280 



Sugar Beets. — Sheep Husbandry. — Potatoes. 



Vol. V. 



without a driver; cast-iron rollers with two; 

 three and four harrows with two; drill ma- 

 chines with two, with harrows again, bring- 

 ing up the rear. And to crown all, the noble 

 asylum for the old, and schools for the young ! 

 Truly this is one of Nature's Noblemen ! 

 Here, the sons of gentlemen come from all 

 quarters to learn the science of agriculture, 

 under the care of the steward, the whole 

 establishment being a model both of the sci- 

 ence and practice of farming. 



Boston Transcript. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Sugar Beets for Cattle. 



Mr. Editor, — I find in an Eastern paper 

 two accounts of the successful feeding of 

 the Beet, which please to place against other 

 two, which might easily be met with, "all 

 the other way," in Eastern papers also, and 

 oblige A Constant Reader. 



1st. — "In 1838, I put up 300 bushels of 

 beets, 100 bushels of turnips, and some po- 

 tatoes, for the purpose of an experiment on 

 root-feeding cattle during the winter. At 

 first I was at a loss to know how to feed 

 them, whether in a raw state or boiled ; but 

 having determined to try both, I commenced 

 the work and found each to do well. My 

 young animals throve astonishingly on them 

 while raw, but for milk cows I consider them 

 better after cooking ; these, however, might 

 be fed with raw beets once in every two or 

 three days, to great advantage. The turnips 

 and potatoes were given precisely in the 

 same way, but I could not perceive that 

 either had the preference, except that, in 

 feeding the beets, it was easily told that one 

 third less than of the turnips or potatoes 

 would make them give the same quantity of 

 milk, of better flavour, and the animals 

 showed better keep ; the beets made the 

 milk better, the butter better, and the cows 

 better. On one half bushel of beets per day 

 to each cow, with straw and a little meal or 

 bran mixed, they continued in good condition 

 through the winter, gave as much milk as in 

 summer, and the butter was full as good as 

 in May : my experience during the present 

 winter only confirms my former conclusions." 



2d. — " We have had no experience with 

 the Sugar Beet, except in the feeding of a 

 single milch cow the present winter: we 

 give from two to three pecks per day, with a 

 good supply of fine hay, of which, however, 

 the animal consumes but little ; nor will she 

 but seldom drink a pail full of water. The 

 result is, we have a greater supply of milk 

 than when no beets are fed, and it is of the 

 very best quality ; but the cow is thinner in 

 flesh than we could wish. We cannot in- 

 duce our hogs to touch a beet" 



Sheep Husbandry in America. 



In the culture of grass for pasturage, pre- 

 paratory to grain, the profit of sheep hus- 

 bandry in America must bo very great: there 

 is every advantage of soil and extent of 

 farm, and no drawback but that of labour-^ 

 and pasturage demands scarcely any labour; 

 so that, if tiiere is one system that squares 

 more than another to the circumstances of 

 America, it is the adoption of a course that 

 embraces the culture of grasses most exten- 

 sively. Wolves and dogs are named as a 

 reason for not keeping sheep, but they 

 abound all over Europe — and so do sheep. 

 No wolf or dog could get into my sheep-fold 

 by night, and by day a watchful shepherd is 

 a sufficient protection. While sheep are 

 kept by dozens, such objections may hold 

 good ; but when by hundreds and thousands, 

 they instantly vanish. Surely the value of 

 wool must instigate to an increase in the 

 breed of sheep, even if it be for exportation, 

 the freight, when it is pressed into a small 

 compass, being a trifle, and the fleece alone, 

 from extensive American lands, without 

 reckoning the carcass as anything, must be 

 more valuable than the prnjil on a crop of 

 wheat at a dollar a bushel, especially on 

 lands producing white clover spontaneously. 



Suppose, on some of the lands which 

 might be bought for five dollars an acre, or 

 twenty shillings sterling — the rent of this is, 

 say twenty-five cents: now such land, by car- 

 rying but one sheep an acre, producing 5 lbs. 

 of wool, worth only 25 cents per lb., and the 

 mutton doing no more than paying for losses, 

 shepherding, &.c., here is a profit such as 

 corn cannot rival — five rents paid by wool 

 alone ! But the mutton of well-fed sheep, 

 if carefully salted, would find a ready mar- 

 ket, if not at home, in the West Indies; and 

 if sold at 2 cents a pound above expenses, 

 the object, on a large scale, would be highly 

 important. — Arthur Young. 



Potatoes raised from Cuttings of the 

 Stalk. 



Mr. Cotselt says, " I was induced in the 

 spring to try an experiment on cuttings of 

 the potato stalk, and have succeeded to ad- 

 miration, having produced from thence a 

 good crop of full-sized potatoes, many of 

 which weighed half a pound. The method 

 was this : when the potatoes were about nine 

 inches high, I cut off the tops about six 

 inches long, planted them in line, about 

 eight inches apart, with a flat dibble, press- 

 ing the earth carefully around them, gave 

 them water, and hoed them as an ordinary 

 crop. I produced this way at the rate of 140 

 lbs. per rod." 



