202 



Beet Culture. 



Vol. IV. 



been fed the first winter on dry food and corn, 

 will be at the end of three years. 



The raising a portion of beet is interesting 

 to every farmer, inasmuch as the seed re- 

 quired to commence will put him to little ex- 

 pense, and afterwards he can supply luinself ; 

 the business of his farm is the same as if he 

 had planted an extra acre of potatoes, and the 

 effects on milk, butter, cheese, fattening- pigs, 

 Slc. is immediate. But on this crop, as in 

 most new things, people will entertain dif- 

 ferent opinions ; the merits of the question 

 may be safely left to the decision of SELF 

 INTEREST, in a country whore the people 

 are fond of beef, butter, good meat and profit. 

 The object of this paper is simply to furnish 

 some information on the subject. 



Although the intention of this paper is to 

 call tl:e attention of farmers, to the raising of 

 Beets, with a view to the improvement of 

 their stock of cattle, tlieir land, and tiieir 

 circumstances, it will not bo out of place to 

 draw their attention to another branch of the 

 business of agriculture, that proves profitable 

 to the husbandmen of other countries, aTid 

 which is here more and more assuming an 

 inviting appearance. 



The best spermaceti oil, burnt in lamps, is 

 now selling in Philadelphia at one dollar and 

 fifty cents a gallon. The practice of using 

 oil for lighting our houses, and its price, have 

 for years been on the advance, and in conse- 

 quence of the great number of whaling ships, 

 the number of fish must be decreasing, and 

 those that escape the fishermen, become more 

 wary and shy. If oil, in consequence of 

 these growing causes, is so high in the sea- 

 board towns, it v/ill be higher in those of the 

 interior, in proportion to the expense and 

 hazard incident to transportation ; therefore 

 the farmer in these districts, has so much 

 more inducement to raise the plants from 

 wJiich oil is made. 



Most earnestly we recommend to farmers 

 and planters, the growing of Rape, which is 

 a species of cabbage, or rather of greens, as 

 it does not head. The French call it Colza — 

 and it is from seed of this plant, that great 

 quantities of oil is made by the French and 

 the English ; and tiie former, make from 

 poppy seed abundance of table oil, so good in 

 quality that it answers all the purposes of 

 olive oil, and is much cheaper. 



Those who are acquainted witli the culti- 

 vation of these plants, (the Rape and Poppy,) 

 harvesting the seed, and making the oil, cmld 

 confer great service on the country by pub- 

 lishing the i)rocesses, or such of them as they 

 are acquainted with ; and there is every rea- 

 son to presume, the Publishers of the " Far- 

 mer's Cabinet,"* published in Philadelphia, the 



* We invite communications on those subjects. 



" Cultivator" at Albany, the " American Far- 

 mer" at Baltimore, and the "Farmer's Regis- 

 ter" at Petersburgh, &c. &c., would give the 

 communications a place in the columns of 

 their very useful periodicals. 



It is with farmers, as with manufacturers, 

 merchants, and tradesmen of all descriptions; 

 all are exposed to the fiuctuations constantly 

 operating on trade and commerce, influencing 

 prices, supply, and consumption ; and every 

 one should observe the improvements that are 

 ma.le in the arts and sciences that relate to 

 his particular business. For it is not to be 

 disputed, that all other things being equal, 

 those who are best informed, with the same 

 extent of industry, are to be most successful : 

 And while the manufacturer is diversifying 

 his productions, and lessening the quantity of 

 labour required to make them, the mer- 

 chant is performinar voyages in twenty-eight 

 days, that formerly employed three months, 

 and letters pass between New York and 

 Liverpool with nearly the regularity of a 

 well-conducted mail-coach, and go with great- 

 er speed. The farmer must exert himself 

 also, or be laid under contribution to the more 

 active ; while he is neglecting to study the 

 nature and qualities of soils, manures, the 

 kind of grain, plants, and cattle best suited to 

 his circumstances, the most effective manner 

 of employing labour — and economizing time 

 and every thing about him, — the manufic- 

 turer is calling tj his aid a stream of water, 

 or steam engine, and with one or other of 

 these agents, and the assistance of a few wo- 

 men or children, is converting bales of low 

 priced raw cotton into costly cloths; or by em- 

 ploying a few sturdy men, iron ore into cart 

 wheel tires, ploughs, needles, ifcc. &c., a few 

 pounds of which will pay for the bale of cot- 

 ton, barrel of wheat, or barrel of pork — nay, 

 there are cases in which this will be done by 

 a few ounces. 



It is somewhat remarkable that there are 

 few distinguished and celebrated farmers or 

 planters, in comparison with tradesmen, en- 

 gineers, and manufacturers. The trutli is, the 

 profession of husbandry, although it can be 

 carried on in some way or other by most men, ^ 

 is one of the most intricate and diversified ; in- 

 tluenced by causes, the laws of which are hard- 

 ly known; — for example, of vegetation, the 

 manner in which manure acts, the operation 

 of lime, gypsum, &c. and the nature of soils, 

 the grains and plants most suitable for soils 

 and circumstances of the farmer, the seasons, 

 the weather, the habits of ))Iants, the nature, 

 (ifil'cts, and habits of insects, the grains^ 

 grasses, fruit trees, the adroit skill to secure 

 (he proper moment for sowing, harvesting, 

 ploughing, and the innumerable operations 

 and occurrences of a farm, influenced as they 

 are by the vicissitudes of weather, and the 



