2a4 



F A il iVl E R S ' R E G I S T E H . 



[No. 4 



An acre of grass, 2 tons at SIO ^20 00 

 do corn, 40 bush, at 75 els. 30 00 

 do oats, 30 do at 37| " 11 20 

 do buckwheat, 30 do at 50 " 15 00 

 do potatoes, 150 do at 25 " 37 50 

 do rutabaga, 600 do at 25 " 150 00 

 do man. wurt. GOO do at 25 '•' 150 00 



Estimating the cost of the roots in labor, at 

 twenty dollars an acre more than thai of the hay, 

 oats and buckwheat, it still leaves a great disparity 

 in the profits ; and considering the cost of culture 

 equal to that of Indian corn, there is a manifest ad- 

 vantage in the turnips and mangel wurtzel over 

 the corn-crop, as a material for cattle food. Good 

 beef cannot be made on hay alone, in winter; 

 and those who do not feed roots, must resort to 

 some more expensive ibod, as the meal of Indian 

 corn, oats, buckwheat, &c. The turnips and man- 

 gel wurtzel, on the contrary, with the aid of per- 

 haps a little straw, will serve themselves to feed 

 and fatten animals. 



In this matter the chairman can speak from ex- 

 perience. He purchased lour oxen a little before 

 Christmas, and kept till some time in April ; aller 

 a short time, they ate each two bushels a day of 

 ruta baga — they would eat very little else, though 

 laid belbre them, not even linseed cake. They 

 made good beef, and afiorded a handsome profit 

 on the turnips consumed. 



If we now assume that an ox will require a 

 quarter of a hundred of hay per diem to keep 

 him in good condition, and tJial it will require an 

 addition of fourquarts of corn-meal, or eight quarts 

 of chrushed oats of buckwheat, per diem, to fat- 

 ten him; and if we consider 112 pounds or two 

 bushels of roots equivalent to a ration of hay 

 and grain, ihen the several crops will leed an an- 

 imal as below. 

 One acre of grass, and half an acre ofcorn 



will feed _ - - - 160 days. 



One and a half acres of mangel wurtzel, 



or Swedish turnips, will feed - 450 days. 

 One acre of grass, and one acre of oats 



or buckwheat, will feed - - 160 days. 

 Two acres of Swedish turnips or man- 

 gel wurtzel will feed - - 600 days. 

 One acre of potatoes will feed - 75 days. 

 One acre of Swedish turnips or mangel 



wurtzel will feed . . . 300 days. 



Making very liberal allowance for the difier- 

 ence in the expense of raising these crops, and 

 for any error the committee may have made in 

 fixing the daily rations, or in the acreable pro- 

 duce of each, they think that no doubt can lur a 

 moment be entertained that the Swedish turnip 

 and the mangel wurtzel are decidedly the best 

 crops that can be raised for ftjeding and fattening 

 cattle. 



The committee have no doubt that the sugar 

 beet and the carrot ofltjr advantages nearly or 

 quite equal to the roots above recommended. 

 Their product and nutriment properties are very 

 similar,, and the expense of culture is not very dis- 

 similar. The sugar beet is probably richer in nutri- 

 ment than the mangel wurtzel. though its product 

 is ordinarily less. The carrot may require more 

 labor in the culture ; but it is superior as Ibod, par- 

 ticularly for horses. 



Arthur Young highly extols the carrot. Upon 

 the product of three acres of this root, he assures 

 us, he kept for more than five months, twenty 



Work horses, four bullocks, and six milch cows; 

 nor did the animals, during that period, he adds, 

 taste any other food, except a little hay. Our enter- 

 prising lellow-citizcn, Col.Meacham, of Oswego, 

 has gone largely into the culture of carrots, as cat- 

 tle feed, as well as many of his neighbors; and Ihey 

 speak highly of the profits of the culture. 



Some highly satislidctory experiments have al- 

 so been made among us, on a limited scale, in 

 cultivating and feeding the sugar beet. There 

 seems to be little doubt, from the high state of 

 perfection and of profit, which the business has 

 arrived at in France and Germany, that the cul- 

 ture of this beet will soon be extensively gone 

 into in this country, for the purpose of making su- 

 gar ; and if so, the residuum of the beet will form 

 an important item in the material tor fattening 

 cattle. 



There are other advantages resulting from root^ 

 culture which should not be overlooked. It tends 

 greatly to increase the quantity of manure on the 

 farm, to meliorate the texture of the soil, and to 

 furnish excellent alternating crops in convertable 

 husbandry. In selecting for culture, the farmer 

 should chose the roots that are best adapted to his 

 soil. The turnips prefer a dry sandy soil ; the 

 beet a clay loam. 



As to the best means of cultivating these crops, 

 the committee summarily remark, that the pro- 

 duct and profit will materially depend upon the 

 following contingencies, viz: that the soil be dry ; 

 that it be rich; that it be deeply worked ; that it 

 be well pulverized ; and that the after-culture be 

 well managed. The implements necessary to 

 cultivate them advantageously, in addition to the 

 plough and harrow, are the drill-barrow and culti- 

 vator. The season for sowing the beet is li'ojn 

 the lOlh to the 20!h JVlay ; of sowing the Swedish 

 turnip, from the 10th to the 25th June. The drill 

 or row-culture is decidedly the best. A detail of 

 the whole process of culture would occupy too 

 much space for this report, and is unnecessary, as 

 these processes are already understood by many, 

 and have been minutely described in the agricul- 

 tural periodicals of the day. The cornniiltee will 

 merely recommend in conclusion, that the roots bs 

 always cut, previously to being led to cattle, for 

 which machines may be procured, at a moderate 

 charge, which will cut a bushel in one to three 

 minutes. W cut, the roots are eaten entirely : if 

 not cut, a portion is apt to be rejected and wasted. 



The chairman has received a communication 

 from Col. Meacham, stating his mode of cultivat- 

 ing carrots, the product, and manner of using the 

 crop. He cultivates them in drills, from 20 to 24 

 inchesapart— he gets one thousand bushels an acre, 

 at an expense of ^25 to §30 ; he kept six work 

 horses on them from Nov. 1836 to June 1837, 

 without grain, and they remained in good plight, 

 and performed as well as he ever had horses to 

 perform — and he thinks they are worth double as 

 much for stock as ruta baga. 



Upon the subject of the carrot-culture, which is 

 perhaps less understood among us than that of 

 the beet and turnip, the commiitee will add, that 

 this root thrives best in a sandy loam, light, moist, 

 but not wet, and of great depth ; in which the 

 plough, going to the beam, brings to the surface no- 

 thing that is not fit for vegetation. The ground 

 should be ploughed immediately preceding the 

 sowing. In Sullblk, Eng., they sow 8 lbs. seed, 



