1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



155 



TURNIPS AS FEED. 



Po 

 few 



Mr. Solon Robinson 

 the uso of tiirnij^ as 

 the journals of the day 



three or four more, put them in a glass tumbler, 



" d) 



half 

 the 



While in attendance upon the late National ^"^ Po^^-^^ on them aqua fortis (nitric aci 

 mltiN Show at Barnum's Museum, we spent a '^"""g^^ ^o coyer them they hved m it about hi 

 iv minutes in the "Lecture-Room." Ourfriend,^" ^;«»^;, P^ acid cllected them only in t 

 ,was making remarks upon '"-^"^h, their oily shell protecting them elsewhere 

 IS feed, as reported in some of ^^..^JY ^^ 7T /^>'^^7\^''" S^^, anything hat 

 : day. He took the position i ^V^V^^ e%^'tV^l mdestn.ymg them it_ will be 



at 

 be 



KOOMAN. 



Gentle- 



that they were good for nothing as mitriment,iS;^'i'y ^'^'^^i^'*^^ i" *^''«;^if^'}y^ J^ • E; V 

 and sustiincd himself by giving its analysis. This, ^''''90, N. Y., Jan. 4, Ih^b.-Country 



is all very well, but, unfortunately, it is not ini'"'''"" . 



accordance with well-known facts. We used to ^ , „ „ . 



,,,.,. , , IT J i • 11 For the I\ew England Farmer. 



talk 111 tiie same way, but were obliged to yield 



not simply to a few doubtful experiments, but to Mr. Editor : — It will be recollected that some 

 years of experience. Tiiis the speaker seemed to 'time since you published in the Fanner a numlicr 

 feel, for he admitted that "in England it might of articles upon the habits of tlie birds of New 

 not be so." Butwe suppose a turnip in England, England, written by one who is anxious for their 

 is Y^i'y much the same thing as a turnip in New 'preservation, and who, for many years, has ob- 

 York. He also added that they should be fed by served their habits, when, in their migratory visits 

 turninj tiie cattle in upon them, as they arc j from the South, they have taken up their tempo- 

 growing in the field. We cannot see the force or^rary abode in his grounds. In these articles, I 

 propriety of this distinction. Is it not the same j endeavored to show, by their mode of living, 

 worthless tiling before it is pulled, as afterwards ] i their great benefit to the farmer and horticulturist 

 Must i\v' cattle or sheep pull it, or bite it off, to in the destruction of vast numbers of noxious 

 render it nutritious? But even here there is no insects, tiie folly and cruelty of destroying 

 escape, for the English practice is, after the ani-j them. I endeavored, also, strongly to impress 

 mal has bit off as much as is practicable, the root j upon all cultivators of the soil the import^ince of 

 remaining in the ground is then lifted by a fork j putting an immediate stop to the shootiny; of 

 and le'^c on the top of the ground, for the cattle 

 to eat at pleasure. 



We are compelled to admit tliat there is some- 

 thing in this yarf of nutrition, that no doctrine 

 of chemistry or physiology is able to explain. 

 The f x-t is .inquestionable, that turnips are ex- 

 cellent f )r Alt toning ehecp and cattle, whether we 

 can explain why it is so or not. It is equally 

 true, as Mr. R. stated in the same speech, that 



about Ur per cent, of the flat turnip, as shown by with us through the winter, or leiimrel}- passing 

 a cheiui^al analysis, consists of water. These | on to the South as the season advances, and icturn- 



bii-ds on their premises, liy motives drawn from 

 self-interest and humanity. ^ly remarks, how- 

 ever, were confined principally to those birds 

 found in New England, that migrate from the 

 South in the spring, and passing the summer 

 with us, return again in autumn. But there is 

 amjther class of birds, arriving from the north in 

 the fall and winter, that I consider very useful to 

 the cultivators of the soil, the}' either remaininf 



two facts, so apparently contradictory, are entirely 

 above ond ooyond contradiction. We subjoin the 

 following, on this subject, which appears in the 

 Northern. Fanner : ^ 



"Tiie v(>getable I wish to recommend as the 

 best, all Slings considered, for milch cows in 

 winter, is white flat turnips. Some, perliaps, 

 will obje'-t to the turnip, because it will affect 

 the taste of the milk and butter. So it does if 

 fed raw : this can be avoided by boiling. For 

 each cow, boil a half a bushel of turni})8 soft ; 

 Avhiie hot, add five or six quarts of shorts, which 

 willsw.;!, and yoxx will get the full worth of it. 

 A mess like this fed to a cow once a day, will 

 produce more milk of a good quality than any 

 other ieeu at the same cost. Turnips fed in this 

 way do not taint either milk or butter. One 

 thing in favor of turnips as feed for cows, is, that 

 they can be sown in .\ugust, or as late as the 

 first of S.'])tember. I sowed some as late as Sep- 

 tember, liit-t year, which were very fine. Turnips 

 are also vety profita})le feed for pigs, when boiled 

 in the saiue ivay as for cows." — Plow, Loom and 

 Anvil. 



ing, visit us again in the sping, on their way to 

 their breeding-places at the north. It is to this 

 class of our birds I wish to direct the attention of 

 your readers, and claim for them protection. 

 How far I have made good this claim, can be de- 

 termined after reading the articles that may be 

 written upon the subject. S. P. Fowler. 



Danvcrs Port, Jan. 26, 1855. 



Wii:E-wonMs — tueirTknacity of Life. — I have 

 been experiiLti;ntinjv a little with wire-worms. I 

 took some (piick lime and made a paste with it 

 about A'^ tbiek as cream, and placed six wire- 

 worms in it, stirring them in. I went to them in 

 three days, expecting to find them dead, but they 



THE WINTER MIGRATORY BIRDS OF 

 NEW ENGLAND-NO. L 



BY 8. V. FOWLKU. 



These birds form a class whose habits and 

 mode of life are somewhat different from many of 

 the otlier feathered tril)es. Some of them i\ side 

 in gloomy forests, and are seldom seen Iiy man, 

 and lieing provided by nature Avith warm cloth- 

 ing, they are enabled to resist the severest cold, 

 and apparently are content with the most scanty 

 fare ; tiieir breeding-places are in the icy regions 

 of the North, and they are seen by us only in 

 their migrations. In consequence of this limited 

 time for observation, and tlieir summer residence 

 in high northern latitudes, we see notliiiig of 

 them at home, when arrayed in their nuptial 

 dresses. Some of the birds inhabiting these cold 

 regions, are very hardy and robust, and covered 

 with a splendid plumage, and p(_)ssess great pow- 

 er of sono- ; others are small, delicate and b.'auti- 

 ful birds" and excite our surprise tliat with such 



were as smart as ever, and crawled readily out of comparative feebleness of flight, they sliould take 

 the lime. Not being satisllcd with this, I procured 1 such long journeys. They are strangers to beau- 



