No. 5. 



Sugar-Beet. — Poultry. — Over- Cropping. 



167 



regular system. I never desire to keep stock 

 upon little food ; the breeds that will starve 

 iDcll are no favourites with me. And when I 

 hear of improved Berkshires who get nothing 

 but a little grass to eat, and a little clear wa- 

 ter to drink, and yet keep fat, I wonder how 

 that is contrived. Give me, therefore, the ani- 

 mal which will pay for good keep and careful 

 treatment, and the more I can make him 

 eat, the greater will be my profit, never 

 fear. Mercer. 



Nov. 24th, 1840. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Sugar Beet. 



Respected Friend, — My father informs, 

 the crop of sugar-beets on his lot, of which 

 thee wished to know the acreable produce, 

 yielded at the rate of 21^ tons per acre; this 

 being the third crop in succession on the 

 same ground — but, although the crop was 

 from fair to good, yet, altogether, I am not 

 prepared to say, this is the right course of 

 cropping with beets; I cultivated the first 

 crop on the lot myself, and gathered at the 

 rate of 42 tons per acre — the second crop, al- 

 though neither weighed nor measured, was 

 estimated at 25 tons, and now the third is 

 still reduced. 



One thing I can say for certain, we have 

 all been in the habit of planting our beets too 

 early, 4^ months being all-sufficient for the 

 full growth of them, and more than this, is 

 an injury to their quality. A good clover 

 sod, after mowing, well manured and plough- 

 ed deep, (if broken in the bottom of furrows 

 with a subsoil plough all the better) and 

 plenty of good seed, is all I should ask, to 

 prepare for a 30 ton crop. 



My red and black, or true Berkshire sow, 

 has grown to admiration since thee saw her, 

 going ahead entirely, in thrift, of her pen- 

 mate, the black or Albany-Berkshire, and sur- 

 passing her, in some points, as a producer of 

 a large quantity of desirable meat, with little 

 offal. I shall try a cross with her and the 

 Albany race, hoping to produce an animal su- 

 perior to either. 



Some time since, I forwarded the model I 

 had made for a plough-mould, to thee, by a 

 friend, who will also produce one of his own 

 manufacture, made on a different set of di- 

 mensions from those I worked on — be so kind 

 as to criticise them severely, and give me 

 thy opinion on both models ; I hope, with the 

 advice of my ploughing friends, to be enabled 

 to decide on principles which will bring the 

 Pennsylvania plough much nearer to perfec- 

 tion than any thing we yet have among us. 

 Respectfully thy friend, 



Mahlon S. Kirkbride. 

 MorrisvJUe, 11 mo. 2olh, 1840. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Foultry. 



A HUMANE MAN REGARDS THE COMFORT OF ALL GOD's 

 CREATURES. 



Poultry should always have a shelter 

 where they can seek protection from rain or 

 snow ; and this shelter should be for their 

 own exclusive use and benefit, where other 

 animals must not be permitted to intrude. 

 How often do we see the poor creatures wan- 

 dering about in time of snow or rain, looking 

 like drowned rats, and having no place pro- 

 vided for their retirement or protection ; and 

 if perchance, they venture into some forbid- 

 den spot, they are soon driven out by some 

 thoughtless, heartless tyrant, who ought to 

 succour and not to persecute them. Poul- 

 try, when they have no home provided for 

 them, are considered intruders wherever they 

 appear; and, in truth, their filth, feathers and 

 lice are very injurious to every description of 

 domestic animals, and hence the importance 

 of providing them comfortable shelter from 

 storms, good lodging and a safe retired place 

 in which to lay their eggs. They will soon 

 repay any reasonable outlay for their accom- 

 modation, both principal and interest. In 

 fact, every domestic animal, from the horse 

 down to the dog and cat, ought to be pro- 

 vided with shelter from storms of snow and 

 rain, and those who thoughtlessly neglect the 

 needful care in this respect, disregard their 

 own interests in a very important particular. 



The natural covering of animals, provided 

 they are in good condition, furnishes an ade- 

 quate protection from a cold atmosphere, pro- 

 vided it be dry; but when wet penetrates to 

 the skin, the evaporation which takes place, 

 carries off the heat faster than it can be ge- 

 nerated, and serious injury is generally the 

 consequence. Most of our respectable farm- 

 ers are attentive to these matters, but there 

 are others who are lamentably deficient in 

 the protection of their dependants; to those 

 we say, " repent and amend your ways." 



P. 



Over-Croppin§ 



Our farmers must cease over-cropping if 

 they would improve their husbandry ; — that 

 is, they must cultivate less land, and do it 

 better. This is an error which many have 

 fallen into, and we most earnestly desire to 

 see it corrected. It is the worst kind of po- 

 licy, and a mark of a poor fanner. Many 

 persons presume, the more land they cultivate 

 the greater the produce will be — it may be so 

 in some instances, but in many cases, the 

 same amount of produce might be made on 

 one-third or one-fourth less space, and time 

 given the farmer for observation, and conse- 

 quently for improvement in his mode of till- 



