1S39] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



587 



MISTAKE IN THE CULTURE OF THE BEET. 



From the Farmers' Cabinot. 



I am one of the root raisers — growing sugar 

 beet, mangel-wurlzel, ruta-baga, and potato ibr 

 feeding stocif. And as fiirniers may, in m}' opi- 

 nion, he as useful to each other by reporiinir their 

 mistakes and failures, as their sucoess,. I will meil- 

 tion that m\' beeis were flourishing, and the admi- 

 ration of tlie public passing by them as late as the 

 first week in the seventh month (July.) But the 

 weather becoming hot and dry, and the ground 

 harder than I liked, I concluded to run the cultiva- 

 tor through them and loosen up the soil. The 

 consequence was, instead of improvement, the 

 leaves began immediately to wilt, curl, and the 

 edges of them to die; the mangel-wurtzel worse 

 than the sugar beet; but all declined from that 

 period until the late rains; at the present the ori- 

 ginal top is nearly all dead, and a new one formed, 

 which bids fair to rival the first, if left to stand long 

 enough. But it is supposed the root, although a 

 pretty good size, has lost much in growth by the 

 decay of the first top, and its maturity protracted, 

 if indeed the crop be not much diminished. My 

 inference is, that laie, culture, even if the weather 

 he seasonable, may be injurious, by destroying the 

 the fibrous side roots, which seem to be indispen- 

 sable to the plant during its latter stage — and that 

 consequently the earth should be kept in good 

 tilth while it is young, and afterwards left alone. 



The best crop of beets I have raised was in 183 T, 

 alternated between rows of corn; a full crop of the 

 latter was obtained, (as was believed) and three 

 hundred bushels of beets per acre besides; those 

 in open patch a long side did not do so well; tlie 

 shade of the corn seemed to be useful during the 

 dry weather. I intend rerpeatinglhis plan next 

 year. J. Jenksxs. 



ear) 3 feet 3 inches; barley do. 3 feet 3 inches; 

 peas sown about A pril last (pods completely form- 

 ed) 3 I'eet 3 inches. The farmers all around the 

 Bay of JMorecambe, in forming composts for their 

 wheat and barley crops, use oi" sea sand about 26 

 carls (small one-horse carts,) lime. about four carts, 

 manure, ten carts, per statute acre. Why use so 

 great a qurntity of sea sand if it does not possess 

 very considerable vegetative power? — JSng. Fap^. 



VEGETATIVE POWER OF SEA SAND. 



A few days since a quantity of sea sand was 

 carried out ol' Morecambe Bay, about a mile li'om 

 the Furness shore, [t had been, less than an hour 

 previously, covered a considerable depth by the 

 tide, and contained several cockles and other shell 

 fish. It was immediately placed in pits or beds, fif- 

 teen inches deep, and sown, without manure or ad- 

 mixture of any kind — ^just in the state it was when 

 taken from the hay — with wheat, barley, peas, 

 mustard, cress, and radish seed. In five days 

 the mustard, cress, and radish seed had sprouted, 

 and begun to vegetate, having thrown out a con- 

 siderable length of root, while (what is most, ex- 

 traordinary) the shell fish were even then alive! 

 Thus have we wheat, barlej^, peas, mustard, cress 

 and radishes, all growing, and cockles and other 

 shell fish in a living state, in one and the same bed 

 of sea sandl Should any one be at all incredu- 

 lous as to the truth of this statement, he can easily 

 try the experiment himself; an ordinary flower 

 pot filled with sea sand, sown with almost any 

 kind of seeds, would at once put the matter to 

 the test. Common hay seed sown in October 

 last in beds of sand similar to the above, and 

 treated exactly in the same way, have now grown 

 to (he extraordinary height of 3 feet 6i inches. 

 Some wheat sown about Christmas last (now in 



REAPING MACHINE. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Talhot, 3Id., Sept. 14, 1839. 

 I send, herewith, two papers containing articles 

 respecting Hussey's wheat reaper. One of them 

 (the report of the committee which tried it near 

 Pliiladelphia) is so fijll and satisfactory that I deem 

 any iiirther description of if, by me, as requested, 

 even if I were competent, altogether unnecessary. 

 From my experience in its use, of three years, I 

 am of opinion they have not said in its favor a 

 single word too much. 



Saml. Hambleton. 



REPORT OF ACOarnilTEE OF THE PHILADEL- 

 PHIA AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, ON HUS- 

 SEy's REAPING BIACHINE. 



The committee appointed at last meeting, to 

 superintend the operation of Hussey's Reaping 

 Machine, beg leave to report: 



That they discharged the duty of their appoint- 

 ment on the day following the same. They met 

 for the purpose on the fi^irm of Mr. John Fox, in 

 Oxford township, where the machine was put in 

 operation in a piece of several acres of heavy 

 wheat, considerably lodged — and contrary to the 

 expeclationsof most of the committee, it performed 

 remarkably well. 



The machine requires two horses to draw it, a 

 boy to drive them, and a man to push off the grain. 

 It is not material whether the speed be a walk or 

 a slow trot, though a walk, where the grain stands 

 tolerable fair, is to be preferred. A trot is some- 

 times necessary where the grain is much lodged, 

 or a strong wind drives in the direction of the ma- 

 chine. It operates very satisfactorily in grain so 

 much fallen as to be entirely beyond the ability of 

 the cradle ; and the grain is generally laid fully as 

 regularly as by the cradle, with the advantage on 

 the part of the machine, that it is laid in heaps 

 ready for binding, thoreby saving much labor in 

 thin crops, and rendering a rake unnecessary. 

 So perfect did the machine perform, even in grain 

 considerably lodged, and in which a cradle could 

 scarcely have been used at all, that not a stalk was 

 left standing, while the stubble presented one uni- 

 form heiirht of about seven inches throughout the 

 field. The loss, too, by this mode of harvesting, 

 is greatly reduced. The machine operates some- 

 what on' the principle of the common shears, re- 

 quiring nothing of the momentum of the cradle; 

 and tlfe only jarring attending it is from the weiijht 

 of the grain falling on a smooth surface. The 

 wheat cut on the present occasion, was dead ripe, 

 having been standing two weeks longer than ne- 

 cessary, and yet scarcely a grain could be found 

 shattered out. 



