370 



Rirrht Method of Farming.— Oxen.— Beet Sugar. Vol. IY. 



as smooth as it could have been by the hoe, 

 and the pulverized earth was dragged and 

 deposited in the hollows, as well as it could 

 have been done by the shovel; the land 

 being thus as effectually worked and levelled 

 as by barrow and roller. The use of this 

 very simple machine is calculated to save 

 immense labour and time; but my friend 

 could not be prevailed upon to communicate 

 its use for the benefit of his neighbours, 1 

 have, therefore, undertaken to do it, conceiv- 

 ing that it ought to be made known for the 

 good of the community. ^ i 



In conclusion, I have known upwards ol 

 seven hundred bushels of potatoes grown 

 per acre, by the above mode of planting, 

 which required one flat hoeing only by hand 

 for the destruction of the seed weeds — the 

 Toot weeds having all been gathered and re- 

 moved before planting the crop— they w-ere 

 not moulded in the slightest degree ; and to 

 this circumstance, in conjunction with care- 

 ful management in planting, must be at- 

 tributed the great yield of the crop, as also 

 the quality, which was very superior, the 

 bulbs beino- all of a good size, and not de- 

 formed by those knobs which are so common 

 on those that have been raised by repeated 

 mouldinos— would our friends think on these 

 thino-s ■? ^ -^ Subscriber. 



Fast Working Oxen. 



The greatest objection to the employment 

 of oxen upon the road and on the farm is 

 their slow movement. This objection is 

 oftener the fault of the man than of the 

 beast. Very much depends upon the training 

 of steers, and no animal shows the treatment 

 he has received in training more surely than 

 the ox. Observe him when he is free in the 

 field, and he will walk as fast as a horse; 

 and the same speed of walking may be se- 

 cured in the team by proper training. It is 

 common in breaking them to yoke them with 

 oxen that have already acquired a slow pace, 

 or to load them so heavily that they can 

 scarcely move, and by such means it is that 

 they acquire a tardy habit of working while 

 in the team ; but it is better to train them 

 yoked behind a fast walking horse, or to at- 

 tach them to a light wagon, with a load that 

 they can easily move ; by this course a quick- 

 er step may be secured, which will go far to 

 obviate the objection above named. 



Right Method of Farming. 



A farmer by the name of Thomas Oliver, 

 residing five or six miles from Edinburgh, 

 leased a farm for the last twenty years of 

 one hundred and fifty acres, paying annually 

 a rent of ten guineas per acre, (seven thou- 

 sand five hundred dollars per annum,) on 

 ■which he raised grain, hay, and vegetables, 

 for the market of Edinburgh; this lease he 

 has recently renewed for nineteen years, on 

 the same terms ; and from a poor man, he 

 has become independent in his circumstances, 

 and now rides in his carriage ! What Amer- 

 ican farmer could make a profit that would 

 enable him to pay such an enormous rent 1 

 All may be accounted for on the principles 

 of judicious cropping, heavy manuring, and 

 careful cultivation. 



' The annual meeting of the English Agri- 

 cultural Society will be held in Cambridge, 

 the present month, and great preparations are 

 making to accommodate the numerous as- 

 semblage that is expected to be i)resent : the 

 dinino--room built for the purpose, will be 

 197 feet long and 113 feet wide, and will 

 accommodate 2500 persons. The premiums 

 offered for the present year amount to ifsGOOO ; 

 the annual income of the Society isjiil4,000 ; 

 the total number of subscribers 2172. 



Beet Sugar. 



During the last winter a memorial was 

 presented to Congress by Mr. Charles L. 

 Fleischman, on the culture of the sugar beet, 

 which we consider a most valuable and in- 

 teresting document. We should be glad to 

 publisirthe whole, but must be content with 

 a few extracts,—" blending the useful with 

 the sweet." 



"The beets are now cut in thin slices, 

 dried before any fermentation can take place, 

 ground to fine powder, so that all cells are 

 broken apart, and mixed with water, which 

 dissolves the sugar before the mucilage be- 

 gins to swell. The pure uncoloured liquor 

 obtained is evaporated, and the syrup brought 

 into moulds to crystallize. 



The general argument against the introduc- 

 tion of "this branch of industry, that labour 

 is too high in the United States, is incorrect, 

 when we^consider the other advantages which 

 the United States have over every other 

 country on the globe in almost every business, 

 and especially in this branch of industry : 



1st. The United States possess a climate 

 which suits the beets better than the climate 

 of Europe, because the summers are excess- 

 ively warm, which increases the saccharine 

 quality of the beet root. 



2d. Plenty of cheap and rich land, subject 

 to but a small tax. 



3d. Inexhaustible stores of fuel, from 

 which the great natural water-courses, rail- 

 roads and canals, branch over the whole 

 Union. 



4th. Well-constructed labour-saving ma- 

 chines of all descriptions. 



