THE GENESEE FABMEE 



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i>otatoes Subsoiling for this crop has been attended with ^eat benefit. Good short 

 f TT-JTiL bfst for potatoes. A handful of plaster on a hill as they just break 

 dred bushgis |,.. _^^, , . ^^^ unleached wood ashes are of great benefit. Two hun- 

 first of May. If planted 'm ^... ._ ^^ v^ raised. They should be planted about the 

 rows about thirty inches apart and tweR-e incuco ,^jj.r i.^i-it. clean ; though planted in 

 the heaviest crop. 300 lbs. of Peruvian guano sown broadcast per acre, anci |.?i^3 yield 

 has been attended with very good results on this crop. 



Carrots. — The value of this crop, especially as a food for horses, has long been 

 acknowledged, and farmers in various parts of the country are now beginning to grow an 

 acre or so for their own use, satisfied that while they require some extra labor to the oat 

 crop, yet the yield is so very large as to make them much more profitable. They do very 

 well on an old meadow or clover sod well manured, plowed in the spring, well dragged 

 the way of the furrows, till the grass is well covered and there is an inch or two of fine, 

 loose mold. They should be sown in rows one foot apart, as they are then more easily 

 kept clean by hoeing. Three to four pounds of seed are suflacient for an acre. About 

 the middle of April, if the soil is dry and warm, is the best time for sowing. Six hun- 

 dred bushels per acre is often obtained, and some farmers consider a bushel of carrots 

 equal to a bushel of oats as feed for horses. 



Mangel Wurzel. — Though his root contains about 87 per cent, of water, yet more 

 nutritive matter can be obtained per acre from this crop than any other. It is not liable 

 to be injured by insects, and is not so susceptible of injury from drouth as ruta baga and 

 other varieties of turneps. Land for this crop should l)e well drained, exceedingly rich, 

 and plowed very deep. To insure a good crop of thirty tons per acre bulb and ten tons 

 leaf, the land should be plowed in the fall after wheat ; and if subsoiled, so much the 

 better. In the spring, twenty loads of good barn-yard manure shoul'd be plowed in, and 

 the land well prdverized by dragging, &c. It may then be marked out in rows two and 

 a lialf feet apart, and the seed be dropped in the rows at distances of 12 to 14 inches, 

 with 4 or 5 seeds in a hill. We would also earnestly advise that 500 lbs. superphosphate 

 of lime (directions for the manufacture of which from bones, by sulphuric acid, will be 

 found in our January number, page 37,) be applied per acre ; this would be about half an 

 ounce to a hill. Its eftcct, especially in giving the plants a start, is gi-eatly beneficial, 

 and we recommend farmers always to use it if possible. It may be purchased, or 

 manufactured from bones, as best suits convenience. For carrots, beets, parsneps, 

 and mangel wurzel, this substance is a great axuiliary ; and for ruta baga and turneps, 

 is the best manure that can possibly be used, costing about |4 per acre. Mangel wurzel 

 should be sown the first week in June. They should be kept clean by means of a horse- 

 hoe between the rows, and the plants must be singled out, leaving one in a hill. It is 

 necessary to sow several seeds in a hill to insure an even crop. When pulled in the fall, 

 the leaves should be given to milch cows, as they will make them give much more milk. 

 The roots should be stored in the barn or cellar, for winter or early spring feed. They 

 will keep perfectly good till midsummer, if necessary. They are an admirable food for 

 slieep or milch cows, in conjunction with hay or straw. 



Ruta Baga, or, as it is called in Britain, the Swedish ttn-ncp, where there are a num- 

 ber of varieties very extensively grown, docs not necessarily require such rich land as 

 the mangel wurzel ; neither can such a large crop be grown. They also contain a little 

 more water, and will not keep good so late in the spring. They are nevertheless a 

 highly valuable and profitably cultivated crop ; and for sheep, and cattle, and hogs, 

 there is nothing better. The SJcirving'^s Livcrjmol Swede is probably the best kind for 

 this climate, as it is not so liable to run to seed as some others, though there are many 

 other good varieties. In England, one and a half pouuds of seed are sown per acre — 

 -. K^ drilled on ridges two feet apart, and afterwards hoed out twelve inches between each . ►■ 



