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Sugar Beet — JS". Castle Co. Silk Company. 



Vol. II. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Sugar Beet for MilcU Cows. 



In the last number of your Cabinet, there 

 is a recommendation of the sugar beet as 

 food for milch cows. 



When living in a village in the forks of 

 the Susquehanna, I cultivated the yellow 

 Siberian beet in my garden. It produced 

 at the rate of fifty tons to the acre. It was 

 sowed the first week in May, in rows about 

 18 inches apart, and the seed dropped thick in 

 the row. When the plants were grown so 

 that the strong and the weak could be easily 

 and certainly distinguished, they were thin- 

 ned so as to stand about nine or ten inches 

 apart in the row. I have forgotten what cul- 

 ture they required after this, but the farmer's 

 good sense will teach him when he has the 

 plants under his eyes. 



They were dug up as soon as the lower 

 leaves began to fall off, perhaps about tiie 

 first week in October. It has been observed 

 in France, that after this, they began to lose 

 their saccharine matter. They were now 

 piled up in conical heaps on the top of the 

 ground, covered with rye straw, and then 

 with a little earth. Wiien hard frost came, 

 more earth was thrown on and the whole was 

 well covered with potatoe tops, straw, or 

 something equivalent. They must not have 

 much covering in October and November, 

 lest they ferment or grow, for they may do 

 either. As many as were wanted for winter 

 nse were carried to the cellars ; those in the 

 earth were kept for spring. 



My servant washed them well ; witli a 

 large sharp knife, he very quickly cut them 

 horizontally in slices an inch thick ; in this 

 state he gave them to tlie cows, wliicii eat 

 them most greedily. They were not boiled 

 or steamed. To do this is mere waste of time 

 and fuel ; you cannot render an easily diges- 

 tible article more nourishing by any applica- 

 tion of fire. It is possible they may be im- 

 proved by salt and bran. 



I do not know how much a cow ought to 

 eat per day. Mine were fed three times 

 every day, but the quantity was left to a 

 faithful and intelligent servant ; one thing, 

 however, I do certainly know, that the cows 

 always gave much more milk for being fed 

 on sugar beets, and it was observed by all 

 that the cream and butter were very rich, 

 some persons thought them sweet. 



I formerly had carrots cultivated for my 

 cows, but my gardeners complained bitterly 

 of the trouble of sowing them, and more bit- 

 terly still of the vexation they experienced in 

 distinguishing them from weeds at tlieir first 

 appearance. They are long in vegetating 

 and before they have time to peep out of the 

 earth, the whole plat is covered thick with 



weeds. This great objection to the carrot 

 does not pertain in any degree to t!ie sugar 

 beet. 



I have recommended the yellow Siberian 

 beet. I am not certain that it is to be prefer- 

 red to the white sugar beet, but in my garden 

 where both varieties were planted side hy side, 

 every advantage equal, the yellow grew the 

 most vigorous, and owing to its very rich 

 color, I could not but fancy that it would 

 afibrd the most nourishment. I have tried 

 too the beta orltissiina or mangel wcrtzal, 

 but it did not prove to be as productive as 

 either the yellow or the white sugar. S, J. 



Below we give the first annual report of the 

 Directors of the New Castle County Silk Com- 

 pany, whose farm is located near the city of 

 Wilmington, on the Concord turnpike. The 

 active operations of this company, and the 

 zeal and knowledge with which the directors 

 have gone into preperations for the growth 

 of the mulberry and the culture of silk> 

 are all deserving of the highest praise, — 

 Indeed the enterprise of this rich and pro. 

 ductive county of Delaware — its fertile farms, 

 its extensive meadows, and its great agricul- 

 tural spirit of late, have all been exciting the 

 admiration and emulation of the surrounding 

 counties, and of sister states. This i*eport of 

 the Silk Company, adds another strong proof 

 that our Delaware friends have gone to work 

 in earnest, and understand well what they 

 are about. We have been informed by an 

 intelligent farmer, and a good judge, that this 

 farm was bought by one of the directors a 

 very great bargain — and was re-sold to 

 the company at cost. He says of it that it is 

 beautifully located, well hedged, and bears 

 every indication of the best management. — 

 Success attend their efforts. 



IVc^v Castle Co. Silk Company. 



At a stated meeting of the Board of Direc- 

 tors of the New Castle County Silk Company, 

 held on the 7th inst., a committee appointed 

 for the purpose, produced the following re- 

 port, which was read, approved, directed to be 

 entered in the minutes, and published for the 

 information of the stock holders. 



Report of the proceedings of the Board of Direc- 

 tors of the JVexv Castle County Silk Company 

 to the present time. 



Immediately on the election of the Board 

 it took measures to promote the object of its 



