116 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[So. 2 



POSTSCniPT. 



Petersburg, February, 1839. 

 tt woukl probably appear a strange omission 

 if nothing were added to the foregoing state- 

 ment, of the four years which liave since, 

 passed. It is, therefore, that a lew general 

 remarks will be oiibred. Long before the date 

 of the last addiiions, (1834) the writer had 

 not only changed his residence, but had un- 

 dertaken other pursuits which have since become 

 more and more engrossing in the dem;md on his 

 time and labor, and have prevented all personal 

 attention to his farming business. Adtlcd to this, 

 the laboring force on tlie land was, at first, inade- 

 quate to keep it ia proper slate, either of tillage or 

 of continued improvement; and the armual in- 

 crease of" lerlility since, has served to increase the 

 need lor labor, and the losses incurred by the defi- 

 cient labor and other farm capital not being sup- 

 plied. Thus, while the progressive improve- 

 ment of the soil and the increased ability to 

 reward proper exertions, are abundantly mani- 

 fest, the farm, in every other respect, was 

 suffered to get wretchedly out of order ; and now 

 requires much labor and expense to be put in 

 good condition. The requisite labor has just now 

 been furnished, and other remedies aflorded ; and 

 it is hoped, that within a few years time, the 

 great and valuable improvement mac'e here by 

 marl, will no longer be partially obscured, or the 

 full efllect of it be rendered the least doubtflil, by 

 the mismanagement of the faim, or neglect of its 

 owner. Ed. Rupfin. 



From Uie Cultivator. 

 ROOT CULTURK. 



Persuaded that root culture is ultimately to ef- 

 fect a great improvement in our husbandry, we 

 propose to make it the subject of some remarks in 

 this and subsequent numbers. The advantages 

 which root crops offer to the farmer, are the fol- 

 lowing, viz : they furnish the most food for ani- 

 mals, and the most food for vegetables in the form 

 ofdung; they are'least exhausting to the soil, which 

 they serve to divide and pulverize ; they are ex- 

 cellent to alternate with grass and grain in conver- 

 tible husbandry; and for these reasons they are 

 the most profitable to the cultivator, on all liirms 

 which will admit of their culture. We intend to 

 direct the attention of the reader to the different 

 roots which are adapted to our field culture, to the 

 best modes of managing the crops, the manner of 

 preserving and feeding them properly, the expense 

 of culture, the average product, and, so far as our 

 data will justify, state their relative value as cattle 

 food. 



The roots we intend to notice are, the potato, 

 the turnip, the beet, the carrot, and the parsnip. 

 But before we proceed to consider them individu- 

 ally, we will offer some preliminary remarks. 



Five things are essential in the culture of the 

 roots we have named: 1st. A dry soil ; 2d. a 

 rich soil ; 3d. a deep worked soil ; 4th. a well 

 pulverized soil, and 5lh. good after-culture. The 

 crop will be abundant in proportion as these sever- 

 al requisites are present, and defective in propor- 

 tion as they fail. 



By a dry soil, we mean a soil that is not wet. 

 Moisture is beneficial to all crops, but tvater is 



detrimental to all root-crops, though it repose upon 

 the sub-soil, or but occiisionally saturate the sur- 

 face. Hence where roots are grown upon soils 

 that are tenacious and Hat, or ujion those which 

 repos^e upon aninipervious sub-soil, the land should 

 be thrown into ridges, and the fuirows kept open 

 for the free passage of the water in heavy rains. 



A rich soil is as essential to good crops as rich 

 and abundant food is to the fiuieningof fi^rm stock. 

 We all know that short pasture and coarse fodder 

 will keep cattle, though it will not fatten them. 

 So wiih roots — they will live and grow upon a 

 poor soil, but their product and profit will be great 

 only on a ?'/c/j one. The advantage to the crop, 

 as well as the animal, will be in proportion to the 

 quantity of dead organic matter which it converts 

 into living organic matter — into vegetable and in- 

 to meat. Ordinarily speaking, a good dressing of 

 manure will double the products of a root-crop. 

 To illustrate this fact more fully, we abstract the 

 Ibllowing tabular statement from Arthur Young's 

 experiments in planting potatoes. The prepara- 

 ration and culture were alike in all. The num- 

 bers to which the asterisk [*] is affixed were ma- 

 nured crops. 



The three manured crops, it will be seen, gave 

 an acgregate product of 472 bushels, and an ag- 

 gregate net profit of £22. 10.3, [.>B99 90, say 

 i^lOO;] the three adjoining plants, treated like the 

 others in all respects but manuring, gave an ag- 

 gregate net product of but 132 bushels, and an 

 aggregate net profit of but 8s. lid. [-^1 96, say 

 ^2;] thus showing that the manure, in these ca- 

 ses, caused an absolute gain of ^98, and that 

 where it was not used, there was in fiict only a 

 nominal profit of two dollars. These fiicts will 

 serve to show the reader, first, the great value of 

 manure in fiirming operations, and to stimulate 

 him to save and economise it ; and, secondly, to 

 show him the propriety of oZu'rtys manuring his 

 potato crop, for which it is universally admitted 

 the unfermented dung and litter of his cattle yard 

 is best filled. 



A deep worked soil is necessary, that the tap 

 roots of the beet, carrot and parsnip may not only 

 penetrate freely, and enlarge their length and vo- 

 lume, but that their radicles, which arc principally 

 upon their lower extremities, may there find food 

 for the plant. The fibrous roots of the potato and 

 the turnip are equally benefitted by a deep tilth, 

 from which they can draw nourishment, and find 

 shelter fiom drought. 



The pulverization of the soil is essential to the 

 germination of the seed, to the easy extension of 

 the roots, and to the (ree circulation of air and 

 moisture, and the admission of solar heat, all ne- 

 cessary to prepare and transmit the food to Iho 

 grov/ing plants. 



