172 



Successful Cultivation of Roots. 



Vol. II. 



was standing', by reason of the insect, bad 

 seed, or both, and ruta baga was planted in 

 all the vacant places in the rows. They 

 were thinned out, and hoed twice; they soon 

 covered the ground, and the work was done. 

 The product is over 1000 bushels per acre — 

 3000 bushels the whole, notwithstanding one 

 acre was partially seeded with carrots, and 

 produced 200 bushels. Abojt one acre of 

 the land is fine sandy loam, and the remainder 

 is slate washed from a ravine, all highly ma- 

 nured. The ruta baga I think draws more 

 from the atmosphere, and less from the soil, 

 than any other vegetable; for I have always 

 found it retained the dew longer, and held it 

 in greater quantities, than any thing else. It 

 leaves the ground in finer condition than any 

 other crop, and cannot be too highly valued. 

 The carrot is excellent for fattening cattle, 

 milch cows, &c., but is not so sure a crop, 

 and requires much more labor in tillage. It 

 does not always come up well, and is very 

 liable to be destroyed by the insect. 



THE MANGEL WURTZEL. 



Of this root I planted one and a half acre 

 on the 29ih and 30ih of May, (too late by ten 

 days,) m drills twenty-one inches apart. 

 Thinned once and hoed twice — tillage same 

 as the ruta baga, (ashes and plaster omitted.) 

 About two-thirds of the piece was planted 

 with seed which proved to be a mixed kind 

 of all the beet family ; the other one-third 

 part was ihe pure seed. The crop was fine, 

 and if all had been of the same kind, the 

 product I think would have been one-fourth 

 larger. But as it was, the yield may be con- 

 sidered a fair one — over 800 bu;»iels per acre, 

 and the whole 1250 bushels. See the impor- 

 tance of having genuine seed, for I have no 

 doubt the product was 200 bushels less than 

 it would have been had all the seed been pure 

 mangel wurtzel. I am much in favor of 

 this root for feeding — probably is equal to any, 

 except the sugar beet. 



THE SUGAR BEET. 



Of this I had only seed to plant six rods of 

 ground. It seems to be well adapted to our 

 soil and climate. The growth was much 

 greater than any thing I have seen of the 

 beet kind. I have no doubt it will prove 

 most valuable for feeding cattle, as well as 

 for sugar. The product was over 80 bushels, 

 and at the rate of about 2100 bushels per 

 acre, or 63 tons. I rate all by weight, 60 lb?, 

 to the bushel, for otherwise most of the roots 

 could not be measured with any degree of 

 accuracy. Here follows a statement of the 

 produce of seven and a half and six-one hun- 

 dred and sixtieth acres of what may be consi- 

 dered first rate corn land, and in a high state 

 of cultivation. •. 



Whole product. Per acre- 



3 acres potatoes, 1300 433^ 



3 do. rutabaga, "> 3000 1000 



Carrots, 5 200 ' 800 



1^ do mangel wurtzel, 1250 800 



6-160ih sugar beets, 80 2100 



7i acres 6 rods. 5830 bushels. 



Five thousand eight hundred and thirty 

 bushels, at 60 lbs. per bushel, give 346,800 

 pounds, or 176 1-5 tons. The potatoes 13 

 tons, ruta baga 30 tons, carrots 24 tons, man- 

 gel wurtzel 24 tons, and the sugar beet at 

 the rate of about 63 tons per acre. This 

 crop last year would have brought more than 

 $2,300. What the price may be this year I 

 know not. It is not my purpose to sell any, 

 but to feed all to my cattle ; so I have my 

 own market, and trust I shall turn them to 

 good account. 



I am now feeding thirty-one head at the 

 rate ofone bushel each per day, with hay nights 

 and mornings, in their stalls, with corn and 

 other coarse fodder through the day. I shall 

 add to their allowanc-a as shall seem pioper, 

 and change from one to the other now and 

 then. All the cattle eat greedily, and are 

 doing well. 



Barn Cellars, Stora^^e of Roots, and Man* 

 iier of fcedinga 



I have two barn cellars under the barn 

 floors, which together hold 3000 bushels. 

 They have each af;mall door at the back end, 

 and scuttels through the floor — are well 

 pointed and proof against frost. By opening 

 the door and scuttels 1 can dispel the foul air 

 or gas at pleasure, for large quantities of 

 roots stored in cellars must be ventilated, or 

 they will heat and spoil. These cellars are 

 filled by drawing the loaded carton the floor, 

 and dumping the load through the scuttels; 

 and the cellar is filled with very little labor. 



The remainder of the crop were pulled 

 and buried directly on the ground, much as 

 potatoes, in heaps of about thirty-three bush- 

 els, leaving a^mall passage at the top, in or- 

 der that the gas may pass off, without which 

 they will not keep. In these two barns I 

 stable thirty-eight head of cattle, thirty- 

 one of which are beef cattle, one pair of 

 working oxen, and five milch cows — all con- 

 venient to feed from the cellars. The roots 

 are thrown upon the barn floor — cut with 

 large English hay knives, which can be done 

 by a smart man at the rate of a bushel per 

 minute, and are passed to the manger with' 

 a scoop shovel. 1 have heard of cutting ma- 

 chines for root's — never saw one, nor do 

 I wish to. A good pair of hands, knife, and 

 willing mind, is all the cutting machine I 

 want. Every farmer should have a barn cel- 

 lar ; the cost is but little, and the advantage 



