472 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 8 



sheep and other animals on the liirtn, and saw 

 thai they were rejriihirly and sulliciemly led, I 

 generally brought meat which I wat; not ashanjed 

 of, and which by its gooti quality recommended ii- 

 sell" to purchasers, insomuch that I had no dilTi- 

 culiy in securing a regular sei of good customer.-;, 

 who cheerfully paid a liiir price flir a good article. 

 Some of my neighbors attended the same market 

 — but as 1 generally sold out first, they thought I 

 was "uncommonly lucky." Four years since I 

 obtained a quantity of the seed of the Frencli su- 

 gar beet, and put in an acre by way of experiment 

 not in the way of making sutiar, but the making 

 of fat. This first trial fixed me. My cows, 

 sheep and hogs were very fond of them, during 

 the long and severe winter which followed. They 

 all kept in good heart and condition ; what sur- 

 prised me most was the rapid manner in wliich 

 my sheep, (ed on the sugar beet, look on fiit ; and 

 when carried to market the saddles excited par- 

 ticular attention, from their very superior appear- 

 ance. But it was not in appearance only; the 

 meat was of a much belter quality, more juicy, and 

 exceedingly tender. The incjuiry was, "why, sir, 

 on what do you fallen your sheep ?" And when 

 i replied, on the sugar beet, hay, and a small por- 

 tion of corn, it would generally call Ibrth an excla- 

 mation of surprise. Ever since I have been a 

 grower of sugar beet, the meat I take to market is 

 always in demand, and brings several cents more 

 per pound than that fattened in the old way ; and 

 yet, strange to say, some of my neighbors, al- 

 though I have urged them, will not jilant the 

 beet lor their slock. I have been benefited to the 

 extent of several hundred dollars by the introduc- 

 tion of this root — the etiects are visible — my neigh- 

 bors know it — and yet they stand lookers on, halt- 

 ing between two opinions. But light is breaking 

 in upon us, and of one thing you may be assured, 

 that is, that the time is not li^r distant tvhen every 

 extensive stock feeder will be an extensive ruut 

 grower. 



To the delinquents, and there are many in my 

 vicinity, I would say, "rouse ye from your lethargy, 

 and although for the present season you have lost 

 the advantage of planting the sugar beet and the 

 mangel wurtzel, yet you may in some measure 

 atone for your past neglect, by pulling in imme- 

 diately a sufficient quantity of rula baga. You 

 have time enough for this, but none to lose. The 

 ruta baga is an excellent root— plant it liberally — 

 cultivate it thoroughly — 9nd you will find your 

 account in it in more ways than one, if you are 

 spared until the ensuing winter. Depend upon it, 

 there is nothing better for cattle than roots, pro- 

 perly prepared. I put in some of almost all kinds; 

 and I find carrots answer well ibr a change. But 

 with me the sugar beet is superior to all others. 

 My way of feeding is simple. When the catile 

 are housed they are kept constantly liirnished with 

 good hay, have roots three times a day, with an oc- 

 casional change to corn or cut li^ed. 1 fiml great 

 benefit from currying my cows — indeed, it seems 

 to me as necessary to curry a cow as a horse — and 

 if anyone will make the experiment, as I did on 

 two oxen, it will remove every doubt. They 

 were both put up at the same time — fed precisely 

 alike — and the treatment throughout was similar 

 in every respect, except in the use of the curry 

 comb, and the ox on which it was used was in 

 reality, aa well as in appearance, six per cent, bet- 



ter than his fellow. The cause of this must be 

 apparent to every refiecting nnnd. N. I. 



Delaware county, May IHth, 1839. 



FREE MAUTIKS. 



From llie Genesee Fanner. 



When a cow has twin calves, one a bull calf 

 and the other to appearance a heiler calfj the last 

 is called a^ree mrtr/(/i. It is a smgular law of 

 nature, and apparently limited to cattle, that twin 

 animals so produced, are unfit Ibr the propagation 

 of their species. The free martin is to appear- 

 ance a cow, exhibits at times sexual inclinations, 

 and some have been known to receive the male, 

 but always without effect. These singular liicts 

 led Dr. Hunter to a physiological examination of 

 their structure; and recently Dr. Allnatt, of Lon- 

 don, has examined several with the same object. 

 The cause of this singular animal phenomenon, is 

 (bund to result from a peculiar vaginal and ute- 

 rine organization, which efiectually prevents con- 

 ception. The expulsion of the urine was, in the 

 anima! examined by Dr. A., propelled in jets ra- 

 ther than a continued stream, and a singular mal- 

 confbrmation of the parts, on examination after 

 death, satisliictorily explained the cause. Free 

 martins work well in the yoke, are strong and 

 kind workers together, or with another ox. When 

 allowed to run with the cows, the free martin, un- 

 like the spayed heifer, is particularly on the alert, 

 when the cows are in a condition to receive the 

 male. Why the Itjmale of the ox fiimily, when 

 produced as a iwin, should alone of all other ani- 

 mals be incapable of reproduction, is one of those 

 physiological anomalies left for lijture observers to 

 explain. 



CORRESPONDENCE ON THE INTRODUCTION OF 

 TROPICAL PLANTS. 



[Communicated for publicaliun in tlie Fanners' Regisler.] 



7'o the Honorable the Secretary of the Navy (f the 

 U. S- xl. at Washington, D. C. 



Indian Key, T. FL, April 22, 1839. 

 iS7r — The subscribnig trustees of the Tropical 

 Plant Company have the honor to inlbrm the Hon. 

 Secretary of the Navy that near the celebrated 

 pits of water on lower JNlatacumba, they have now 

 establisiied a preparatory nursery of tropical plants, 

 in which they are ready and willing to receive and 

 preserve all valuable plants that may be brought by 

 our naval vessels under the treasury and navy 

 circulars of the Gth of September, 1827. It may 

 be added that the site of ihc nursery is about one 

 mile west of Indian Key ; and that vessels draw- 

 ing eighteen leet of water may easily enter and 

 salely anchor within the Reef at a distance of 

 three miles at the most, from said nursery. In re- 

 lation to fibrous leaved plants for the special use 

 of the navy itseltj it is respectfiilly suggested that 

 during the actual hosliliiies of France with Mex- 

 ico a precious cargo of living plants may now be 

 extracted fiom the latter country without that em- 

 barrassing opposition liom the Mexican authorilies 

 which may be expected at all other times, even by 



