which admits of 

 the least handling, the operator taking hold 

 of them with the left hand and with a strong 

 knife in the other, trim off the fibrous roots, 

 and top them while yet in his hand, throwing 

 them into the furrow, placing three or four 

 rows together, for the greater convenience 

 of loading. It is deemed advisable to top and 

 tail no more than can be secured the same 

 day, choosing dry windy weather for the busi- 

 ness. To keep them through the winter, the 

 plan adopted on this farm is tlie same as the 

 one practised b}'- the New Hampshire farmer, 

 and is the very best that can possibly be de- 

 vised. 



In feeding turneps, my space will only ad- 

 mit of 'my stating generally that all animals 

 except calves prefer them in their whole 

 state. As a matter of precaution, the small 

 ones ought to be preserved for the hogs, or 

 cut up for the calves and yearlings, except- 

 ing there is kept on the farm an implement 

 for dislodging potatoes or turneps fi'om the 

 throats of animals. It is labour misapplied, 

 to cut or mangle roots in any form. What a 

 business it would be to pass through a vege- 

 table cutter the daily allowance of a thousand 

 sheep and fifty bullocks ! Animals eat them 

 as we do apples, bite off bit by bit, with ex- 

 quisite relish. What, not slice them a little 

 for the poor little sheep? No! Positively 

 injurious to do so. Neither for the hogs, no 

 matter the size, the larger the better. Twen- 

 ty hogs are generally wintered on this farm 



