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Qri)c iTarmcr's iHontI)!]) bicitor. 



87 



Root Culture. 



Five iliiiigs jire en;ruial in llie ciiluiro of root 

 crops: lirsl, 11 ilry soil ; serniid, a ricli soil ; tliinl, 

 11 (li^ep soil ; lliiirtli, II «cll|Milverizeil soil, ami 

 firiii, a good altur ciiltiire. 



Hy a rlrij soil, we ineiin n soil, tliat is not wot. 

 .Muislure is lifuntic-ial to all croiis^ and is indeed 

 iN(lis|icnsalili.' lo ilirir >;rowlli; hul sl-inding wider 

 is di'liiinental to all loot crops, tlion;;li it repose 

 npon the sidisoil, and appear l>nl occasionally at 

 tlie snri;ic(!. Hence when roots are to he grown 

 upon soils that are tenacions or flat, or upon 

 tiiost.' which repose npon an inipci'viojis subsoil, 

 the land slionld cillier he previonsly under- 

 drained, or shoidil he thrown into ridges and tin; 

 t'nrrows kept open I'or the IVeo |)assage of water 

 in heavy rains. 



An'c/isoilis as essential to good cro])?, as 

 noin'ishing ami ahnndant food is to the rattening 

 of animals. VVe all know that lean paslnre and 

 coarse forage, although they may keep, will not 

 fatten cattle. It is ecpially true, that although 

 liirrn crops will live anil grow upon a poor soil, 

 the? proilnct and prolit will he greater on a rich 

 one. Hence the inaxiin, veriticd liy long exjie- 

 riencp, that it is hetter to cultivate one acre of 

 rich land than thri'e of poor. Ordinarily speak- 

 ing, a good dressing of manure will (loublt! the 

 proiliict of a root crop. 



A deep-worUcd soW is necessary for all taproots, 

 not oidy that lliey may penetrate freely, and in- 

 crease their length and theirvohnne, hut that their 

 radicles — their months — which are principally 

 upon their lower extremities, may find food for 

 the parent plant. Even tlie turiiij) and potato, 

 in a deep tilth, send down their roots to a great 

 depth, for food and inoisinre. 



'I'he pulveriziilion o\' the soil is essential to the 

 germination of the seed, to the free circulation 

 of nioisinre and air, and the admission of solar 

 heat, all contrihnting to the thrit't of the growing 

 plants. If the soil is linnpy, or coarse, and does 

 not come in close contact with the sc^od, to keep 

 it moist, the seed cannot gernnnate ; the roots 

 cannot freely extend in search for food; nor can 

 this food he properly prep;n-ed, and transmitted 

 to the plant, mdess the soil be so pidverized as 

 to piMinit the free ciri'ulation ofairimd moisture 

 tie u:jh all its interstices, and through its mass. — 

 Theairand dews, we repeat, are charged with the 

 elements of fertility, and the more freely they are 

 permitted to penetrate the soil, the more benefit 

 they will impart to the crop. 



Goo'/ (T//er CH/?«re implies the keeping of the 

 ground free (iom weeds, which rob the crop of 

 its food, tbimiing the plants to a proper ilistati<:e, 

 keeping the surface mellow, or ojjen to atmos- 

 pheric influence. If the soil is dry and rich, and 

 deeply pulverized, the labors of the husbandman 

 will )et not avail mnch i( he neglects, either to 

 destroy weeds, to thin when necessary, or to 

 keep the smface loose and open. But these lat- 

 ter reqiiisities to success may easily be got alonL' 

 with, if they are attended to in time, and vviili 

 the proper imjilement.=. The potato ground 

 should be well harrowed, to destroy all the young 

 wee<ls, arul to pulverize the surlace helbre the 

 shoois have all broke ground. It may afterwards 

 he almost wholly managed with the plough and 

 cultivator. The beet, carrot, and rnta baga, if 

 sown, as they should he, in rin\s, slioidd be 

 cleaned in like manner, and for like purpose with 

 the cultivator, as si^oii as the rows ofyoimg plants 

 can he readily distinguished. One hour's labor 

 in this way, will destroy more small weeds and 

 coirespondingly benefit the crop, than three 

 hours' lalioi- w ill effect upon large weeds. It is 

 easi.r to ih stioy the acroii than it is to eradicate 

 the t-.:!-;. To crowd plants, is like overstocking 

 c p.'t-tiire, or endeavoiing to niake fat animals 

 from halfralions of food. It is dividing among 

 many that food which is reipiired to [lerfect one. 

 It moreover lends to exclude light, heat, and a 

 Irri- circulation of air, essential to the tievelup- 

 inent ol' vegetables and the perfection of their 

 growth. Ilein-e a moderate number of plants 

 will give a better product than a great manv, 

 upon the same grontid, in a crowded situation.-^ 

 This is a hard lesson to teach to some farmers, 

 in regard to root crops. — BueVs Farmer's Com- 

 panion. 



MuTTO.N. — We mean to repeat at leasta thous- 

 and times till what we say has sottie eflect upon 

 our cottntryitien, that a pound of lean, tender, 



juicy imitton can be raised for half the cost of 

 the same (piantity of lilt pork ; that it is infinite- 

 ly healthier food, especially in the summer sea- 

 son ; is more agiceable to tlii^ palate when one 

 gets accustomed to it; and that those who eat it 

 become more innscniar, and can do more work 

 with greater ease to themselves than those who 

 eat lilt pork. We know nothing more rlelicate 

 than smoked mutton hams ol' Southdown breed 

 of sheep — venison itself is not superior.— Wmfr- 

 ican .'Igriculturisl. 



Extcudci! Plans. 



" I.ay down a little I'i.a.x for yourself," says Dr. 

 Fraid<lin, '-and all your op(;rations will become 

 easy." Farmers, as a geiH>ral lliiiig, ar(! too apt 

 to be extravagant in the formation of their plans 

 ami enterprizes, and yield to the erroneous and 

 tatal idea, that success ile|,'eiids npon extended, 

 rather than systematic eflorts. A farmer may he 

 tlie possessor of hundreds of acres, and yet his 

 net annual income he less than that of his neigh- 

 bor who owns hut fifty, or |ieihaps tW(mty-five. 

 Onless the available means of the farmer he in 

 |iroportion to the extent of his freehold, a large 

 nuinher of acres must remain idle. He can cul- 

 tivate but a small Jiarf, and while the residue of 

 his possessions subjects him to no inconsidera- 

 ble expense for fencing iTiaterials and taxes, there 

 will he no return in ready money to assist in the 

 deli-ayment of the outlay it incurs. Perhaps he 

 has eighty or an bimdred acres in grass and til- 

 lage. The natural and inevitable consequence 

 is, that not more than half enough manure is ap- 

 plied to ensure a reniuneiating crop. From fif- 

 teen to twenty hiishels of <'orn, and from one half 

 to three Ibmths of a ton of Kiiglish hay to the 

 acre, are all that he obtains; am' yet the cost of 

 tending an acre of the lormer, yielding sixty or 

 eighty bushels, is perhaps but little greater than 

 where the crop is but twenty; while the expense 

 of fencing a field, averaging two tons of hay per 

 acre, is the same, precisely, as where there is but 

 half that quantity. The assessor regards grass 

 lands of all descriptions, good, had, and indilfer- 

 cnt, as subject to the same ratio of taxation. Til- 

 lage land, also, whatever may be its productive- 

 ness or unproductiveness, is classified as sueli, un- 

 der one common term. The tiirmer, therefore, 

 whose fields are poor and unproductive, receives 

 no favor on that account. He "gives in" the 

 number of acres and pays into the common treas- 

 ury the same per acre as the firmer cultivating a 

 farm of similar extent, all of whicliisin the high- 

 e^t possibh; state of productiveness and profit. 



It our farmers would cultivate no more land 

 than they can well and systematically manage, 

 we should see much le.'^s of what is calleil poor 

 farming. The practice of taking tJiore from the 

 soil than we return to it, is the bane of agricultu- 

 ral increase; by cxhansliug the original stainina 

 of the land, we inevitably create a necessity lor 

 some suhseouent amelioration, and if this he neg- 

 lected, and one exhanstiu;: crop permitted to suc- 

 ceed another, the result will eventually be most 

 disastrous, and poverty with its multiplied and 

 unmitigahie eiils, attend our cfliirls through lite. 

 iS'o one can Indieve that there exists, originally, 

 so mnch difference in land, or that, ordinarily 

 speaking, the same eftijrts in its cultivaticm, 

 would not he productive of nearly similar result.s. 

 The difference is not so much in llie soil as in 

 the management of it. "'Strong land," says an 

 able writer, "yields moip when it first is cleared, 

 and will last Icmgerthan lighter lands ; hut when 

 both shall he reduced hy several exhausting 

 crops, it begins to he generally conceded that the 

 lighter land for many purposes is tnore valuable 

 than the stronger, heavier lands. Pursuing a 

 regular rotatioti of crops with efl^ectual manur- 

 ing, it is even thought the lighter land will give 

 most [irofit, and that the crop through the ex- 

 tremes of drought and wet, will be most sure." 



Rea.n Sort'. — Take one ipiart of white beans, 

 and put them to soak over night ; in the morning 

 drain off the water, and put them into an iron 

 vessel, with four quarts of clear soft water; place 

 them over the fire, and keep boiling gently for 

 three horns, or till about half past ten o'clock;— 

 then add one pound of pickle pork, cut in thin 

 slices, and keep boiling till noon, when they will 

 be sufficiently cooked. 



Where the family is small, half the quantity 

 may be used ; and if the quantity of beans is in- 



creased, the other ingredients should be added 

 in the same ratio. Pepper, <Scc. may be intro- 

 duced when served up, to suit the taste. — Farmer 

 and Gardner. 



In the London Times an American company 

 advertise tiir sale saddles of American forest ven- 

 ison, wild gi^esi; from the American lakes, and 

 wild turkeys from the American forests, just re- 

 ceived, in fine order. 



For the purpose of showing what has been 

 done and what may be done again in the dairy 

 line, wc republish an account of the most re- 

 markable cows that havecotne to our notice. A 

 list of these has been preserved in the Albany 

 Cultivator from which we copy: — 



Remarkably Productire Cows. 



The most extraordinary cow of which we 

 have any record, is one which was owned by 

 William Cramp, ol Lewes, Sussex, England, con- 

 cerning which the IJoard of Agriculture collected 

 the fijll«wiiig facts: She was of the Sussex 

 breed, and was calved in 17'J[). From I\lay 1, 

 1605, to April "2, ISOtj, forty eight weeks and one 

 day, her milk produced .'j40 lbs. of butter. The 

 next year, or from April VJ, the day she calved, 

 to Feb. 27, 1807, forty live weeks, she |Moduced 

 450 pounds of butter. It is stated she was sick 

 this year, and under the care of a farrier three 

 weeks after calving. The third year, from April 

 (i, 1807, the tiine she calved, to A|)ril 4, 1808, 

 fifty one weeks and four days, she produced 675 

 pounds of butter. The fourth year, from April 

 ■22, 1808, the time she calved, to Feb. 13, 1809, 

 forty two weeks and three days, she produced 

 4(5() pounds of butter. The fifth )ear, fiom April 

 3, 180i), to May 8, 1810, fifty seven weeks, she 

 produced .594 pounds of butter. The greatest 

 quantity of butter mentioned as having been pro- 

 duced by this cow in any one week, was 18 lbs., 

 and the grealpst quantity of milk mentioned as 

 having been given in any one day, was ^0 ipiarls. 

 She was well liul at all limes. "In summer she 

 was fed on clover, lucerne, rye-grass and cari'ots; 

 three or four tiiries a day, and at noon about 

 four gallons of grains and two of bran, mixed 

 together. In winter, she was fed with hay, 

 grains, and brati, mixed as before staled, feeding 

 often." 



The next most remarkable in the catalogue is 

 the celebrated Oaks or " Daiivers prize cow." 

 The first notice we find of her is in a cominnni- 

 calion from E. Mersey Derby, Esq., to the iMas- 

 sachusetts Agricuilnral Repository and .louriial, 

 dated Dec. 2.5, 1810. From this it appears that 

 in 1813, Caleb Oaks of Danvers, Mass., bought 

 this cow of his brother-in-law, by whom she had 

 been purchased out of a drove. She was then 

 five years old. Mr. Oaks made from her the first 

 year 180 pounds of butter. The next year, 1814, 

 she produced 300 pounds; in 1815, over 400 

 pounds; in 18115,484 pounds. In the latter year 

 she took the first premium at the Massachusetts 

 show at Brighton. The greatest quantity of but- 

 ter made from her In one week was lOi [lonnds; 

 the greatest quantity of mill; eiven per tlay was 

 Id to 18 quails. She was fed, in addition to or- 

 dinary pasture feed, with one bushel of Indian 

 meal per week, and allowed to drink all her 

 skimmed milk. After the above trials, she was 

 purchased by the Hon. Josiah Qiiincy ; her yield 

 in butter, however, never came up to what it liad 

 before been, though she somelinnes made 16 

 pounds per week, and her milk was of such rich- 

 ness that five quarts of it frequently yielded a 

 pound of hutler. 



Mr. Column slates that he found in Ireland a 

 dairy of fine cows of the Kerry breed (a small 

 race) which averaged 320 pounds of butter to 

 each for the season. 



The milk given by one of Colonel Jaqnes' 

 "creain-pot" cows in three days, aflxirded 9 lbs. 

 of hiilter, or a; the rare of 21 pounds per week ; 

 and another of the same liimily made 19 pounds 

 per week. 



Six Durham cows belonging to George Vail, 

 of Troy, made in 30 days (June, 1844) 2G2 [lounds 

 7 ounces butler — being an average of 43 pounds 

 12 ounces to each cow. The average quantity of 

 milk per day for each cow was 22i quarts. The 

 feed was grass only. 



Mr. C'olman, in his Fourth Report on the Ag- 

 riculture of Alassachuselts, gives a list of CO "na- 

 tive" cows and their produce, from wliich we 



