314 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



be expected. We have no doubt that, under proper 

 cultivation, beans may be made a highly productive 

 and valuable crop. For feeding sheep, especially fat- 

 ting-wethers, I have tried and know their value. In- 

 termixed and ground or alternated witli Indian corn, 

 they are exceedingly favorable tor the thrilt of sheep, 

 and may be to a degree piofitably used, notwithstand- 

 ing the customary dltference in price. We can hardly 

 expect, however, that they should take the place of 

 Indian corn; a crop which cannot be giown in Eng- 

 land, which is not more exhausting than any other 

 grain crop allowed to perfect its seeds, which when 

 consumed on the farm under good managoinent, returns 

 a large amount to the land ; and the rough fodder of 



The quantity of seed to an acre is from two and a haU' 

 to three and a half bushels; the latter quantity where 

 they are to be cul lor green fodder; the former where 

 they are cultivated for their seed. It is advised to sow 

 some grain with them, such as rye with winter tares 

 and oals with spring tares, which serve to support 

 them. 



It is doubtful whether tares sowed in the fall would 

 survive our severe winters. This, however, can only 

 be determined by some actual experiment. We hope 

 they wiU have a fair trial. For so. ling they must be an 

 exv;ellent article ; and I cannot but hope that the prac- 

 tice of soiling will prevail much more among us; es- 

 pecially lor the quantity of most valuable manure. 



which, when well cured, is almost an equivalent for which under proper n.anageinent may be made in this 



the cost of cultivation. 



Note (g.)—The Tare. 



H. C. 



The tare or vetch (vicia sativa) is a plant which 

 we have sometimes seen growing, but rarely cultivat- 

 ed among us. There is no hindrance in our climate 

 to its cultivation ; and perhaps tlie great reason why 

 the cultivation of the tare or field bean has been ne- 

 glected or not introduced, has arisen from our capaci- 

 ty to produce Indian coin; and our high estimation, 

 which can hardly be extravagant, of its value as food 

 for the brute and the human animal. As green feed 

 especially, and for the purposes of soiling, undoubted- 

 ly the tares might be introduced to great advantage. 



" The tare," says Low, " is one of the most esteem- 

 ed of the leguminous plants of this country, (Eng- 

 land.) When used as green forage, they are cut after 

 the pods are formed, but long before the seeds are ripe. 

 Being in the class of crops not allowed to mature their 

 seeds, they are not exhausting to the soil. They are 

 considered as restorative crops, from the quantity of 

 manure which the consumption of them affords. They 

 are exceedingly nutritious, and supply a larger quantity 

 of food for a limited period, than almost any other 

 forao'e crop. All the animals of the farm are fond oi 

 this legume, and all thrive upon it in an eminent de- 

 gree. Hogs may be fattened entirely upon it. It causes 

 milch cows to give more butter than any other species 

 of food, and it is employed extensively in the feeding 

 of horses. All the English agriculturists are impress- 

 ed with a high opinion of the value of tares." 



Young observes, "tare crops are of such use and 

 importance that not one-tenth of the stock could be 

 sustained without them ; horses, cows, sheep and hofjs 

 are all fattened upon them ; hogs arc soiled upon them 

 without any other food. This" plant maintains more 

 stock than any other plant whatever. Upon one acre, 

 Davis maintained four horses in much better condition 

 than upon five acres of grass. Upon eight acres he 

 has kept twelve horses and five cows lor three months 

 without any other food. No artificial food whatever is 

 equal to this excellent plant." 



"Tares cut green," Professor Thaer observes, 

 " draw no nourishment from the soil, whatever; while 

 made into hay they alibi-d a fodder preferred by cat- 

 tle to pea straw, and more nutritious than hay or any 

 other herbage." 



These high encomiums on this plant will, we hope, 

 invite the attention of our farmers strongly to the sub- 

 ject, that experiments may be made among ourselves 

 of their adaptation to our climate and soil ; and of the 

 expediency of introducing- them among a rotation ot 

 crops in our system of husbandry, if we .ire so fortu- 

 nate pre>ently as to have a system. Tares are of two 

 kinds, winter and spring, but not distinguishable from 

 the appearance of the seed. The winter tares are sowed 

 in England in September and October, and where they 

 are designed for soiling, the sowing is continued at 

 successive times until May. The spring tares are ad- 

 vised to be sowed as early in the spring as they can be 

 got in. A clay soil is most congenial to their growth ; 

 sad any ricih soil will do, provided it is not too dry. 



way. I ask leave here to refer to an admirable and 

 encouraging experiment in soiling, on a small scale, in 

 my second Report of the Agriculture of Massachu- 

 beiis, p. 69. H. C. 



Note {h.)— Product of Sheep. 



This would seem to be a large yield, but perhap.s 

 under good management, not ovi r.ated. Mr. Hubbard, 

 an extensive wool dealer at Leeds, whose authority ap- 

 pears to be much relied upon, states the average of the 

 short woclled sheep at 3^ lbs. each, and the long wool- 

 ed at 7A lbs. each. McCulloch, in his tables, states the 

 yield ol tlie Teeswater sheep to be 9 lbs. to a fleece ; 

 tlie Lincoln, 10 lbs.; of the Dishley, 8 lbs.; of the 

 Costwold, 9 lbs. ; and of the South Downs 2.J lbs. ; of 

 the Cheviot, 3 lbs. to a fleece. It is stated in another 

 work that a Mr. Sellar, by dint of persevering atten- 

 tion to the choice of rams, the change of herbage and 

 placing the sheep at ditierent ages upon appropriate 

 pasture, together with supplies of artificial lood in the 

 pinching seasons of the year, has raised the average 

 wool ol the Cheviot race, to 4 and 4j lbs. per fleece. 



1 have known cases of as remarkable improvement 

 here. They show emphatically how much a farmer's 

 success depends on enterprise, care and skill. 



I ought to say, in this place, that Mr. Webster is in 

 no respect whatever reponsible lor the notes attached 

 to his address. With the exception of those on beans 

 and vetches, he has not seen them. H. C. 



From the Franklin Farmer. 



IMPROA'EMF.KT OF TliK S01F> RKM,'L,TJNG 

 FKOM TllK GKAZiNG SYSTEM OF KKN- 

 TUCKV. 



Frankfort, JJpril 6, 1840. 



In a late number of the 'rennesf^ee Farmer, I 

 find a coniniunicaiion, signed " D.," addressed to 

 the editor of thai paper, iroin which the Ibliowing 

 is an extract : 



" In the Franklin Farmer of December 7th, 

 1839, published at Franklbrt, Kentucky, but re- 

 cenily, I believe, transftried to Lexiniftoii, there is 

 an editorial article, from which the lollowing 

 is extracted : 



" ' in our calcareous lands, we can manufac- 

 ture our manure on the very spois where we want 

 it to be spread ; but on other soils, it must be made 

 in the barnyard and hauled out, and in the former 

 practice, the improvement of the soil will probably 

 be more apparent than in the latter. It is a fact 

 distiiijruishiiiir the husbandry of some of our best 

 graziers, that their lands, taken in a partially ex- 

 hausted state, thirty years ago, have not only im- 

 proved in production every year, but exhibit now 

 the appeannce of virgin leriility.' " 



JN ow, sir, to improve exhausted land without b@-. 



