No. 2. 



Cultivation of the Sugar-Beet. 



77 



^requires a long time to effect a cure. How 

 is this to be prevented 1 To keep the limb 

 perfectly at rest, to allow no motion, to en- 

 deavour to prevent inflammation, and give 

 nature time to restore the injured parts to 

 their healthy state.— Is this all ■! It is the 

 essential part. But are there no liniments 

 that will make all right at once "? None. — 

 And are there no " little bones" that have got 

 out of place and which can be forced back 

 by some violent or magical effort 7 These 

 " little bones" often exist only in the imagi- 

 nations of those who use them as bug-bears 

 to the credulous, and not about the joints 

 where sprains frequently occur ; — where na- 

 ture has placed them, she has taken so much 

 pains to secure them, that their displacement 

 is excessively rare, and, when it does occur, 

 can hardly be mistaken by any one in the 

 habit of looking at the natural shape of the 

 part. A good horseman, or a lover of fine 

 animals of any kind, is so constantly in the 

 habit of regarding all parts of his beast, and 

 of handling its limljs, that any great departure 

 from the natural state is promptly noticed by 

 the observing herdsman. 



We might go on specifying a variety of 

 cases, but that is not our object. Correct 

 principles will hardly lead us into great error, 

 and a little reflection would often save us 

 from various kinds of imposition. The doings 

 of nature are constantly taken advantage of, 

 for the purposes of quackery. An example 

 or two will illustrate our meaning. — Many of 

 our readers have, no doubt, heard of the won- 

 derful success that has attended \\\q pow-wow- 

 ing of recent wounds, in particular sections 

 of country — which operation, as we have 

 heard it described, consists in seeing the ani- 

 mal at once, tying up the parts while bleed- 

 ing, muttering certain unintelligible words, 

 and making certain mysterious motions, aftar 

 which things are to be kept quiet and not dis- 

 turbed till the parts are well. — In other 

 words, nature is not interfered with, and the 

 cabalistic words and motions, at least do not 

 prevent a natural process from going on in a 

 natural manner. 



So, in many cases where the symptoms are 

 only an eflxirt of nature to restore things to a 

 healthy state, which always comes with cer- 

 tainty;* but, just at this critical time, an in- 

 fallible powder is given, or a wonderful mix- 

 ture, or a preparation so jctive that its proper 

 dose can neither be seen, felt nor tasted ! and 

 the remedy has all the credit of a cure, with- 

 , out being even accessary to it. 



And, in cases of sprains and injuries about 

 joints, where, from peculiarity of structure, 

 the recovery is a slow one, how often, when 

 just approaching a healthy state, has .some 

 ridiculous movement or some inert applica- 

 tion received credit for a termination, which 



had been coming gradually and certainly for 

 weeks before ! 



As we have previously said, our object is 

 not to go into the details of quackery among 

 our domestic animals — we want correct prin- 

 ciples and sound reasons for what we do, and 

 a distrust for those who have neither. These, 

 our readers may be assured, will save our 

 brutes from much sufl^ering — add to their 

 health and usefulness, and thereby very ma- 

 terially subserve our own private interests. 



T. 



August 26, 1840. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Cultivation of the Sugar-Beet. 



Sir, — We are told that the crop of sugar- 

 beet is increased, and the labour of cultiva- 

 tion much relieved, by planting every year 

 in succession on the same land ; and this, 

 judging by some which I have this day seen 

 growing on a field which had already carried 

 two crops in succession — the present being 

 the third — is correct ; it certainly is superior 

 to any that I have elsewhere seen. The 

 owner promises to render an account of the 

 yield of the crop, for publication in the Cabi- 

 net, but I cannot forego the opportunity of 

 recommending to tJie notice of the cultiva- 

 tors of this inestimable root, a mode of re- 

 freshing their soil which will be found of 

 much importance, and be attended with a 

 most trifling expense ; it is, immediately on 

 removing the beets, to plough the land deep, 

 and «ow it thickly with rye, for the purpose 

 of turning it down before planting the beets 

 in the spring, rolling in the seed at the same 

 time ; by these means the land will be reno- 

 vated, and be relieved of a crop of weeds 

 which, springing up with the rye, will be 

 buried with it in the spring, thus adding to 

 the dressing, and preparing the soil as an ex- 

 cellent seed-bed for the beet ; always observ- 

 ing, to plough deeper every time the land is 

 turned. fThis plan might be continued " yearly 

 and every year," to the eternal renovation of 

 the soil and the everlasting benefit of the 

 beet-crop. It is an excellent practice to soak 

 the seed of the beet in warm water before 

 sowing, as it expedites its shooting, and gives 

 it a start before the weeds — all that an active 

 and intelligent man desires. D. C. 



August 25, 1840. 



"The industry and expense bestowed in 

 collecting and applying manures in England, 

 and which is only exceeded in the environs 

 of Paris, where all the offal of the city in- 

 cluding every dead animal (the horses alone 

 of this description amount to 16,000 annually) 

 is converted into manure, is a subject of the 

 greatest importance to the agriculturists of 

 this country." 



