474 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



ical improvement ; depending, however, for its value, always on the natur* of 

 the food out of which it is produced. 



We are well aware of the difficulties, especially in the South, owmg to se- 

 vere drouth, and to expense of labor, especially when cultivated with the hoe. 

 Still we are persuaded that the trials have not generally been conducted with 

 sufficient care and perseverance — else how is it that some farmers uniformly 

 succeed with this crop? We have seen again the past season a prodigious crop 

 of Swedes, on Mr. Coming's farm, near Albany, under the judicious manage- 

 ment of Mr. Sotham; and a gentleman who visited Marshfield, last autumn, 

 told us that Mr. Webster had every promise of his usual success in the turnip 

 department, and would probably have a crop of 5 or 6,000 bushels. One great 

 good to be obtained by the turnip culture, if it could be combined Avith sheep 

 feeding, would be that by that means light lands, from which it is now ban- 

 ished, might be appropriated to wheat, as has been done so successfully in Nor- 

 folk, England, in portions of the county as sandy as our Sussex in Delaware, or 

 Caroline, or even the locomotive district around Snow-Hill, in Maryland. So 

 true is this, that a late writer says: " Hence, good farmers in all parts of the 

 kingdom have come to the unanimous conclusion that no soil is too light to 

 grow thriving crops of wheat, if only it be properly tilled." 



Mr. Colman, too, speaking from personal observation, with his usual discrim- 

 ination, says : 



I believe our farmers would find a very 

 gi-eat advantage in gi-owing esculent vegeta- 

 Mes for sheep and catde, instead of keeping 

 them, as is now done, through our long and 

 severe winters, exclusively upon dry i'eed. 

 They would be most useful for sheep in the 

 lambing season, and for cows in milk ; and 

 though, in fattening properties, I know no ar- 

 ticle, all tilings considered, superior to our 

 Indian corn, yet they certainly would come 

 most beneficially in aid of that. * I do not as- 

 sert that turnips are the best crop for this 

 purpose which can be grown, but Swedish 

 turnips are certainly among the best. Man- 

 gel-wurzel, can-ots, cabbages, parsnips, and 

 potatoes, are all useful. I may recur to this 

 subject again ; but the conclusion to which I 

 ha\'e myself come, and in which I am daily 

 confii-med, and with which I wish the iiuTii- 

 ers of the United States could be more and 

 more impi-essed, is, that an abundant supply 

 of succulent food should be provided for their 

 stock during our long winters — first, as con- 

 ducive to tlie health of the slock ; and next, 

 as contributing essentially to the improve- 

 ment of faUening stock, and as cnahling the 

 iiirmer to keep more stock ; and lastly, as 

 furnishing him with the best means of enrich- 

 ing his farm, and extt>nding and improving 

 all his other crops. These have been the 



striking and miiversally-acknowledged results 

 of such a system of husbandry here ; and I 

 have not a doubt that, in those parts of the 

 United States from which the markets in our 

 cities are to be supplied with beef and mut- 

 ton, though, from the severity of our climate, 

 it might with us be a more laborious process 

 than here, and we could not have the advan- 

 tage of feeding off our green crops on the 

 lands where they gi'ew, yet its great benefita 

 would be an ample compensation tor any ex- 

 tra expense or labor to which it might, in 

 many situations, subject us. The dithculty 

 and expense of procuring labor may present 

 itself as an objection ; but tliat will be con- 

 tinually diminishing. Improved machinerj' 

 and new implements of husbandry are yeai'ly 

 affording increased facilities in cultivation ; 

 and, for our husbandry to be successful, it 

 will ixMpiire the liberal application of capital, 

 added to enteriirise, experiment, effort, and 

 perseverance. 



The following result of an experiment by 

 Mr. J. Bloomfield, of ^Varham, Norfolk Co., 

 to determine the best distance at which plants 

 should stand, was given me by this excellent 

 farmer, and will be curious to my renders. 

 It was made upon Swede tiu'nips. The row 

 was twenty yards long. 



Rowa. 



(954) 



Number of tur- 

 nips in each 

 row. 



DifltBnce apart 

 in the row. 



I Avorajjo weight 

 of each turnip 

 in the row. 



Inches. 

 24 



20 



18 



Lbs. 

 H 



n 



3 



Weicht ofall 

 in the row. 



Si07>rs. 

 11 

 10 

 10 



JM. 

 12 



Produce per acre 



topped and 



tailed. 



Fractious are omitted.. The stone is 14 pounds. 



Tons. 

 24 

 20 



19 

 17 



Ctrl. 



4 



1 

 l.T 

 15 



