322 



Root Crops — Rool Cnficrx. 



Vol. III. 



if the brine is not sufficiently diluted, its ap- 

 plication will prove as hurtful as the ravages 

 of the worm itself. All it requires is care. 

 Now for a copy of the receipt: 



"A friend assures us that he succeeded in 

 destroying cut worms by watering- grounds 

 infested by them with brine, in which hams 

 iiad been preserved, diluted with a large por- 

 tion of tcoter. In his first application he de- 

 ' stroyed some of his vegetables as well as the 

 worms, in consequence of using the brine too 

 strong. In succeeding trials, by diluting it 

 sufficiently, he attained his object, and de- 

 stroyed the worm without injuring the vege- 

 table." 



Now, what I am at is to request my brother 

 farmers to try this method this season on a 

 small scale. No injury can be done, if only 

 proper care be observed ; but on the contrary, 

 much good will result. There have been many 

 contrivances for the destruction of this pest of 

 the farmer. I have heard of one by Parke 

 Shee of Delaware county, but have no per- 

 sonal knowledge as to its capabilities of an- 

 swering the purpose. I find it described in 

 the Farmers' Cabinet "as a pair of old wheels 

 from a cart or wagon, fitted with several pro- 

 jections, similar to the cogs of a spur wheel, 

 formed so as to impress in the earth a hole 

 (continuous) four inches deep. The smooth 

 track the wheel makes on the soft ground in- 

 du'*es the worm in its noct'unal wanderings to 

 follow on until it tumbles into the pit, where 

 as it cannot climb out, it perishes by the in- 

 fluence of the succeeding sun." Perhaps 

 some of your readers may be familiar with 

 this method ; if so they will confer a favor on 

 at least one farmer by communicating through 

 the Cabinet, some account of it. 



J. S. Y. 



yardleyville, 4th mo. 26th, 1S39. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Root Crop§— Root Ceittcrs. 



Within the last few years a complete, and 

 from presentappearances, apermanentchange 

 has been effected in the agriculture of our 

 country, by the introduction of the root cnl- 

 ture. But all improvements, and especially 

 tho?e in the farming way, make head but 

 slowly, against the established principles 

 and strong prejudices of the people; unless 

 indeed they become infected with a mania such 

 as now unhappily pervades our country in re- 

 gard to the growing and sale of mulberry trees. 

 I have steadfastly resisted the solicitations of 

 my friends to engage in the speculation, and 

 make a fortune. On the contrary, I find 

 ennunh to do to attend to my small farm of 

 eighty acres — it afl^ords me every tiling I need 

 for the comfort of myself and family, and 

 by care and economy we have been ena- 



bled to lay up yearly something beyond our 

 expenses, besides aftJjrding to my children a 

 good serviceable English education. But this 

 is more particularly the case, since I began to 

 think for myself, and commenced the raising 

 of roots for market and the feeding of stock. 



Last season I put in eight acres of potatoes, 

 the ground was well prepared, and limed, 

 stirred frequently through the continuance of 

 the drought, and kept neat and very free of 

 weeds; and the result was, that after deduct- 

 ing all tlie expenses of cultivation, interest on 

 the land, and transportation to market, &:c., 1 

 realized a profit of three hundred and ninety- 

 one dollar.'?, besides a fiiU supply for my fam- 

 ily during the season. It should be remem- 

 bered however, that potatoes were scarce and 

 very high — probably the same quantity, under 

 more favorable circumstances, in the market 

 would not produce as much by one hundred 

 dollars. 



Four acres were also put in, 1^ each of 

 ruta baga, mangle wurtzel, and sugar beet. — 

 It was my finst experiment with the sugar 

 beet. The yield in neither case was equal to 

 my expectations, as to quantity, producing 

 not more than 470 bushels per acre on an av- 

 erage. But the general result was highly 

 satisfactory ; and I am perfectly satisfied that 

 the four acres in roots for my stock, was better 

 than six acres in corn. A large amount of 

 leaves were taken during the season and fed 

 to the cattle and hogs, and they were de- 

 voured with great avidity. I derived benefit 

 in various ways. My manure was greatly 

 increased — the quantity and quality of milk 

 and butter vastly enlarged — my lind is left 

 in a good state, and above all, my stock came 

 out of the winter in a much better condition 

 than ever before ; and I am satisfied that I can 

 keep one quarter more stock now in much 

 better order than I did before, and to greater 

 profit, on the sameamount of ground ; and all 

 this by the introduction of roots. No one will 

 suppose that my stock was fed wholly on roots 

 — they were constantly supplied with excel- 

 lent hay, of which they eat sparingly, and oc- 

 casionally with a cut moss. They appear to 

 give the sugar beet the preference. 



My wife and daughters claim as perquisites 

 all the poultry, eggs, surplus garden vegeta- 

 bles •Sic, and a good business they make of 

 it. I could not have believed that these re- 

 sources would have proved so productive, and 

 lam almostof opinion that a garden of four or 

 five acres iu the neighborhood of a fair mar- 

 ket, would, if judiciously attended to, meet the 

 necessary wants and expenditures of an or- 

 dinary family. This inference I draw from 

 what has been accomplished by the female 

 members of my family, without neglecting 

 their domestic duties. 



I experienced some difficulty in preparingf 



