734 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 12 



its slender root deep into the ground Without mak- 

 ing much top, or swellinff to any si/e. In weed- 

 ing care is tai<en not to pull out the carrots, which 

 are easily distingtiighed from weeds. Aftef the 

 flax is pulled, the ground is gone over and weeded 

 again ; liquid manure is then spread over, and the 

 'Carrots soon begin to grow, and the roots to swell. 

 ■If the main crop was barley, the stubble is care- 

 I'ully pulled up, and the carrots are then treatid as 

 Tiefore. Thus by the middle of October a wood 

 weight of carrots is produced on land, which had 

 already given a profitable crop that season and a 

 great supply of winter food is obtained for the cat- 

 tle. Carrots are occasionally sown amongst peas. 

 The peas ripen in July, and are pulled up ; and 

 then the carrots are treated as we have been de- 

 scribing. Ifthe row culture were introduced, and 

 the carrots and peas drilled in alternate rows, the 

 i-uocess would probably be more complete. This is 

 done in the intervals of the colza or rape with good 

 success. About fifteen small cart-loads of carrots, 

 or about ten or twelve tons per acre, is considered 

 a (air crop. Judgin<r from the produce of about 

 one-eighth of an acre of good sand, in which the 

 white carrot was sown in England, in March 

 1836, without manure, the rows a foot apart and 

 well weeded and hoed, the crop would have 

 reached twenty-two tons per acre ; the common 

 oransre carrot in the same ground did not produce 

 half that weight. 



Parsnips are sown in land too heavy for carrots; 

 and in a deep rich loam, the produce is very great. 

 They have the advantage of bearing the severest 

 frost, and therefore do not require to he housed, 

 but may be left in the ground until they are requir- 

 ed .for use. They are not thought so jjood for 

 milch cows as carrots, but superior for (iitfing cat- 

 tle. The quality of the soil must decide which of 

 the two may be sown to most advantage. 



There is another root, the cullivaiion of which 

 is often very profitable, althouorh of compara- 

 tively small use on the farm. This is chicory, of 

 which the dried roots are roasted and used instead 

 of coffee. A considerable commerce in this root 

 has sprung up lately, which has caused a duty of 

 JC20 per ton to be laid on its importation into 

 Britain. It is the same plant which Arthur 

 Young so strongly recommended for its leaves for 

 cattle and sheep ; but it has not been found to an- 

 swer the expectation in this point of view. The 

 roots contain a strong bitter, which mav be ex- 

 tracted by infusion ; it is also used in thf brewinir 

 of beer to save hops. It is wholesome, and if if 

 does not impart an unpleasant taste to the beer, 

 there can be no objection to its use. At all events 

 the cultivation of if, whether for beer or coflee, is 

 a part of Flemish agriculture, and deserves to be 

 noticed. The seed is sown in the end of March 

 or beginning of April. It is treated exactly as 

 the carrot, when sown alone. The crround should 

 be mellow and deep, rather heavy than light, and 

 ploughed or trenched to a good depth. It is sown 

 broad-cast in Flanders, as every thinsr pIse is ; but 

 it would be much better if it were sown in rows 

 eighteen inches apart. The leaves may be given 

 to sheep or pigs ; but they give a bad taste to the 

 milk of the cows who eat them. The roots are 

 taken up in September, and are then of the size of 

 a small carrot; they are cut into pieces, and dried 

 in a kiln. In that state they are exported. The 

 price varies much, according to produce and de- 



mand. It is not an object of general cultivation, 

 but only by particular persons and in particular 

 soils ; the market is overstocked at one time, and 

 a great demand exists at another. Such a pro- 

 duce can never enter into a regular course, but 

 may be raised as circumstances may afford a pros- 

 pect of sale and profit. 



From tlie Farmers' Cdbinet. 

 BLUE MUD. 



Mr. Editor — There ie an article on our salt 

 marshes called the blue mud, which doubtless pos- 

 sesses many fertilizing properties. Several farm- 

 ers have endeavored to experiment with it in their 

 agriculture, but these have been very lew, and 

 their experiments quite limited. Where the arti- 

 cle has been exposed to severe frost, say one win- 

 ter, (the object is to pulverize it) and applied to 

 corn in the month of May, when it is two inches 

 out of the ground, it has had a very fine effect. 

 The corn being three times as good where this 

 mud was applied, than in any other portion of the 

 field. If this article is a valuable manure, we 

 have an inexhaustible store — and need not (ear 

 the apparent increasing poverty of our lands. The 

 probable properties are sea-eait, oil and sulphur. 

 Some suppose it is the washings of the upper 

 country, having a clay basis. This seems impro- 

 bable, from the liict, that when a ditch is dug, 

 where the tide has access, it will be filled in a 

 very short time with this siibsiance. But what 

 renders it difficult to determine, is the clay accom- 

 panying it ; it is affirmed that the sea does not de- 

 posit that. As it will be a cheap manure, and ea- 

 sily obtained by every farmer, whether proprietor 

 or rentor of land, if Ibund to be valuable, my ob- 

 ject is to elicit information through the pages of 

 the Cabinet. I hope some gentleman who is ac- 

 quainted with the deposits of the flood-tide, (aa 

 this is the tide bearing to our shores) will give ua 

 an essay on the subject, and whether he has tho- 

 roughly investigated it or not, any additional know- 

 ledge of its properties will be gladly received by 

 I he farmers of Kent county, Delaware. If any 

 gentleman, having experimented with it on hia 

 land, will give us the result of the same, it may 

 help agriculture onward. At present there is a 

 spirit of airricultural improvement in Kent county ; 

 and a dwindling away of that prejudice so long 

 fostered against agricultural papers, in so much, 

 that almost every farmer is patronizing or anxious 

 to subscribe for some good practical journal. It 

 is therefore a matter of interest to the proprietors 

 of the Cabinet, as well as the farming community 

 at large, to enrich the pages of their work with 

 articles of utility. Your friend, 



A Subscriber. 



Dover, Kent Co., Bel. Sep. 15, 1838. 



From llie Farmers' Cabinet. 

 THE MULBKRRY — SILK, KTC. 



Burlington, N. J. Aug. 1, 1838. 

 Your letter of the 11th ult., was duly received, 

 in which a number of interrogatories on the sub-, 

 ject of silk-growing, &c., were addressed to me, 



