1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



241 



'J'he plants are raised from seed sown in April 

 or JVIay, an ounce of which, il" good, will le suf- 

 ficient 10 sow a bed lour leet wide by ten in length. 

 If the seed is sown in April, (wiiich would be the 

 best method, ) on a slight hot-bed, under glass, the 

 planis will be ready lor the final Iransplanling by 

 the second or third week in May. Select a piece 

 of ground lor this purpose, that is in good heart, 

 and where the soil is deep. The plants need not 

 be set out more than eighteen inches apart each 

 toay, as the head does not spread lik-e a Savoy, and 

 the leaves drop olf belii.-e the sprouts are ready 

 lijr gathering, which will he by the first of October. 

 The tops or heads oughi to be cut ofi" two or three 

 weeks before the sprouts are gathered for use. 



The whole treatment, as to the cultivation and 

 management, is precisely the same as the Savoy 

 cabbage. In November, or before the ground 

 freezes hard, the plants ndght be taken up, and 

 planted in earth in a cellar, pretty close togetlier, 

 and would be found to be an excellent vegetable 

 through the winter. J. W. Russur.r.. 



Mount jjuburn, Cambridge, March 8, 1S39. 



COMPARATIVE COST OF HAY, ROOTS, &C. 

 FOR FEEDING STOCK. 



Extract from the Address of Rev. H. Colman, Commissioner of 

 the Agricultural Survey of Massachusetts. 



"I wish briefly to draw the attention of Farmers 

 to the value of hay, compared with other crops, 

 lor the (ceding of stock. An acre of hay 3ields one 

 ton and a halfofvegetal)le food. An acre of carrots, 

 or Swedish turnips, will yield from ten to twenty 

 tons ; say fifteen tons, which is by no means an 

 exaggerated estima.-j. Jt has been ascertained 

 by experiment, that three working horses, fifteen 

 and a half hands high, consumed at the rate of 

 two hundred and twenty-lour pounds of hay per 

 week, or five tons one thousand and forty-eight 

 pounds of hay per year, besides twelve irallons of 

 oats each per week, or seventy-eight bushels l)y the 

 vear. An unworked horse consumed at the rate of 

 lour and one-quarter tons of hay in the year. 

 The produce, therelure, o\' nearly six acred of 

 land is necessary to support a working horse by 

 the year ; but hail an acre of carrots, at six hun- 

 dred bushels to the acre with the addition of 

 chopped straw, while the season lov their use lasts, 

 will do as well if not better. These things do not 

 admit of doubt. They have been subjects of exact 

 trial. 



"It is believed that the value of a bushel of 

 Indian-corn in straw and meal, will keep a healthy 

 liorse in good condition lor work a week. An 

 acre of Indian-corn which yields sixty bushels will 

 be ample for the support of a lioise through the 

 year. Let the farmer, then, consider whether it 

 be better to maintain his horse upon the produce 

 of half an acre of carrots, which can be cultivated 

 at an expense not greatly exceeding the expense 

 of half an acre of potatoes, or upon Half an acre of 

 ruta baga, which can be raised at a less expense 

 than potatoes, or upon the grain produce ol an acre 

 ol Indian-corn, or, on the other hand, upon the pro- 

 duce of six acres of his best land in hay and grain; 

 lor six acres will hardly do more than to yield near- 

 ly six tons of hay and seventy- eight bushels of oats. 

 The same economy might be successfully intro- 

 duced into the feeding of our cattle and sheep. 

 Vol. VH-31 



''These facts deserve the particular attention of 

 the farmers who are desirous ol improving their 

 pecuniary condition. It is obvious how much 

 would be gained by the cultivation which is here 

 suggesied ; how much more slock would be raised, 

 how much ihe dairy produce might be increased; 

 and how mmdi the means of enriching the Ian!, 

 and improving the cultivation, would be constantly 

 exiendinif and accumnlaiing. But when we find 

 on a farm of two hundred acres, that the farmer 

 cultivates only two acres of potatoes, one acre of 

 ruta baga, and perhaps a quarter of an acre of 

 carrots, we call this "gelling along," in the com- 

 mon phrase, but we can hardly dignify it with 

 the name of farming. I am aware that labor of 

 a proper kind is in many cases difficult to be pro- 

 cured, and with our habits, as difficult to be man- 

 aged. Farming, likewise, can in few situations 

 be successfully managed, unless the farmer has 

 capital to employ, equal at least, to one year's 

 manure, and one year's crops. A large portion 

 of our liirmers, also from the nature ol their habits 

 and style of living, are so prosperous and inde- 

 pendent, that they have no occasion to extend 

 their cultivation bejond what i now is, in order to 

 meet their wants; and to incur all the trouble, 

 vexation, and risk of employing more labor,- ex- 

 pending more capital, and increasing their cares." 



TABLES OF SILK-WORM REARING. 



The following tables will be found very useful, 

 as well as interesting, to those who are just 

 about to commence their noviciate in the new bu- 

 siness of feeding silk-worms. 



The two first tables, together with the observa- 

 tions and estimates annexed, ai-e taken from the 

 great work of Count Dandolo, the highest au- 

 thority on this subject ; and they exhibit the actual 

 operations of the author for two successive years, 

 one of which (1814) was especially unfavorable in 

 the predominance of cold and wet weather. It 

 will be seen that there were 26 rainy days out of 37, 

 besides cloudy ones when no rain lell \ and the 

 temperature was low in proportion. 



The third table is by Bonafous, another scien- 

 tific and celebrated silk-culturist of Piedmont, 

 and is founded principally on the work of Dan- 

 dolo ; though it directs wider spares. 



The temperature is marked by Fahrenheit's 

 thermometer. The weights and measures of di- 

 mensions are French. The linear French foot (of 

 12 inches) exceeds ours, by ihree-lourths of a 

 French inch; or 93.89 French leet, make ^100 

 American. The French pound also exceeds the 

 American as 1400 to 1281; that is, the quantity of 

 1281 lbs. of leaves required lor the last age of 

 feeding, as stated in the third table, is equal to 

 1400 lbs. American. 



The prices stated are in Milanese money— the 

 livre (lira) oi' 20 sous (soldi) being equal to 8i. 

 eterlin<T. or about 15 cents, American,-- Ed. F= R. 



