72 



GENESEE FARMER. 



May, 1845 



IMPROVED SHORT-HORNED DURHAM HEIFER ESTERVILLE. 

 EsTERviLLE, the property of E. P. Prentice, of Mt. Hope, near Albany, received the first prize for two- 



(1,485) — g.g.g.g. (]. Bellona, by Mars (411) — g-g-g-g-g' d. RoUa, by North Star (458,) own brother to 

 Comet, sold for $1,000. Sir Alfred was, in 1840, sold to the King of the French. 



For tho Genesco Farmer. 



WINTERING STOCK— A DIALOGUE. 

 (Continued.) 



James. Brother H., when I got home I saw how 

 miserable and poor my cattle were when compared 

 with yours ; so I resolved to do diflerently in future. 

 But I must have some of the big beets ; so you must 

 inform me how to raise them. 



Henry. I am glad that you have come to so 

 good a resolution ; and if you do but pvit it into 

 practice, you will have both the satisfaction and 

 profit of it. When you were here before, I forgot 

 to inform you that you must not allow any of your 

 stock to ramble over the fields when they are soft, 

 nor before the grass is well up. What little they 

 get early in the season, by plunging over the fields, 

 is a real injury to the animals, and very luirtful to 

 the ground. You never should turn into the pas- 

 tures until they are up a good bite ; they will then 

 aflbrd much more feed through summer, and the 

 stock will do much better. 



But to the root-raising : The essentials for rais- 

 ing a bountiful hoe crop of any description are, to 

 have the ground rich — to keep it clean and well pul- 

 verized. Now I nuist inform you how I apply my 

 manure — for you must have manure to make your 

 ground rich. Stabling your cattle, and feeding 

 them with roots in winter, it makes much more and 

 much richer manure. The increasing of the quan- 

 tity and quality of the manure is one of the most 

 essential benefits of the root crop. 



I prepare my ground in the fall, for all my hoe 

 crops. You now must do the best you can, and 

 next season you can do better. 



You sec that I have all my manure in the yard, 

 and by the first of May ha^e all the straw and use- 

 less forage trodden under foot, for manure. About 

 the first of April I spread plaster all over my yards, 

 about two tons : and about the last of May, or as 

 soon as spring work is over, I put the manure up 

 into heaps in the j'ards, and cover these heaps over 

 with a thin coat of plaster — about two tons more. 

 The manure rem.ains in these piles through summer, 

 and as soon as my fall crops are secured, or as soon 

 as I can, I apply this manure to my next spring cpop, 

 but previous to putting on the dung, I sow^ the 

 ground with plaster — about two bushels per acre. 



On the ground intended for the beets, I put of said 

 manure 30 vragon or ox-cart loads per acre ; and on 

 the corn and potato ground, 25 loads per acre ; 

 spread it evenly over the surface, and then plow it 

 deep and well, not leaving any unturned. 



In the spring, as soon as the ground is sufficiently 

 dry to pulverize, give it a thorough harrowing 

 lengthwise of the furrows; it is then ready for mark- 

 ing for corn and potatoes. But the beet ground 

 must be cross-harrowed, so as to mix the soil tho- 

 roughly. Harrow sufficiently : do not fear hurting 

 it, if the ground be but drj^ Then take your plow 

 and ridge it into narrow ridges, 2^ ;or 3 feet apart. 

 Then with a marker, drawn by a horse, or with 5'our 

 hoe handle, make a mark on "the top of the ridge, 

 about 2 inches deep — drop the seed into it, about 2 or 

 3 inches apart, then cover them lightly with a hoe or 

 rake. 



The seed you can get at the Rochester seed store: 

 put on 3 lbs. of the mangel wurzel, or the large 

 white sugar beet, per acre. Try some of each, and 



