«86 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. li 



ing the engines of the Prince George steam-boal 

 from London-bridge to Chatham, Sheerness, and 

 Southend. The same weight of Mr. Geary's coal 

 was taken on board that was usually consumed in 

 a trip to Chatham of common coal, and there was 

 IbunJ to be sufficient to work tbe engines as far as 

 Gravesend on ihe return voyage. Anotlier trial 

 was in the Ducliess of Kent steamer. The quan- 

 tity of" common coal usually burnt by ihis vessel 

 in a voyage to Ramsgate is five tons ; she per- 

 lormed the voyage with three tons and a half oC 

 Mr. Geary's Patent Coal. The price paid lor the 

 -common coal by the Commercial Company was 

 ftwenty-three shillings per ton. The cost of the 

 patent coal is eighteen shillings per ton. From 

 this there appears an enormous saving in cost, in 

 stowage room and in weight. 



There are other advantages besides these which 

 it is important to mention : the captains and engi- 

 neers of the boats state that there are hardly any 

 ashes left after combustion ; no clinkers ; only a 

 hght white vapoury smoke ; and that the labor of 

 stoking is much reduced. 



We also understand that coke manufactured 

 from the article has been used with great success 

 on some of the railways, particularly the eastern 

 counties. 



An extensive manuliictory has been erected for 

 the production of this patent fuel, in the neighbor- 

 hood of Bow, and another is in preparation at 

 Gravesend. Judging I'rom the foregoing state- 

 ments, we may venture to predict an extensive 

 demand lor this new article of commerce. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NORTH ANNA AGRI- 

 CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 



■.To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



By a resolution of the North Anna Asricultural 

 Association I have been requested lo Ibrward for 

 publication the inclosed communication on the cul- 

 tivation of the beet and mangold-wurtzel. 



[ also send the following resolutions of the as- 

 sociation on the lamented death of Judge Buel, 

 late editor of the ' Cultivator.' 



"Resolved, that the public-spirited, able, and 

 successful exertions of Judge Buel, late editor of 

 the ' Cultivator,' to improve the agriculture of the 

 country, have merited the highest praise, and en- 

 titled him to the gratitnde of every friend of agri- 

 culture, and that this association deplores his death 

 as a public loss. 



Resolved, as a testimonial of the estimation in 

 which we held him, and of our regret for his loss, 

 that these resolutions be transmitted to the ' Culti- 

 vator' and the Farmers' Register, for publication." 

 W. HoLLADAY, Secretary. 



On beet culture. 



, Communicated to tlie North Anna Association for the attaln- 

 nieni of Isnowledge on agricultural sulijects. 



The cultivation of roots for feeding stock is be- 

 ginning to attract that attention which it so justly 

 merits; and in furtherance of the objects of our 

 association, I will communicate the result of an ex- 

 periment which I made the last season in raising 



the mangold-wurtzel or scarcity root, and the Slle- 

 sian or sugar beet. 



The piece of ground on vvhicli the experiment 

 was made consisted of about one and one-third 

 acres of land, which had been ploughed the pre- 

 ceding fall with a two-horse plough, as a prepara- 

 tion lor Indian corn. The soil was of good quali- 

 ty, part of it a sandy loam, part clayey. About 

 the 20ih of April a light dres.sing of well rotted 

 manure was scattered over the thinner pans of it; 

 after which it was well ploughed with a two-horse 

 plough ; a coulter (also drawn by two horses as 

 deep as h could be forced into the earih) following 

 in each furrow immediately after the plough, so as 

 to break and open the subsoil. An iron-toothed 

 rake drawn by two horses, followed "'till the soil 

 wasvvell pulverized, and in fine tilth. Small lists 

 or ridges v,;ere Ibrmed at intervals of about two 

 and a half feet, by throwing together two furrows 

 of a one-horse plough, over which a hand rake 

 was drawn, to smooth them and throw ofi the 

 clods; these lists were opened (with a pointed 

 stick drawn along th^re by the hand, somewhat 

 like a rake handle reversed) to the depth of about 

 one and a half inches, the seed dropped into them 

 li-om the hand, at intervals of four to six inches, 

 one seed in a place, and covered shallow with fine 

 earth. The seeds were prepared for planting by 

 steeping them twelve hours in warm water s'atu- 

 rated with salt-petre, and then rolling them in 

 plaster-of-Paris. The weather was dry and 

 windy for several weeks after planting, and about 

 half the seed flailed to vegetate; they vegetated 

 best where the soil was moist and clayey. As 

 soon as the plants attained sufficient size, they 

 were thiimed by hand so as to stand at fi-om eight 

 to twelve inches apart in the drills, those pulled 

 up being transplanted to the vacant spaces ; owing 

 to the drought, but lew of these lived, and the few 

 that lived did not thrive or grow well. From the 

 planting and transplanting together, about two- 

 thirds of an acre stood, of which rather more than 

 half was sugar-beet, the rest mangold-wurtzel. 

 The crop was worked once with the hand-hoe 

 while the plants were very small, (the weeds and 

 grass being carefully pulled away at the same 

 time by the hand from immediately around the 

 young beets,) and twice afterwards with the single 

 plough (a wing-coulter,) and the hand-hoe. Here, 

 as in the greater part of Virginia, the season was one 

 of unusual drought,cornyieldino:generally not more 

 than from three-fifths to two-thirds of an average 

 crop ; and during the sutTimer I thought my crop 

 of roots would be a total failure; but as the fall 

 approached, it became more seasonable, and then 

 the crop improved rapidly. On the 23rd October, 

 I took them up to seed the land in wheat, and to 

 my surprise harvested more than five hundred 

 bushels of fine roots, besides four or five ox-cart 

 loads of tops, on which my hogs fed kindly. The 

 crop succeeded best where the soil was clayey and 

 moist; and I have found the roots excellent feed lor 

 both cattle and ho'js. The opinion has been fre- 

 quently advanced that the climate of Virginia is 

 unsuited to root crops, being too subject to droughts; 

 but my experience of the past season assures me, 

 that to raise the beet and mangold-wurtzel, a fair 

 trial is all that is needed. My roots were worth 

 more than any grain crop I could have raised on 

 the land ; and though the relative product of the 

 two kinds cultivated was not accurately ascer- 



