•284 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Communicated for publication in the American 

 Farmer. 



Jonathan Roberts, Esq. President of the- 



Pennsvlvania Agricultural Society. 



Powelton^A'ov. 28, 1823. > 

 Philad^lphia Cnunty. ^ 



Dear Sir,— I enclose certificates showing 

 that sixteen hundred and thirty-four bushels of 

 Mangel Wurtzel, weighing seventy-eight thou- 

 sand tout hundred and forty-eight pounds, were 

 produced at Powelton, upon one acre and four- 

 teen perches of farm land, accurately measur- 

 ed by a regular surveyor. 



1 selected a parallelogram, containing thir- 

 teen contiguous rows, which were drawn, and 

 measured in my presence, to ascertain the larg- 

 est quantity, which had grown upon the rich- 

 est part of the field. One hundred and forty- 

 three baskets, equal to one hundred and seventy 

 four bushel?, were produced upon thirteen and 

 an half perches, at the rate of two thousand 

 and sixty-five bushels per acre, weighing 44 

 tons, 5 cwt. qrs. 27 lbs. 



I am satisfied that the account of my farmer 

 is correct, and as the roots had been drawn ten 

 days, had been closely cut beneath the crowns, 

 were dry, and entirely free from dirt, both the 

 measurement by the basket, and the estimate by 

 weight, must be fair. If a barrel had been us- 

 ed, or any other large vessel of similar sliapc, the 

 crop would appear greater, as the measure 

 would not have been so often filled, and conse- 

 quently, not so ofica heaped. 



IVIr. Milnor, the Recording Secretary, was 

 good enough, to superintend the measurement 

 of the basket, and saw the manner in which it 

 ^vas filled. 



I submit to you the shingles containing the 

 original scores, and refer you to him, for cor- 

 roboration of the facts. It may be well to 

 state, that liowever great this crop may ap- 

 pear, in England a larger product has been ob- 

 tained. 



My soil was not naturally strong ; it has been 

 gradually so much deepened, as to enable 

 me, with Woo i's plough. No. 2. drawn by four 

 oxen, to plough fourteen inches deep. Fresh 

 barn yard manure, was equally spread upon the 

 surface, and ploughed under in the early ])art 

 of April, in quantities not larger, than are usu- 

 ally applied to potatoe crops in this country. — 

 Early in May the land, was twice stirred with 

 ljeatson''s scariljcr-harrowed-rollcd-afler stir- 

 red-harrowed and rolled again in the opposite di- 

 rection. The holes for the seeds, were made by 

 wheel containing pegs in its circumference, 

 which penetrated the ground, about an inch, 

 leaving intervals offour inches — the rows were 

 made two feet asunder — two capsules were 

 dropped into each hole — the wheel of a com- 

 mon barrow was passed over them, thus com- 

 )ires?ing the earth, and leaving a slight lut, for 

 the retention of moisture. 



K small cultivator which I had contrived for 

 the purpose, was drawn between the rows soon 

 after the weeds appeared ; a three inch trian- 

 gular hoe, removed the alternate plants, leaving 

 the others at distances, varying from eight to 

 twelve inches asunder. The cultivator was 

 iwice u.sed before the 20fh of July. The hea- 

 vy rains of August made another hoeing neces- 

 sary, and surcharged the ground so much, with 

 moistur», that roots increased much less m that 



month, than they had grown during the same 

 time, in the two last year.=. 



In order to convey an idea of a Mangel 

 Wurtzel crop, to some of the members, who 

 are not acquainted with its usual product, it may 

 not be improper to state, that three fourths of the 

 root extend above the ground — that I last year 

 obtained one which at Mr. Landreth's shop 

 weighed some days after it was drawn, 17 lbs. 

 10 ounces. 



I this year desired smaller roots which might 

 grow so closely, as by their leaves, to protect 

 the soil, as much as possible from the exhala- 

 tions of the sun. My cultivator, by its peculiar 

 form, enabled me to cut off the weeds, when 

 the plants were so young, that if I had applied 

 the plough, their crowns must have been cov- 

 ered in many instances, by earth which occa- 

 sionally tails from its land side. The failure, 

 which attends (he cultivation of most root crops 

 in drills, proceeds from the neglect of weeds in 

 their early stages. Four or five days of delay, 

 frequently make the difl'ercnce of fifteen days 

 in the labor of making clean an acre of ground. 

 The same weeds which a boy with a sharp 

 shingle, could remove at the commencement of 

 one week, may, before the end ot the next, 

 require the application of an implement drawn 

 by a horse. 



I ascribe m}' success, in a great measure to 

 the use of Wood''s extraordinary plongli, which 

 enters the soil more deeply, and pulverizes it 

 more perfectly than any other I have ever seen 

 with equal foice in any country — to the habit- 

 ual use of cultivators, which complete the pro- 

 duction of fine tilth — ^to the destruction of the 

 weeds on their first appearance— to leaving the 

 smallest space upon which a horse can walk be- 

 tween the rows, and above all to planting the 

 seeds of a proper kind upon a surface which is 

 kept perjectbjflat. 



In proof of the advantages of this invaluable 

 roof, I exhibit cream obtained from one of my 

 cows, which has been fed for several weeks, 

 exclusively upon Mangel Wurtzel and Millet fod- 

 der. You will find that its color and flavor are 

 perfectly good — the butter which it aflbrds, is 

 more like that produced in June, than any I 

 have used, excepting such as had been derived 

 from coivs fed on carrots, and corn meal. 



Notliw ithstanding the large product, I am 

 confirmed in the opinions, which 1 have re- 

 peatedly expressed, that in (/iw country, nothing 

 can supplant the king of vegetables, Indian 

 Corn. I would recommenil Blangel Wurtzel, in 

 prel'ercnce to all other roots, for dairy and 

 breeding farms: and to a limited extent, where 

 labor and manure, are not too dear, in compari- 

 son with the value of land, it should be culti- 

 vated upon all farms. 



The expense of preparation for a mangel 

 wurtzel crop, is not so great as might be sup- 

 posed. 

 The labor of four oxen, a ploughman 



and driver in ploughing one acre, 



14 inches deep,* costs j^.j 00 



* Tlif great depth of ploughing', was noticed by Dr. 

 Buck, the Secretary of tlio Agricultural Society, at 

 Bridgton, N. J. iii an early number of the present vol- 

 U2ie ; and we are authorized to assure our much valued 

 correspondent of Talbot, that a Pennsylvania farmer 

 although no Hercules, can plough fourteen inches, and 

 obtain good crops, -without t)ie Augean filth of a great 

 city — -JSd. Jim. Fari0:i. 



Amount brought up, g; 



3 stirrings with Beatson's improved scari- 

 fier, Vi-hich two oxen managed by one 

 man, can readily pass over five acres 

 in good condition, in one day, ] 



2 harrowings and 2 rollings, ] 



Dibbling with a wheel, 1 



Dropping seeds, (if performed by men,) i 

 Pressing them under by a wheel, ] 



Hoeing and thinning, 1; 



Cleaning with Blocklej cultivator, 

 drawn bv one horse. ; 



^30 L 

 JOHN HARE POWElAj 



John S. Skinner, Esq. 



Sir, — At a meeting of the Pennsylvania Ag 

 ricultural Society, held in November, Mr. Poir 

 el exhibited a bottle of cream, produced by'j 

 cow, which he stated, had been fed solely jii 

 Mangel Wurtzel roots, and Millet hay. It \m 

 pronounced by all who examined it, to be equA 

 in richness and flavor, to any they had et 

 seen. 



His Durham short horn heifers, fed u] 

 these roots, yield very large quantities of mil 

 affording the richest cream I ever tasted. 

 Respectfullv your's, 



JOHN P. MlLNOl 

 Assistant Recording Secretary 

 Penn. Ag. Society 

 Philadelphia County, March 3, 1824. 



From the New York American. 



Invention. — We noticed some time ago a 

 agraph in an English paper, giving an ace 

 of an engine for producing power which woi 

 supersede even steam, as an agent ; but as fl 

 may be said to be the age of invention, vti 

 passed it over as not deserving immediate ds 

 tice. We perceive, however that Congn 

 during the present session, has passed a law 

 thorizing the Secretary of State to issue lett( (I lali 

 patent to a Samuel Brown for this invention) 

 and we are informed that Mr. Brown, has aC | 

 ally disposed of one half of his patent for tl I 

 country, to two respectable mercantile bona 

 one residing in this city, and the other in Pj 

 ladelphia — a partner in each house being ni 

 in England with Mr. Brown ; and that they i 

 all sanguine of success. It may be pruda 

 therelbre, for those persons who are disposjp* 

 to engage in operations requiting the appliA 

 lion of mechanical powci', to hesitate until tfti 

 merits of this new invention are (as they mqB' 

 shortly be) fully tested. The advantages sw 

 to be possessed by the newly discovered agfflit 

 over steam are, that with a much less consuntt- 

 fion of fuel, and in a far less si)ace, an cqqM 

 power is produced. As a proof that the OB- 

 covery is not chimerical, we have seen lettep 

 from Europe, stating that eighteen thousand 

 pounds sterling had been offered for the patent 

 right of France, provided the experiment suc- 

 ceeded. 



An Act to authorise the issuing of letters patent 

 Samuel Bron'n. 



Be it enacted ty the Senate and House of R\ 

 rcsentatives of the United States of America,'m 

 Congress asseinllcd, That the Secretary of StaU 

 be, and he hereby is authorized and required to 

 issue letters patent in the usual form to Samo- 



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