346 



Coal ^shes. 



Vol. IL 



beet, but without success, having no otlier 

 apparatus than wliat could be picked up about 

 a farmers kitchen. The best samples came out 

 but little better than tolerable molasses. 



I have seen two samples of beet sugar 

 made in our country, one by E. ChaKdler, 

 and J. .Duncan of Wilmington Delaware, and 

 the other by Judge Chambers of Chester 

 Town, Maryland, showing tliat sugar can be 

 made in a domestic way. I am acquainted 

 witli no facts in relation to the expense, but 

 am inclined to the opinion that the manu- 

 facture of sugar on a small scale will not be 

 pursued in our country as a matter ofprolit. 



Answer to the 5th querie. — My experi- 

 ments will warrant no conclusion like making 

 the sugar beet or any of the root family an 

 entire substitute for grain in feeding stock. 

 \ look upon roots as important au.xiliaries, not 

 substitutes, in the economy of food. Col. Powel 

 relates an e.xperiment of feeding two heifers; 

 one upon Indian meal, and the other upon 

 roots, in which he is inclined lo give the pre 

 ference to the root feeding ; but if he had put 

 up a third heifer and fed her upon chopped 

 oats and corn and ruta baga, .or sugar beets, 

 he would iiavc discovered that the combined 

 qualities of grain and roots will act with far 

 greater effect in forming- large secretions of 

 either milk or beef, than they can possibly do 

 •when fed separately. 



Answer to the Glh querie. — I consider tlie 

 sugar beet preferable to the ruta baga for 

 dairy cows, but that preference would not in- 

 duce me to cultivate the beet to the exclusion 

 of the turnep; tliose two roots are planted 

 and of course cultivated at different seasons, 

 uiiic^i divides the labor both in plantinijf and 

 dressing, which is an object with the tanner 

 in the summer season, when every moment 

 of time is valuable; besides the Ruta baga is 

 very hardy, it will bear late frosts, and rough 

 treatment in harvesting; yon may tilt them 

 from a cart into a cellar frcm the second 

 story of a barn without injury. We till our 

 turnep cellar in that way with great ease and 

 expedition ; but the mangel vvurtzel, and su- 

 gar beet require delicate treatment, they 

 must be carefully handled every time they 

 are moved, or they will bruise, and then 

 spoil throag-li the winter. Our mofle of feed- 

 ing is to give a bushel of roots per day with 

 grass, hay, or straw to one yoke of working 

 oxen: and tiie winter allowance for ii dairy of 

 twenty cows, is from ten to fifteen bushels of 

 roots, and I'rom one to three bushels of chopped 

 corn and oats per day, with as mucii hay and 

 fitraw as they can eat, giving always the 

 fresh cows greater quantity of feed than strip- 

 pers. 



I find that no rule of feeding by measured 

 ouantities of either roots or grain', will give 

 ihe most profitable results in milk or beef; 



the proportion of roots, grain, hay and straw^ 

 should be meted out to each animal according 

 to its condition. Some cattle require more 

 succulent food than others, to keep up a 

 healthy action of the system, a costive state 

 indicating the necessity of more roots and 

 less dry food, and visa versa. The man who 

 tends the stock, by observing their evacu- 

 ations, will soon ascertain the proportion of 

 food to suit the habits of each animal. 



We have not fed our horses upon, roots 

 sufficient to ascertain any definite results, but 

 there can be no doubt of their beneficial ef- 

 fects upon their health of all animals, for the 

 reasons already stated ; but I would prefer 

 carrots for horses, they are not quite so cer- 

 tain a crop as turnep and beet, but with a lit- 

 tle care and good soil, a heavy crop may be 

 raised; we tried half an acre last season and 

 succeeded on one half the ground ; but the 

 other part was a failure owing to' bad seed. 



Answer to the 7th querie. — We stored our 

 sugar beets in a cellar, but found tliey wilted, 

 or became so dry as to loose some, of their 

 nourishing qualities; I intend to cover them 

 next winter with grass sods in the cellar. I 

 tried a lot of potatoes in that way last winter, 

 and was well pleased with the result, they 

 retained that fresh and plesant flavor so pe- 

 culiar to them in the fall season. 

 Thy friend, 



Benjamin Webb, 



For the Farmeis Caljiiu't. 



^oal Ashes. 



Mr. Editor: — Attention having lately been 

 directed to Antliraeite Coal Ashes as a fer- 

 tilizing agent, it may be interesting to the 

 scientific tanner to know the precise materi- 

 als of which tliese consist, together with the 

 proportions. These are given below as taken 

 from the VII vol. of the Journal of the Acade- 

 my of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 



The average results of the Analyses of 

 Tamaqua Anthracite made by Professors 

 Rogers and A. I). Bache, gives, 



Silica, (or sandy matter) 47 per ct. 

 Alumina, (or clayey matter) 36 " 

 Oxide of Iron, 14.5 



Lime, 1..5 



Magnesia, 1.0 



100.0 

 The specimens analysed were taken from the 

 various seams of Aniiiracitemineson the Lit- 

 tle Schuylkill, called the Tamaqua mines, the 

 geological position of which is intermediate 

 between the hard Leliigh at one extremity of 

 the coal region, and the setter Pottsville coal 

 towards the otlier. They exhibited a great 

 diversity of character, and the proportions of 

 earthy and incombustible remains, constiti>- 

 ting tiie ssh, varied from 9.3 per cent, in t'le 



