FARMERS' REGISTER, 



has added a mile to it, 1 shall be happy in the re- 

 fleciion thai I have, at least perlbrined a duty to 

 niankiiul ; and il' I iiave been lirosonie in ihe task, 

 my apolojiy musi tie, ihe zealous interest 1 leel in 

 the promotion of my humble proles.-=ion. 



Your li'iend and obedient servant, 



John A. Selden. 



ROOTS — NECESSITY OF OTHER PRODUCTS BE- 

 SIDES INDIAN CORN FOR STOCK IBIPOR- 



TANCE OF JUDICIOUS ROTATION — FARMING 

 IN ENGLAND. 



From tlie Franklin Fanner. 



Mapleioood, near Lexivgton, ? 

 Nov. 28, 1839. ] 

 Dear Sir : — Much attention seems to be di- 

 rected at this moment, in this state and elsewhere, 

 lo the importance of introducing some auxiliary 

 crops, to supply certain qualities of nutriment, in 

 which our old staples are deficient ; and in case 

 of" a delault of these, lo stand in the place of sub- 

 stitutes (or them. Those who have bestowed 

 care upon any of the domestic races of animals, 

 well know ihe advantage, summer and winter, 

 of feeding, in part, with succulent (bod. The 

 vegetable juices which it contains, seem lobe as 

 much relished by these animals, as the most savo- 

 ry gravies by their intelligent owners. That they 

 aid in the preservation of health, is sufficiently 

 demonstrated in the superior condition of animals 

 which are led upon thetn. The skin of these, 

 soft and pleasant to ihe touch, is entirely free of 

 scurf, and their hair, smooth and silky, shines with 

 a natural oil. In this section of Kentucky, we are 

 perhaps, as well supi)lied as any oilier portion of 

 the union with this valuable description of Ibod. 

 The common rye, which is now generally used 

 for winter pasturage, appears to be exceedingly 

 nutritious, and stock of all kinds graze il with 

 avidity ; and we have besides, a wonderlijl re- 

 source in the beautiful blue-grass, which, like a 

 mantle of charity from on high, covets our country, 

 even in the bleakest weather, vvilh an exquisite and 

 delicious verdure. Rye and blue-grass, in fact, 

 upon large farms, and when the season is propi- 

 tious, are nearly ail that the great farmer wants. 

 But our fall and winter pastures, are not always 

 equally good ; snows are of uncertain duration ; 

 and many small farmers cannot allot a sufficient 

 portion of pasture Ibr winter use : and in all cases, 

 especially where labor is more abundant than land, 

 the cultivation of a judicious assortment of roots 

 would well repay the fiirnier for any trouble and 

 expense that it might cost. But another weighty 

 consideration, which may be mentioned in lavor 

 of inlroduciiig the general use of roots as an addi- 

 tional farm crop, is, that from the different time o( 

 seeding and maturing it is very likely that the root 

 crop would often hit when the grain would fail, 

 and thus roots which are themselves sufficien.t for 

 stock, without either other food or water, would 

 rise in the scale from the second to the first place 

 in the husbandry of years of scarcity. It is unne- 

 cessary to enlarge upon this topic. Experience 

 has impressed it upon the minds of most of us, that 

 email grain, in our climate, is precarious, and the 

 annual variation of price, indicates but too plainly 

 that even Indian corn, our staff and support, is not 



absolutely sure to reward the farmer vvilh a full 



return. During the present year, it is said, large 

 droves of our slock have been sent to distant parts 

 in quest of grain, and thus many larmers in the 

 present season have not only lost the benefit of 

 personal inspection and care ol their stock, but be- 

 sides, have been obliged lo yield the great advan- 

 tage they would have derived I'rom the manure of 

 animals slall-l(?d ufion ilieir own land. In the qual- 

 ity of manure, aptly called "the sheet anchor of 

 agriculture," roots are lully equal to other des- 

 criptions of fbod ; and the great quantity of liquid 

 manure which they produce, tends greatly to has- 

 ten the decomposition of all the other contents of 

 the farm yard. 



Were it only necessary to find new crops to 

 render the chances more promising of a full return, 

 I ihink it not unlikely that the horse-bean would 

 answer the purpose. It is greatly cultivated in 

 England and France, and I have ofien seen it 

 growing in our American gardens, with as much 

 apparent luxuriance as it attains in the fields of 

 either of those countries. In Europe it is of easy 

 culture, being sown in various ways, either broad- 

 cast, drilled or dribbled. It is put in the ground 

 about the time of sowing oats and hundreds and 

 thousands of acres teem with the production of it. 



Roots, however, are superior to this article for 

 most of the purposes to which I have above allu- 

 ded ; and it is no doubt bad practice to multiply 

 greatly the products of a larm, except when the 

 condition of tlie land requires it. But admitting 

 the lact, that the wise division of labor and the 

 application of attention and means lo one or a lew 

 productions is as essential in the conduct of a farm 

 as in any other branch of human afiiiirs, still, in 

 different soils and exposures, difiierent crops may 

 be expected to succeed, and it is only by the suc- 

 cess of the aggregate of a nation, tliat the horn of 

 plenly is made to overflow. 



Many farmers, nrilbrtunately, have been defer^ 

 red from the root culture or have abandoned it afier 

 insufficient trials. The chief difficulty attending 

 it lies in the pioper selection of roots. A very 

 sale mode to determine which are the best in any 

 particular situation is, to apply the touchstone of 

 experiment and here we are greatly facilitated in 

 our inquiries by the sister science of gardening. 

 Our gardens, in lact, answer nearly all purposes 

 of trial. In this section, lor instance, I find by 

 reference to my garden, that beets, carrots, and 

 parsnips succeed best of the roots ; that potatoes 

 do well and that turnips are exceedingly precari- 

 ous and could not by any means be relied on. 

 Tlie familiar volume of experience is therefore 

 easily read and applied. But at this point, the 

 investigation becomes confused and it is difficult 

 to proceed. Among the numerous varieties of 

 these roots, which are of the easiest culture and 

 aflibrd the greatest yield '? What crops do they 

 best precede and what should they be made to 

 follow'? These interesting inquiries cannot yet 

 receive a satisfactory solution in Kentucky. When 

 the root culture has been long practiced as a branch 

 of agriculture, a new volume of experience may 

 be compiled, containing the best roots and the 

 best varieties of each root, Ibr different situations. 

 In this part of the union, the science is still to be 

 ascertained and deduced from faithful experiments. 

 Perhaps it may not be amiss to state that in fo- 

 reign agricultural works, the mangel wurizel is 



