1 ' A R ivl E R S ' REGISTER 



83 



they were loo ihick ; hoed them the last time on 

 llielSih Jiily. Pulled them early in November. 

 The rows were too contiifiious, a'lenipted once to 

 (h"ess the patch wiih the plough and cultivator, 

 hut jrave it up as poor business. Thirty incites 

 between the rows, would have allowed of their 

 beinfj dressed by horse, instead of manual power, 

 and I hen perhaps they would not have suffered as 

 they did, h'om want of the soil around them being 

 Uept open (o the influence of the atmosphere. 

 There were about thirty bushels of beets, the 

 tops were used through the growing season as food 

 for pigs. 



GRANBBRRIESi 



From the Cultivator. 



These excellent berries are gathered in abun- 

 dance in the counties of Middlesex and Norfolk. 

 We believe they are more plenty here than in 

 any part of the conunonwealih. We can hardly 

 say they are cultivated, for they are the spontane- 

 ous growth of many of our poorest, wet meadows. 

 Siill we iiave no doubt tliey may be improved in 

 size and multiplied in quantity by giving them a 

 little attention. 



In Concord, Lexington, Carlisle and other towns 

 in Middlesex, these berries are gathered by means 

 ol"a very simple and cheap rake, in which they are 

 held until emptied into the basket which is car- 

 ried for the purpose. And we have been told by 

 some of the trustees of the Middlesex Society, at 

 one of our meefings, that 60 bushels of cranberries 

 had been gathered by one man in a single day. 



The vines of the cranberry are not injured by 

 raking, but are rather improved by tfie process, and 

 when they have been raked for several years in 

 succession, the cranberries may be gatliered with 

 greater ease than at first. 



These meadows should f)e flowed during the 

 winter, and the water need not to be drawn off' 

 until May. The precise time for drawing it off 

 has not yet been settled, and we solicit communi- 

 cations on the subject. 



The berry is a quite wholesome fruit and grateful 

 to the taste. And when apples are scarce the 

 price it commands in the market will well repay 

 tiie farmer lor a little attention to his cranberry 

 meadow. Indeed some farmers who are skilled in 

 the art of gathering think these nu-adowsthe most 

 profitable lands (hey possess. 



ON THE CULTURE AND CONSUMPTION OF BfAW- 

 GEL WURZEL. 



From the Edinburgli Farmers' Magazine. 



I have lately seen a considerable diversity of 

 opinions as to the utility of raising the root called 

 mangel vvurzel, or what was some years ago 

 called the root of scarcity ; it js a coarse variety of 

 the beet root, well known to every gardener. 



In order to ascertain its value as Ibod for cattle, 

 I raised, in the years 1790, 1791, and 17'J2, a con- 

 siderable quantity of it, which I found it very easy 

 to do, as it grows to a great bulk in all grounds 

 that are of a deep earth, although of indiflerent 

 texture or quality. I had also a (pjanlity of cab- 

 bages, of the large coarse Yorkshire sort, and 

 carrots, the sanve years, I found, by trying the 



weight of each, upon a given quantit}' of square 

 yards, that the marigel wurzel weighed the most; 

 I then set about trying to leed one cow on it, one 

 on carrots, and one on cabbascs. 1 found the 

 two fed with the two last mentioned roots soon 

 took to fattening, and their improvement was every 

 day visible ; while the one li;d on the root of scar- 

 city, (as it was then called), made no progress. 

 I im|)uted this to her getting it in too large quan- 

 tities, and I then gave less. You will observe, I 

 allowed all the three cows to have just as much as 

 they could consume of each sort of food. I found, 

 in so doing, no bad eflfects from the carrots, nor 

 from the cabbages^ except when tfie cabbages 

 happened to be frosted ; in that case, if the animal 

 eat too much, it swelled, but was easily cured by 

 a small quantity of salt-water, blood warm, poured, 

 down its throat. But I found, by persisting in 

 feeding on with the mangel wurzel, the animal 

 took on no additional flesh, and rather inclined to 

 scour loo much ; I was then of>liged to desist 

 from my experiment. Having a considerable 

 quantity of the root, 1 next tried my milk cows 

 vviiii moderate quantities at a time, but did not 

 find it increase the quantity of milk, or improve' 

 the quality of the butler, like carrots or fresh cab- 

 bages, given in the same quantities. 1 then gavei 

 the remainder to my swine, and found them not 

 so fond of them as they are of potatoes. I of course 

 gave the raising of it up as an unprofitable con- 

 cern, and am indeed firmly of opinion, that w'here 

 a farmer can command manures to raise potatoes; 

 carrots, cabbages, and turnips in all their diflerent 

 varieties, he should never spend his time in raising 

 the beet root. 



I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 



Jas. Trott^rj 



Newton, January 10, 1815'. 



COTTON SEED. 



From the Carolina Planter. 



I promised to advert again to cotton seed, as a 

 manure. I have said it is the very l)est we have, 

 and 1 do not think there is a planter who will dis- 

 agree with me. It was formerly thought that it 

 was not suitable for cotton — I know planters now 

 who plant — erroneously I think — a double quan- 

 tity of seed, that a portion of it may serve for ma- 

 nure. I have manured cotton for eight crops with, 

 it, and found that it uniformly produced better re- 

 sults than any other manure. It does not last so 

 long, its efl'ects being scarcely visible after the se- 

 cond year, and sreatly diminished after the first. 

 I do not think either that is as easy to obtain and 

 keep a good stand on ground, manured with it — but 

 I h ive heard that objection made to all kinds of 

 maaare — and from my experience I would advise 

 that more seed shoiild be put on manured land iit 

 general. Cotton seed is valuable as a manure for 

 gardens, and there is something peculiar in its ef- 

 lects on strawberries, and is sometimes carried to 

 the north for tiie purpose of improving that de- 

 licious fruit. It is, however liable to an objection 

 in gardens. It undoubtedly produces worms, and 

 1 have sometimes thought ants. 



There is great carelessness and loss in taking 

 care of cotton seed — most persons throw the seed, 

 they save for planting, into a bulk, where it heat* 



