1^^ A 11 M E R S ' REGISTER. 



297 



1 have become fully convinced of the necessity of 

 hiivini; the land free from grass and weeds. In 

 183S fsovved about an acre of nita ba«in, on (rood 

 sandy loam soil, somewhat infected with June 

 •rrass. The land was well prepared, but the wea- 

 ther beinix moist, the grass was not killed, and i' 

 soon sprang up very thickly. This rendered the 

 after culture verv difficult and vexatious ; and, 

 with all mv patient and persevering eflbrts, I 

 found it impossible wholly to subihie the June 

 grass, and I fully coincide wil!> friend Garbiitt in 

 the belief ijiat it would be well (or western New 

 York il" this grass could be entirely exterminated. 

 From my sad experience with this grassy patcii, 

 I liecame hdly determined never to i)e caught in 

 litis same way again. 



I last year selected a clean piece of land for my 

 ruta baga crop ; ploughed in a dressin<; of good 

 manure ; ploughed it shallow the second time and 

 harrowed it smooth. 1 then took a light plough 

 and made ridges, about two feet apart. I had no 

 drill-barrow, but took a common wheel-barrow 

 and rolled it along on the fop of the ridges, so as 

 to make a small furrow or drill, into which the 

 seeds were sown by hand. A third person followed 

 with a rake, so as to cover the seed, and leave the 

 lop of the ridges smooth. 



1 prepared my seed by putting it into a basin and 

 mixing with it about half a pound of sulphur; be- 

 cause [ had read, either in the Farmer or in the 

 Cultivator, a recommendation ol' sulphur to be 

 used in this way, lor the purpose o( fixing its fla- 

 vor in the seed lo keep ofl' the fly. 



The seed soon sprang up. The turnips were 

 not injured by the fly; and whether it was the 

 sulphur which prevented the depredations of the 

 fly, I know not. The season was not dry, and 

 therefore unfavorable to the propagation of the 

 turnip fly. I thinned the plants to ten or twelve 

 inches apart. They grew rapidly and flourished 

 through the whole season. They were hoed tho- 

 roughly twice. They were harvested towards the 

 last ot October, and deposited in trenches three 

 feet deep and four wide, and the turnips were 

 raised about a foot above the surlace of the earth. 

 However, before putting the turnips into tlie trench, 

 I put crotches into the middle of the trench, about 

 eight feet apart, and rising above the surface 

 eighteen inches. I laid a riilge pole on the top of 

 these crotches for the purpose of forming a roolj of 

 small sticks, brush and straw, and lastly earth. 

 The roots being stored in this manner, a boy can 

 enter the trench with his basket at any time in the 

 depth of winter, and is never exposed to the incon- 

 venience of a falling roof Precautionary steps 

 against their heating are always to be taken, by 

 leaving small apertures for the escape of heat and 

 admission ot air. 



Alter having produced and stored your crop of 

 ruta baga, what use do you make ofthem? Hogs 

 that are three or four months old and upwards, will 

 live well on them ; but if they are younger, they 

 ought not to be confined exclusively to them. 

 Cooking them renders them much more nutritious 

 for hogs and pigs. They are excellent for cattle 

 and sheep of every age. When sheep are con- 

 fined for a few weeks in the yard for winter, they 

 pine to be grazing in the field unless they are fed 

 on roots; but when permitted to enjoy this food, 

 they have not half so much hankering for the 

 field. 



Vol. VHI-38 



I will take the liberty of mentioning one thing, 

 among many others, which maybe of considerable 

 use to ihe inexperienced ; and that is, it is of no 

 use to cut up the turnips small and fine lor the 

 sheep. Scatter ihem over the ground or hard 

 snow, and then follow with the shovel and slice 

 ihem a few times each, for sheep delight much in 

 gnawing the turnip. For two winters 1 was in the 

 habit of cutting my turnips into small pieces, not 

 larger than a fiickory-nut, for my sheep. I have 

 since (bund this to be entirely unnecessary. 



I will (iirthermore add, (or the benefit of the in- 

 experienced, not to dig trenches for the reception 

 of roots where they will be exposed to be filled in 

 with water, when the snow melts, and the earth 

 is filled with water. 



One corner of my ground was considerably 

 inclined to clay, and here the turnips were quite 

 small. That kind of soil is wholly unfit for them. 



Chili, March I5ih, 1840. P. 



DISORDKRS OF TIJE CURRENCY, AND THE 

 REMEDY. 



[The following article has more of truth and 

 good sense in it, than twenty wagon loads of the 

 ordinary elaborate newspaper essays and speeches 

 in our legislative bodies, on banking and the dis- 

 orders of the currency. We concur fully with the 

 writer in his general views of the causes of the 

 enormous evils in connexion with these important 

 subjects; and we do not differ greatly as to Ihe 

 proper and sufRcient remedy. For we are as de- 

 cidedly in favor of free banking, as of fi-eedom to 

 every other legitimate and useliil branch of indus- 

 try and trade. It is, however, to the proper and 

 legitimate objects of the useful trade of banking and 

 dealing in money that we would give perfect free- 

 dom, and aflbrd, equally and justly, every facility 

 to operate that every other business has, or ought 

 lo have ; but we vvould by no means add to that 

 freedom the grant of any exclusive privilege ; and 

 certainly not the all-important one of coining mo- 

 ney out of paper, to an unlimited extent, and there- 

 by furnishing to the country its exclusive and sole 

 currency. Half the cost of legislation of the 

 country is directly or indirectly incurred lor the re- 

 gulation of banking; and yet, in regard to bank- 

 ing, government (state and federal) has done 

 nothing but sin, both in doing what ought not to 

 be done, and also in omitting what ought to have 

 been done. They have granted exclusive privi- 

 leges, which never ought to be granted to atiy bo- 

 dies or individuals ; and they have withheld that 

 proper freedom of action, which all trades ought 

 fully to enjoy.— Ed. F. R.] 



From the Journal of Commerce. 



The discussion about a national bank has died 

 away, and the opinion has become almost uni- 

 versal that such an institution will never again. 



