198 



*NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



rVeighl. Resid. Time. 



lb. oz. lb. oz. h. m. 



Lehigh, 18 8 14 4 25 



R. hland, 18 G 10 06 3 36 



Worcester, 22 13 00 5 00 



It will be noticed that the weight of the Wor- 

 cester Coal, and of its residuum, is the greatest 

 — the measure being the same. This is owing, 

 we suppose, to the iron con'ained in it. 



There can noiv be little doubt that this Coal 

 may to a great extent supply the place of other 

 fuel. The Lehigh Coal is used at Philadelphia 

 for nearly all the common purposes offuel, ex- 

 cept cooking, and ours is superior to that. We 

 make no pretensions to geological knowledge ; 

 but those who do, say that the quantity of our 

 Coal is inexhaustiblojand widely extended. The 

 pit from which the specimens have been taken, 

 is in the northeast part of the town, not far 

 from Long Pond and has been open many years 

 for the purpose of obtaining black lead to be 

 used as a paint. — The Coal may probably be 

 found and easily obtained in other parts of the 

 town nearer the village. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1824. 



ON THE CULTURE OF ROOTS FOR FEEDING CATTLE 



In this day's paper, page 196, y/e have given son 

 remarks of Mr. Wadsworth, on this subject, in wliich 

 that gentleman appears to be opposed to this practice. 

 We have not the honor of a personal acquaintance with 

 Mr. Wadsworth but are informed that he is a highly 

 respectable cultivator, who is practically engaged in 

 farming to a very large extent. His opinions are there- 

 fore, entitled to the highest respect, and we would by 

 no means venture to oppose our authority to that of an 

 eminent practical as well as scientific agriculturist. 

 All we shall venture to urge in our own behalf is, that 

 if we have gone astray we have not followed blind 

 guides, but have very respectable companions to ac- 

 company us in our wanderings. We will produce some 

 of the facts and reasonings which induced us to recom- 

 mend the culture of roots for feeding cattle, and if in- 

 sufficient will cheerfully acknowledge our error. 



John Prince, Esq. a veiy respectable practical and 

 scientific agriculturist in the vicinity of Boston, in a 

 communication for the Massachusetts Agricultural Re- 

 pository of June, 1822, says, " I really wish our farmers, 

 generally, would be prevailed on to raise a greater 

 quantity of vegetables for the use of their stock, than 

 they have been in the habit of doing. Swedish turnips 

 and mangel wurtzel (of the true sorts) are very easily 

 raised, and every farmer has land suitable for them, 

 when he might not have suitable soil for carrots, which 

 1 think give the richest milk, but are more expensive 

 in cultivation. These roots, with care, even in pits 

 out of doors, may be preserved till May and June, and 

 yield, generally, double the quantity that the sameland 

 would yield in potatoes. Indeed with me I have usu- 

 ally had more than three times as many bushels per 

 acre, and with, I think, no more labor. Mangel wurt- 

 zel indeed will, Inj their thinnings, and trimviings, if 

 done with care, pay all the labor of the crop, aad give a 

 Jine evening food for coivs, and are also excellent food for 

 swine." 



Mr. Prince, last season raised a premium crop of 

 mangel wurtzel which consisted of 762 1-2 bushels on 

 an acre and observes " in the same field, and directly 

 along side, potatoes were cultivated, which fell consi- 

 derably short of two hundred bushels per acre the la- 

 bor in gathering potatoes, is much more than the man- 



gel wurtzel ; and on the whole cultivation about equal. 

 1 think one bushel of potatoes about equal to one and 

 an half of mangel wurtzel for feeding animals. After 

 five or six years cultivation of the mangel wurtzel, I 

 feel convinced it is the most proftlabk root to cultivate 

 for consumption on a farm, and the past season mine 

 kept perfectly well till June."* 



Col. John Hare Powel, of Pennsylvania, who is one 

 of the most eminent agriculturists in the United States, 

 and who, we believe, for skill, science and experience, 

 on a large scale in cultivating land has few if any su- 

 periors on this side of the Atlantic, in a communication 

 to the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, at their Meet- 

 ing held on the 11th of January, 1823, observes, "My 

 neat cattle prefer mangel wurtzel to any roots which 

 1 have offered them. I have found its effects in pro- 

 ducing large secretions of good milk, very great. I se- 

 lected in November, two heifers of the same breed, and 

 very nearly of the same age, and in similar condition ; 

 they were tied in adjoining stalls, and have been fed 

 regularly three times a day by the same man. One of 

 them has had three pecks of mangel wurtzel, and four 

 quarts of corn meal daily ; the other, four and an half 

 pecks of mangel wurtzel. The last which has had 

 mangel wurtzel alone, is in the condition of good beef, 

 the other is not more thau what graziers call half fat.'' 



Mr. Powel in another part of the same commuuica- 

 tion observes, " In citing the experiment on feeding 

 with mangel wurtzel, I have no intention to convey an 

 idea so preposterous as some of the " Fancies" have 

 conceived, that mangel wurtzel, or any of the fashiona- 

 ble roots of the day, should interfere with the king of 

 vegetables, Indian corn ; or that where land is cheap 

 and labor dear, a farmer is " wise to amuse himself," 

 and feed his bullocks by plucking the luxuriant leaves 

 of" the majestic Beta Altisima." 1 would merely re- 

 com?nend its cultivation la a limited e.rttnl onall farms. 

 Its influence upon some cattle, milch cows, and more 

 especially upon calves, during their first winter is very 

 important. I have a/tended ivith great accuracy, to the 

 ills which are brought upon most young rjuadrupeds, 

 ivhenjirst wtantd ; and have invariably found Ihtm ma- 

 terially diminished by the use of succulent roots.'''' 

 , It appears by this same communication that Col. 

 Powel raised 982 1-2 bushels of mangel wurtzel on 

 155 1-2 perches of land. Mr. David Little of Newbu- 

 ry, Mass. raised 970 bu.=hels and one half of a bushel 

 on one acre besides 2 bushels of carrots, and 109 cab- 

 bages. Six swine were mostly fed with the thinnings 

 from the beginning of weeding until about the 1st of 

 October. — There are trees on the said lot sufficient to 

 produce 21 barrels of fiuit — the entire expense of culti- 

 vating this acre of mangel wurtzel, including the cost 

 of the manure and gathering the crop was $23, 96. t 



Mr. Prince states that his mangel wurtzel weighed 

 about 5G pounds a bushel. And 762 1-2 bushels, at 

 that rate would give 42700 pounds to an acre. This is 

 19 tons, 16 cwt. and 1 qr. ; more than five times the 

 weight which could be expected from grass land of 

 a good quality laid down to herds grass or timothy, the 

 most productive kind of grass usually cultivated in 

 New England. Sir Humphrey Davy in Elements of 

 Agricultural Chemistry, informs that 1000 parts of the 

 white beet eontain 136 parts of soluble or nutritive 

 matter. Then, if 1000 lbs. of the white beet afford 136 

 parts of nutritive matter 42700 (the weight of Mr. P's. 

 crop,) would be 5807 pounds and a fraction over of nu- 

 tritive mattir. An acre of comnjon red clover {Tri fo- 

 lium Pratenst,') producing 49005 lbs. (which is a large 



crop) contains according to the chemical analysis, = • 

 pended to the Elements of Agricultural Chemist, 

 1914 lbs. of nutritive matter. Thus it appears tif 

 one acre of mangel wurtzel may produce more nu . 

 tive matter than three acres of stout clover. ^^ 

 might proceed further with our calculations of this s i 

 and show the advantage of raising turnips aud ruta l- 

 ga for feeding cattle, as a second crop, according to ; 

 methods practiced by Mr. Buel, detailed in the N 

 England Farmer, vol. ii. page 177. but have not at j 

 sent room or leisure to pursue this subject. 



Mr. Wadsworth asserts that he " can raise cattli 

 Ohio,and sell them at such prices as will ruin a rcot-fi 

 er twenty miles from Boston." This, however, can 

 well be done unless his cattle fatted in Ohio were di 

 en for sale to Boston market. And when that gem 

 man takes into his calculation the loss of flesh wh 

 his cattle would undergo in so long a journey, the 

 pense of their diiving, and keeping on {he road, we 

 inclined to think he will doubt his ability to ruin 

 root-feeder by the means he mentions. Mr. Wadswo 

 adverts to the low price of beef as an argument ao-ai 

 root-feeding. But if cattle can be fatted cheaper 

 roots than on other feed the low price of beef prtse 

 an argument in favor of root-culture. 



* See New England Farmer, vol. ii. page 171. 

 t See New England Farmer, vol. i. page 178, 



LIST OF AGRICULTURAL BOOKS, FOR SALE BY T 

 PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS IN BOSTON. 



A Treatise on a Jfew System of Agriculture, andfe 

 ing of Slock. By George Adams. Wells 

 Lilly, 98, Court Street. 



A Yearns Residence in the United States of Amen 

 in three parts. By WiLHAM Cobeett. Wells 

 Lilly. 



Agricola, Letters of, on the Principles of Vegetal 

 and Tillage, written for Nova Scotia. By Jo 

 Young. Wells & Lilly; Cummings, Hillard, & I 

 1, Cornhill. 



American Gardiner, exhibiting the time for every k 

 of work. By an Old Gardiner. Richardso 

 Lord, 75, Cornhill. 



American Gardiner, a Treatise on the Situation of S 

 Fencing and Laying out of Gardens, &c. By W 

 liamCubbett. K. p. & C. Williams, Corn! 

 Square. 



Aralor, a Series of Agricultural Essays. Practical f 

 Political. By John Taylor. R. P. & C. Willian 

 Charles Ewer, 51, Cornhill. 



BulkrU Farmer^ Manual, being a plain, practii 

 Treatise on the Art of Husbandry, &c. Wells 

 Lilly. .Samuel T. Armstrong. Charles Ewer. 



Code of Agriculture. By Sir John Sinclair. We 

 k Lilly ; S. T. Armstrong; Cummings, Hil]ard,&( 



Compendium of Cattle Medicine, or Practical Obser' 

 tions on the Diseases of Cattle and other domes 

 Animals, except the Horse, with a series of Ess: 

 on the Structure, Economy, and Diseases of horn 

 Cattle and Sheep. By James White, &c.— Ric 

 aidsontLoid ; Wells & Lilly. 



Complete Grazier, or Farmers' and Cattle Breede 

 Assistant, comprising instructions for buying bree 

 ing, rearing and fattening of Cattle ; Directions 

 the choice of the best Breeds of live stock ; 1 

 Treatment of their Diseases, and the Management 

 Cows and Ewes during the critical times of calvil 

 and yeaning. The general Economy of a Grass Far 

 — Irrigation or Watering of Meadows ; Culture ofti 

 best natural and artificial Grasses, and Plants for k 

 der ; various Methods of cutting, mixing and prepr 

 ing food in severe V, inters, aud seasons of scarcili 

 the Economy and general Management of the Dai' 

 including the making, curing and Preservation 

 Butter and Cheese, &c. &:c. Together with an Intr 

 ductory View of the different Breeds of neat Cattl 

 Sheep, Horses, Asses, Mules, Poultry, Rabbits, Be 

 Farm Accounts— and on the Improvement of Brill! 

 Wool. By a Lincolnshire Grazier, assisted I 

 Communications from several Yorkshire, Leiceste 

 and Norfolk Farmers. K. P. & C. Williams. 



Culley''s Observatiuns on Lire Slock, &c Wells ■ 



Lilly. 



[Remaiyider in our ncaV.] 



