32 



Root Culture — Oats. 



Vol. V. 



enable us to do as they do ; we must culti- 

 vate our lands — not exhaust them — we must 

 adopt more generally the system of rotation 

 and manuring, planting less and working 

 more : our lands can be as well set to grass 

 here as elsewhere, but the same care must 

 be given to prepare them and render them fit 

 for these crops. We sow grass seed, and 

 expect it to flourish of its own accord — hence 

 the many failures which we witness — treat it 

 as they do in other countries, and the same 

 good result will follow. If we would give 

 attention to putting our land in order for the 

 cultivation of grasses, we should soon be 

 satisfied of their value, and no longer consi- 

 der them as weeds ; the species called the 

 crowfoot, in Columbia, has been known to 

 yield six tons per acre, the only preparation 

 for planting being good manuring with early 

 culture ; the hay from crowfoot grass is equal 

 to any, and very little preparation is neces- 

 sary. Lucerne grows here with great luxu- 

 riance, and herd-grass is well adapted to our 

 climate ; while the perennial rye-grass is to 

 be found on all our low lands." 



Root Culture. 



" The cultivation of root crops appears to 

 be highly recommended, by our best agricul- 

 turists, as a valuable improvement in our 

 farming operations; and although it cannot 

 be reasonably expected that the opinions of 

 farmers will agree in every particular, nor 

 that their estimates of the superiority of root 

 crops over those of grain, for the purpose of 

 feeding to stock, will, in every case, be in 

 strict accordance ; yet it seems to be univer- 

 sally admitted, by all who have tested the 

 matter, that a much greater amount of feed 

 can be obtained from the same quantity and 

 quality of land, if cultivated in roots, than in 

 grain ; some root growers estimating that 

 land of the same quality will produce eight- 

 fold more in quantity of roots than grain — 

 some ten, and others twelve-fold ! The dif- 

 ference in these estimates has, no doubt, mea- 

 surably grown out of the various circum- 

 stances under which the experiments were 

 made ; hence, a medium, or ten-fold, may be 

 considered an average calculation. Again, 

 we find their value, when compared with 

 grain, for stock feed, variously rated, but on 

 comparing the difference, we have come to 

 the conclusion, by making slight variations 

 according to circumstances, that three bush- 

 els of roots contain, at least, as much nu- 

 tritious matter as one bushel of corn, which 

 would give as great an amount of food for 

 stock, from three acres of roots, as from ten 

 acres of corn. Another circumstance in fa- 

 vour of roots, is their peculiar qualities for 

 promoting the health of animals that feed on 



them. It is said, by those who have had ex- 

 perience in the use of them, that if fed in 

 combination with hay or grain, they are more 

 conducive to the health of stock than grain 

 alone, or grain and hay without them, and 

 particularly in the winter season, when no 

 other succulent or juicy food can be had. 

 They are, moreover, highly recommended on 

 account of their excellence in pulverizing 

 and preparing land for a succeeding crop, 

 attributable, in some degree, to their peculiar 

 construction, which tends to leave the soil in 

 an open, mellow condition, and also from their 

 culture requiring, more than some other crops, 

 the use of the hoe, by which means the 

 weeds, &c. that infest grounds in a high state 

 of cultivation, are in a great measure eradi- 

 cated." — Carolina Planter. 



Oats. 



The quality of this grain is perhaps as 

 much influenced by soil and climate and cul- 

 tivation as any other whatever. Ireland is 

 famous for oats and potatoes, and so is Alle- 

 ghany county, for coolness and moisture are 

 necessary to their perfection. The black oat 

 is, in Montgomery county of Maryland, con- 

 sidered superior to any other kind, from the 

 consideration that, although they may not be 

 so heavy, they are so much more productive 

 in quantity as to more than make up for defi- 

 ciency of quality. The following letter 

 speaks of oats of remarkable weight and pro- 

 ductivenessj and the more so, as New Jersey 

 is generally of a light soil, inclining to sand : 

 its proximity to the sea-shore secures for it, 

 however, a moist climate, which may be suit- 

 able for oats, and a saline one, which ought 

 to make it a good sheep-walk. The writer 

 of the letter is one of the most respectable 

 seedsmen in the city of Philadelphia. 



"Dear sir, — The crop of oats raised in 

 New Jersey, and which I recently sold from 

 my store, weighed, when measured in a bar- 

 red half bushel, struck measure, forty pounds 

 per bushel, full weight. The gentleman who 

 raised this parcel of oats informed me that he 

 sowed four bushels to the acre, and the pro- 

 duct was ninety-nine bushels and a half per 

 acre, and from the character of the person I 

 have no reason to doubt his statement. Oats 

 are sold here by measure — struck measure — 

 and not by weight: the common kind raised 

 in this neighbourhood, I think, weighs gene- 

 rally from 28 to 30 pounds per bushel, the 

 best. Very respectfully, 



G. M. Coaxes." 



riiiladelphia. 



By the growth of root crops and planting, 

 Mr. Coke, of Holkham (England) has in- 

 creased the rental of his estates, from twenty- 

 five to two hundred thousand dollars a year. 



