No. 8. 



Letter from T, le Couteur. 



245 



grass and clover. The field had been under 

 grass the three previous years. Your Com- 

 mittee saw the crop while growing, and in 

 sheaf. It Wds a beautiful held of Rye, the 

 style of culture was such as gratified every 

 practised eye. Nothing I think, in stubble, 

 can exceed the setting of the young grass 

 and clover, which I think will prove an ob- 

 ject of attraction to the farmer, next sum- 

 mer. 



Of roots, I had four acres of Mereer Po- 

 tatoes, planted between the 18th and 26th 

 of April, in drills. Manure, barn yard : yield 

 over two hundred bushels to the acre. Qual- 

 ity, very good. 



Carrots, over half an acre in drills, twenty 

 inches apart, sowed last week in April. 

 Manure, a dressing of well rotted barnyard, 

 with one application of liquid manure. The 

 patch was 260 feet long, 100 feet wide, equal 

 to two roods and 15 perches. The yi&ld 588 

 bushels, averaging 990 bushels to tlie acre. 



Sugar Parsneps about half an acre, in 

 drills, sowed first week in May. Manured 

 and treated the same as the- carrots : crop 

 still in the ground : I compute the yield at 

 seven hundred bushels to the acre. 



Sugar Beets, over one acre, in drills, sowed 

 from 15th to 18th May. Drills two feet six 

 inches apart; manured same as the carrots 

 and parsneps; yield nine hundred and 

 seventy-two bushels of sixty lbs. each, to 

 the acre. 



Turnips, three acres and a half, sowed on 

 the 6th August, broad cast, with timothy 

 seed, yield computed at 2500 bushels. The 

 turnips were uniformly large, and the grass 

 is well set, 



For years I have urged upon our farmers 

 in this neighbourhood, the necessity of turn 

 ing their attention to root crops, and have 

 for the same period demonstrated their utility 

 by practical results. The present is but 

 another proof, with the many I have hereto- 

 fore furnished, of the utility of this culture, 

 especially, in view of the high and increas- 

 ing value of land in the vicinity of the city, 

 and where the keeping of large stocks of 

 dairy cattle is so indispensable. It is a re 

 proach, indeed a serious affliction, that so 

 much of the milk served to the city is pro- 

 duced from such feed as is procured at the 

 distilleries and breweries ; such trash is un 

 natural to the habits and functions of cattle. 

 Cattle tlius fed, become diseased, their secre- 

 tions are impure, of which the citizens jire 

 not aware, and seldom inspect, or inquire 

 into the state of the dairy, whence they ob 

 tain their supplies — they but too generally 

 think of the price of the milk, without re- 

 fference to quality. Milk with them is milk, 

 if it be not a shade darker than blue, and 



thus througii carelessness or ill-directed eco- 

 nomy, they may be found administering to 

 their children daily, a vitiated fluid, strongly 

 impregnated with deleterious matters, that 

 cannot fail to exert a pernicious influence on 

 the health and dispositions of tl>eir oflspring. 

 This subject is worthy the special attention 

 of our Society. I shall however revert to it 

 again on some more fitting occasion, the sub- 

 ject being important to the interests of the 

 farmer as well as to the health of our fellow 

 citizens, who depend upon us for so large a 

 portion of the necessaries of life. It is true, 

 we have accomplished much, as our crops, 

 our cattle, and our markets abundantly prove. 

 But the inhumanity in the treatment of cat- 

 tle, and the quality of some of the milk, served 

 to the cities, present strong claims to the 

 justice and intelligence of our Society. Let 

 any one compare a cup of milk taken from 

 a cow fed in the winter on her natural food — 

 well cured grass, and well matured roots, 

 such as sugar beets, turnips, sugar parsneps, 

 &c., and compare it with that taken from an 

 animal, whose secretions are excited by the 

 fermented and filthy slops of a distillery or 

 brew house, and he will find as much difler- 

 ence as there is between a bad cider, and a 

 pure and generous wine; 



In the spirit of improvement, and kind- 

 ness, I would invite those who feed from the 

 distilleries and breweries to look at this 

 statement, and calculate, whether it would 

 not be even cheaper to cultivate two or three 

 acres of roots for winter feed, than to waste 

 time and money upon that, which inevitably 

 must impair the constitution and health of 

 their cattle. 



From 1 acre of Sugar Reets, I have 972 bus. 

 " ^ " Sugar Parsneps, 350 " 

 " ^ " Carrots, 495 " 



" 3^ > " Turnips, 2500 " 



Making 4317 bushels, allowing 6(* lbs. to, 

 the bushel. In round numbers, one hundred 

 and fifteen tons of Vv'holesome juicy food, 

 from five and a half acres of land. 

 Respectfully, 



James Gowen. 



Mount .\iry, 20tli Dec, 1844. 



Letter from T. le Couteur. 



There is so beautiful andpliilantliropic a spirit, run- 

 ning through the following letter from a well known 

 wheat grower in the Island of Jersey, that we solicit- 

 ed the privilege from Dr. Elwyn of making copious 

 extracts from it; believing that the readers of tlie 

 Cabinet, will be no less pleased with them than wag 

 the Editor.— Ed. 



SlR,- 



Belle Vue, Jersey, 30th October, 1844. 



I have the honour to acknowledge the re- 

 .t^eipt of your letter of the 19th July last, to 



