240 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 4. 



use them to express the contempt they really feel. 

 It is possible that I may have erred as much on 

 the other extreme. But my opinions are founded 

 on reports of profits and prices, and of long con- 

 tinued products, and not upon the appearance of 

 the land, or the growing crops, and still less upon 

 any excellence of the implements or processes of 

 tillage. The great merit seems to be, that though 

 neither of these are such as would command ad- 

 miration, or even attract notice, that all the parts 

 are well suited to each other. If I had merely 

 judged of the state of agriculture by what was 

 presented to my view, and without knowing any 

 thing else, I should have certainly formed a very 

 unfavorable opinion of the soil, the rotation, and 

 the profits and prospects of the cultivation. 



July \7lh, 1S35. 



A CLEAKER. 



USES AND CULTURE OF RUTA BAGA. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



The Swedish turnip, or ruta baga, is a most 

 valuable vegetable for all kinds of cattle. Some 

 horses refuse it, but generally they are fond of it. 

 When designed tor horses, the roots should be 

 well washed and chopped up — but lor cows or 

 hogs this is unnecessary. Indeed it is thought 

 that cows thrive better upon the roots in their 

 dirty state; and when given whole, they are not 

 so likely to choke them. The teeth of sheep may 

 be injured by roots in very dirty condition — but all 

 these cattle eat more slowly and securely, I think, 

 if the turnips are thrown to them in an undivided 

 stale. I used a turnip cutter when I first began 

 to feed them, but discontinued it as troublesome 

 and unnecessary. 



The Swedish turnip, when first eaten by milch 

 cows, gives the milk and butter a flavor some- 

 thing like that of garlic. This is not unpleasant 

 to some persons, and becomes less obvious as the 

 digestive organs of the cattle more perfectly assim- 

 ilate the food. It may be obviated, however, by 

 dissolving an ounce of saltpetre in a pint of water, 

 and putting a table spoonful of the solution into 

 each milk pan as the warm milk is emptied into it. 



In the winter season, the butter from cows ju- 

 diciously fed upon ruta baga, has the flavor and 

 appearance of grass butter. Half a bushel per 

 day, divided into three messes, is a fair allowance. 

 I have sometimes fed a bushel and a half to each 

 cow per diem. The vegetable is very grateful to 

 the animal, which while eating it, requires little 

 water to drink. I have known cows refuse to 

 drink water for several weeks when freely fed on 

 Swedish turnips. Straw, corn fodder, or coarse 

 hay, is at the same time essential to enable them 

 to chew the cud. 



The skin remains slack, and the health more 

 vigorous and decided, by the use of these turnips; 

 and the amount of barn-yard manure is much in- 

 creased. It is best to feed twice or thrice a day. 

 In fattening cattle, Swedish turnips, sprinkled with 

 corn meal, gives the meat a finer quality, juice 

 and relish. It is also an economy where corn is 

 high in price. 



The ruta baga is generally thought to be a 

 troublesome crop; and many relinquish its culti- 

 vation from the difficulty of its management, when 

 not thoroughly understood. The ploughing or 



ridging, drilling, hand-hoeing, and care, are pe- 

 culiar, and much unnecessary labor and pains of- 

 ten at first embarrass the cultivator. But when 

 once well comprehended, the crop is usually es- 

 timated highly. 



We generally plough up a barley, wheat, or rye 

 stubble, immediately after harvest; then roll and 

 harrow it well. If we have fine manure, (we 

 often use street dirt and bones,) this is hauled out 

 and spread, and the ridges (two furrows cast to- 

 gether) are ploughed at once. These are rolled 

 flat, and the seed drilled upon the top of them 

 with a machine (a turnip drill) contrived for the 

 purpose; or a porter bottle with a quill fixed in the 

 cork, having a hole of sufficient size in the small 

 end of the quill. If the manure is long, and in- 

 tractable, the ridges are ploughed first, the dung 

 is then carted and spread between them, and the 

 double furrows are afterwards split, so as to cover 

 in completely the long manure. The seed is sown 

 tolerably thick. When the plant has lour leaves, 

 the supernumeraries are cut out with hand-hoes, 

 leaving the finest plants from six to twelve inches 

 asunder. Eight inches is the average width be- 

 tween the plants — if they are allowed to stand 

 thiek, the crop is ruined, and no fear should be 

 entertained to cut out freely. 



Before hoeing, a light triangular harrow is run 

 between the rows to level the earth, and clear the 

 ground from weeds. An implement with a slide 

 behind and hinges in the front, so that the width 

 can be changed at pleasure, according to the 

 growth, is most convenient. 

 . A mistake is often made with the turnip crop, 

 in lulling up the roots by plough or hoe. The 

 earth, on the contrary, should always be taken 

 from the turnip. Its tap root is quite sufficient for 

 its nourishment, and the bulb grows larger as the 

 earth is drawn from it. The calculation is to hoe 

 and cultivate the ground until it is quite level, 

 harrowing or horse-hoeing between the rows, and 

 hand-hoeing between the growing turnips. We 

 sometimes sow barley, wheat, or rye among the 

 ruta baga for a permanent crop, and cover in the 

 seed when we give the turnips the last dressing 

 with the harrow or horse-hoe. I have seen very 

 good crops of grain after the turnips, and 300 

 bushels of turnips per acre. In planting Swedes 

 for seed, care should be had that no other plants 

 of the same family be permitted to flower near 

 them, or in the same garden. Other kinds of 

 turnips, cabbage, and radishes, will change the 

 character of the seed; and of course the quality of 

 the roots will be subsequently altered from that of 

 the original. A friend — G.TI. Walker, of Hong- 

 ford, Philadelphia County — who is exceedingly 

 careful in all such matters, promises me to forward 

 you some of the true breed, which you "will do me 

 a favor by distributing among our friends on James 

 River, (especially to George E. Harrison and John 

 A. Selden, his brother Miles D. Selden, and Hill 

 Carter, Esqs.) 



In your climate, except in very severe winters, 

 like the last, you have the advantage of being 

 able to leave the turnips in the field, to be pulled 

 as they are wanted for use. Here we are obliged 

 by the severity of the season, to pull and top them 

 by the middle of November, and to hoard them 

 away in cellars or caves, where they sometimes 

 heat, and require much handling. 



You can sow later than we do, for the plant is 



