162 



Autumnal Root Crops. 



V0L.V. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Cabinet. 

 Autumnal Root-Crops. 



Respected Friend, — I have been a sub- 

 scriber for the Cabinet, from its commence- 

 ment to the present time, and am sometimes 

 asked whether I get the worth of the money, 

 and may now repeat the reply, that I have 

 been so far quite satisfied with the exchange. 

 The last number is now before me, and hav- 

 ing attentively read the different articles 

 which make up its contents, may just re- 

 mark, that, though among the last on its 

 pages, not the least interesting is the address 

 of Nicholas Biddle, delivered at the late 

 Philadelphia Agricultural Exhibition. It is 

 not my intention, worthy as that address is 

 of commendation, to say more, than just to 

 call attention to a sentiment therein express- 

 ed, that " we would confide in our long and 

 mild autumns, and see if they would not 

 yield us a crop of roots planted immediately 

 as the grain harvests were removed, so as to 

 be ready by winter for the cattle." I may 

 now add, that the suggestion has been car- 

 ried out, to my own satisfaction, in manner 

 and form as follows. 



Having about one and a half acres of new 

 ground, of a light dry soil, in rye, it was cut 

 the latter part of the 6th month last, and, 

 soon after removing it, commenced carting 

 manure from the barn-yard, which was but 

 partially fermented ; and, after giving it a 

 good coat, it was evenly spread, and, toge- 

 ther with the weeds, stubble, fcc, turned on 

 the potatoes (Mercers) by dropping them al- 

 ternately in every third furrow. This made 

 the rows about three feet wide, and the po- 

 tatoes being cut small (one and two eyes to 

 the piece) were placed about one foot apart 

 in the rows. The growth was rapid, and the 

 yield quite equal to those planted some weeks 

 earlier — they are also quite equal in quality 

 — so much for one-half the above ground. 

 The other half, soon after it was ploughed, 

 was well harrowed, and, on the 3d of the 7th 

 month, the weather being then favourable, it 

 was marked out with a small plough, in shal- 

 low furrows, 3 feet wide, and rutabaga seed 

 dropped along the rows, a few in a place, at 

 intervals of 10 or 12 inches. Rain soon after 

 following, they received no other covering 

 than what it furnished — less than half a 

 pound of seed was used, which gave more 

 than a sufficiency of plants. After they had 

 attained a suitable size, a harrow was passed 

 along the rows ; they were thinned and being 

 twice hoed, were left to shift for themselves. 

 They prove to be the best for the table of any 

 I have ever grown — the most of them are 

 yet in the ground ; and there is no difficulty 

 in finding among them turnips so large that 

 10 or 12 of them will fill a bushel basket. 

 In the culture of turnips, I believe we of- 



ten err by getting them in the ground too 



early. 



A few years since, I concluded to try early 

 sowing, the ground (about one-fifth of an 

 acre) being well prepared and the soil suit- 

 able ; they were put in by the 1st of the 6th 

 month ; they soon vegetated, and for a time 

 looked well, but the growth was too much in 

 the tipper story — the tops were fine, but there 

 was little or no enlargement at the root — 

 they run up like the stalk of a cabbage that 

 does not head — some of them rotted ; and, in 

 short, they proved so worthless that, by com- 

 mon consent, they were consigned to the spot 

 where they grew. The same remark, so far 

 as my experience goes, will apply to sugar- 

 beet and mangel-wurzel — they are usually 

 put in the ground by the 1st of the 5th mo., 

 and by some earlier than that. Now, I think 

 it is laid down by Chaptal, in his agricultural 

 chemistry (not having the work at hand can 

 only give the substance), that sugar-beet are 

 known to have matured by the lower leaves 

 turning yellow, and that, if allowed to re- 

 main in the ground after this, they lose a 

 portion of their saccharine matter — yield less 

 sugar but more potash ; this, no doubt, must 

 render them less valuable as food for cattle, 

 &c. It will, however, be found on trial, that 

 if they are planted so early as the 1st of the 

 5th month, they will, under favourable cir- 

 cumstances, come to maturity at a period 

 when, from the warmth of the weather, if re- 

 moved to the cellar, fermentation would be 

 likely to ensue ; and this is considered very 

 injurious to the beet. I planted this season 

 about the first, and again about the last of the 

 5th month; and though, in other respects, 

 they fared pretty much alike, the last planted 

 were rather the largest, and, to judge from 

 appearances, the most nutritious. The first 

 grew well for a time, but, during the hot and 

 dry weather, they came to a stand, all the 

 leaves except those at the top turned yellow, 

 and they remained in this state for some 

 weeks, till a change of weather induced a 

 second growth, which, though it added some- 

 what to their size, rendered them tough and 

 less valuable for stock. Some may object to 

 late planting on account of the difficulty of 

 getting them up, should dry weather ensue. 

 This, I think, may be obviated by soaking the 

 seed, say two or three days in warm water, 

 and pressing the dirt well about them after 

 planting. 



To sum up, I would say for sugar-beet, from 

 the 1st to the middle of the 6th month, and 

 rutabaga from the 1st to the middle of the 

 7th month. They might be planted a little 

 closer, and what they fell short in quantity, 

 they would most likely make up in quality. 

 I have now extended this communication be- 

 yond what I intended, and though more in 



