94 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



In most instances, the beet crop will nol be got 

 off the land early enough lobe followed by wheal, 

 and late sown wheat in general is not a safe crop. 

 Wheat is found to yield more grain with a less 

 show ol straw in those cases where manure is 

 not directly applied to it, but to a |)revious crop. 

 Where manure is immeiliately applied to wheat, 

 it is more liable to mildew, than where it has 

 been used to a preceding crop. 



When the beet is employed in feeding cattle, 

 one of the eil'ects will be, to produce more and 

 richer manure, and this will place in the larmer's 

 power the entire command of his firm, — he can 

 do with it whatever he pleases. Every encour- 

 agement is held out for the culture ofbeet. It being 

 a green crop, draws much of its nourishment 

 from the atmosphere, and in place of exhausting 

 the land, leaves it in fine order, for any crop the 

 farmer may choose to put on it. Beets in no way 

 interfere with tlie cultivation of wheat, clover, bar- 

 ley, Indian corn, potatoes, turnip?, &c. With 

 the aid of a lew beets, the profitable effects of that 

 raost uselijl grain, Indian corn, will be greatly in- 

 creased in feeding cattle. Calves led with beets or 

 roots in their first winter, will generally be as good 

 animals at the endof twoyears, as those that have 

 been led the first winter on dry food and corn, 

 will be at (he end of three years. 



The raising a portion of beet is interesting to 

 every fiirmer, inasmuch as the seed reijuired to 

 commence will put him tn little expense, and af- 

 terwards he can supply himself; the business of 

 his farm is the same as if he had planted an extra 

 acre of potatoes, and the effects on inilK-, butter, 

 cheese, fattening pigs, &c. is immediate. But on 

 this crop, as in most new thmgs, people will en- 

 tertain diH'erent opinions; the merits of the ques- 

 tion may be safely left to the decision ofseZ/in/eresf, 

 in a Country where the people are ibnd 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 

 the attention of fiirmcrs, to the raising of beets, 

 with a view to the improvement of tlieir stock 

 of cattle, their land, and their circumstances, it will 

 not be out of place to draw their attention to an- 

 other branch of the business of agriculture, that 

 proves profitable to the husbandmen of other coun- 

 tries, and 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 consequence* of the great 

 number of whaling ships, the number of fish must 

 be decreasing, and those that escajie the fisher- 

 men, become more wary and ehy. If oil in con- 

 sequence of these growing causes, is so high in the 

 seaboard towns, it will 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 nnich more inducenient to 

 raise the plants from which oil is made. 



JVIost earnestly we recommend to farmers and 

 planters, the growing of rape, which is a species 

 ofcabbage, or rather of iireens, as it docs noi'head. 

 The French call it colza— ami it is from the seed 

 of this plant, that great quantities of oil are made 

 by the French and Englifh ; and the firmer 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 with the cultivation 

 of these plants, (the ra|)e and poppy,) harvesting 

 the seed, and making the oil, could confi^r great 

 service on the country by publishing the processes, 

 or such of them as they are accjuaiiited with ; and 

 there is every reason to presume, the publishers of 

 the " Fanners' Cabinet," published in Philadel- 

 phia, the " Cultivator" at Albany, the "American 

 Farmer" at Baltimore, and the " Farmers' Regis- 

 ter" at Petersburg, &c. &c., would give the com- 

 munications a place in the columns of their very 

 useful periodicals. 



It is with Itirmers, as wiih manufacturers, mer- 

 chants, and tradesmen ofall descriptions; all are ex- 

 posed to the fluctuations constantly operating on 

 trade and commerce, influencing prices, supply, and 

 consumption; and everyone should observe the 

 improvements that are made 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 produc- 

 tions, and lessening the quantity of labor required 

 to make them, the merchant is performing voyages 

 in twenty-eight days, that formerly employed three 

 months, and letters pass between New York and 

 Liverpool with nearly the reijularity of a well 

 conducted mail coach, and go with greater speed. 

 The fariiier 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 ofgrain, plants, and cattle 

 best suited to his circumstances, the most efiective 

 manner of employing labor — and economizing 

 lime and every thing about him. The manufac- 

 turer is calling to his aid a stream of water, or 

 steam engine, and with one or other of these 

 agents, and the assistance of a few women or 

 children, isconverting bales of low priced raw cotton 

 into costly cloths ; or by employing a lew steady 

 men, iron ore into cart wheel tires, ploughs, 

 needles, &c. &c., a few pounds of which will pay 

 lor the bale of cotton, barrel of wheat, or barrel of 

 pork — nay, there are cases in which this will be 

 done by a lew ounces. 



It is somewhat remarkable that there are few 

 distinguished and celebrated farmers or planters, 

 in comparison with tradesmen, engineers, and 

 manufacturers. The truth is, the profession of 

 husbandry, although it can be carried on in some 

 way or other by most men, is one of the most in- 

 tricate and diversified ; influenced by causes, the 

 laws of which are hardly 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 plants, the nature, effects, 

 and habits of insects, the grains, grasses, fruit trees, 

 the adroit skill to secure the proper moment for 

 sowing, harvesting, ploughing, and the innume- 

 rable operations and occurrences of a farm, in- 

 fluenced as they are by the vicissitudes of weather, 

 and the talents to understand all that relates to 

 these constantly operating causes, with the power 

 to make the most of them, are more rarely concen- 

 trated in one person, than the knowledge an4 



