ioi 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCT. 6, 183S. 



USES ANB elII,TURE OF RUTA BAGA. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register: 



The Swedisli turnivi, fn" ruta baga, is a niOi?t 

 valualtle vegetable for 'all kinds of cattle. Some 

 horses refuse it, but geaierally tlijjj are fond of it. 

 When designed for horses, the root.s should be 

 well washed atid chopped ur). — but for cows or 

 hogs this is unnecessary. Indeed it is thought 

 that cows thrive better /upon the roots in itlieir dir- 

 ty state; and when given whole, they are not so 

 likely to choke them. The teeth of sheep may 

 be injured by roots in very diity condition — but 

 ill these cattle eat more slowly and securely, I 

 think, if tiie turniiis are throvvii to them in an un- 

 divided state. I used a turnip cutter when I first 

 began to feed them, but discontinued it as trou- 

 blesome and unnecessary. 



The Swedish tnniip, when first estcn by milch 

 <-ows, gives the milk and butter a flavor something 

 like that of garlic. This is not unpleasant to some 

 persons, and becomes less obvious as the digestive 

 organs of the cattle more jicrfectly assimilate the 

 food. It may be obviated, however, by dissolving 

 an ounce of saltpetre in a pint of water, and put- 

 ting a table spoonful of the solution into each 

 milk .pan as the warm milk is emptied into it. 



In the winter season, the butter from cows ju- 

 diciously fed upon ruta baga, has the flavor and 

 appearance of grass butler. Half a bushel per 

 day, divided into three messes, is a fair allowance. 

 I have sometimes fed a bushel ami a half to each 

 cow per diem. The vegetable is very grateful to 

 the animal, which while eating it, rcfjuires little 

 water to drink. I have known cows refuse to 

 drink water for several weeks when freely fed on 

 Swedish turnips. Straw, corn fodder, or coarse 

 hay, is at the same time essential to enable them 

 to chew the cud. 



The skin remains slack, and the health more 

 vigorous and decided, by the use of these turnips ; 

 and the amount of barn-yard manure is much in- 

 creased. It is best to feed twice or thrice a day. 

 In fattening cattle, Swedish turnips, sprinkled with 

 com meal, gives the meat a finer quality, juice 

 and relish. It is also an economy where corn is 

 liigh in price. 



The ruta baga is generally thought to be a 

 troublesome crop ; and many reliiupiish its culti- 

 vation from the difficulty of its management, it'/je?! 

 not thoroughly understood. The ploughing or 

 ridging, drilling, hand-hoeing, and care, are pe- 

 culiar, and much unnecessary labor and pains of- 

 ten at first embarrass the cultivator. But when 

 once well comprehended, the crop is usually esti- 

 mated highly. 



We generally plough up a barley, wheat, or rye 

 Stubble, immediately after harvest ; then roll and 

 harrow it well. If we have fine mamu'e, {we 

 often use street dirt and bones,) this is hauled out 

 and spread, and the ridges (two furrows cast to- 

 gether) are ploughed at once. These an: rolled 

 flat, and the seed drilled upon the top of tliem 

 with a machine (a turnip drill) contrived for the 

 |iurpose ; or a porter bottle with a (|uill fi\ed in 

 the cork, having a hole of sufiicient size iu ihe 

 small end of the quill. If the manure is long, am! 

 intractable, the ridges are ploughed first, the dung 

 is then carted and spread between them, and the 

 double furrows are afterwards spli||si) as to cover 

 in completely the long manure. The seed is 

 sown tolerably thick. When the plant has four 

 leaves, the supernumeraries are cut out with hand 



hoes, leaving the finest plants from six to twelve 

 inches asunder. Eight inches is the average 

 width between the plants : if they are allowed to 

 stand thick, the crop is ruined, and no fear should 

 be entertained to cut out freely. 



Before hoeing, a light triangidar harrow is run 

 between the rows to level the earth, and clear the 

 ground from weeds. An implement with a slide 

 behind and hinges in the front, so that the width 

 can be changed at pleasure, according to the 

 growth is most convenient. 



A mistake is often made with the turnip crop, 

 in hilling up the roots by jjlough or hoe. The 

 earth, on the contrary, should always be taken 

 from the tiirnlp. Itsta|i root is quite sufiicient for 

 its nourishment, and the bulb grows larger as the 

 earth is drmon from it. The calculation is to hoe 

 and cultivate the ground until it is quite level, 

 harrowing or horee-hoeing between the rows, and 

 hand-hoeing between the growing turnips. We 

 sometimes sow barley, wheat, or rye among the 

 ruta baga for a permanent crop, and cover in the 

 seed when we give the turnips the last dressing 

 with the harrow or horse-hoe. I have seen very 

 good crops of grain after the turnips, and 300 bushc 

 els of turnips per acre. In planting Swedes for 

 seed, care should be had that no other plants of 

 the same family be permitted to flower near them 

 or iu the same garden. Other kinds of tmnips 

 cabbage, and radishes, will change the character 

 of the seed ; and, of cours", the quality of the 

 roots will be subsequently altered from that of the 

 original. A friend — G. 11. Walker, of Hongford, 

 Philadelphia county — who is exceedingly care- 

 ful in all such matters, promises me to forward 

 you some of the true breed, which you will do 

 me a favor by distributing atnong our friends on 

 James River, (especially to George E. Harrison 

 and .lohn A. Selden, his brother Miles D. Selden, 

 and Hill Carter, Esqrs, 



In your climate, except in very severe winters, 

 like the last, you have the advantage of being able 

 to leave tlje turnips in the field, to be pulled as 

 they are wanted for use. Here we are obliged 

 by the severity of the season, to pull and top them 

 by the middle of November, and to hoard them 

 away in cellars or caves, where they sometimes 

 heat, and require much handling. 



You can sow later than we do, for the plant is 

 one of a cold climate, and grows rapidly aftt ■.' tlie 

 first frosts. I am, however, now [June 30] eating 

 ruta baga raised this spring in my garden by mis- 

 take ; the seed being sown instead of Savoy cab- 

 bage. I find tliem very palatable. 



This turnip bears something the character of 

 the pippin a])ple, which increases in sweetness and 

 flavor by beiug kept. When the Swedish turnip 

 is first taken from the ground in autumn, it has a 

 raw or rank taste, when prepiared for the table ; 

 hut towards the ndddle of winter, it im])roves very 

 nuu'h. It is now sought after in our markets, of- 

 ten selling for 50 cents per bushel, for the use of 

 the table, in mid-w inter and spring. 



Its color is a fine rich looking yellow when 

 boiled, and the only objection I know to it is, that 

 iluring the process of cooking it gives out an un- 

 savory odor. This is of less im])orlance when the 

 kitchens are separated from the dwelling house. 

 J. H. Gibbon. 



Philadelphia Cuiini;/, July 2, 1835. 



nilXED FOOD. 



Having been in early life nuich accustomed to, 

 and a c'ose observer of, Pennsylvania farming, I 

 was much pleased with the German economy of 

 increasing forage for their cattle, by the aid of art 

 in mixing food — they being assured that the pro- 

 cess adds to the capacity of each ingredient, for 

 furnishing nutritive properties. 



This theory they put in practice throughout 

 many parts of the state, in their mode of putting 

 up green clover, as a forage for milch cows during 

 winter ; not only preserving, as they believe, in a 

 superior manner, the fine qualifies of the clover, 

 but augmenting equally the quantity of forage. 

 As fast as the clover is cut they slack it, mixing 

 equal quantities of well preserved straw, and a 

 small portion of salt sprinkled regularly over the 

 clover as the layers are completed. The gratifica- 

 tion with which the cattle appeared to feed on this 

 preparation throughout the winter, I early noticed, 

 especially when it was cut up in the box, and 

 served out to them in troughs — one tin pint cup 

 full of rye or Indian meal, seasoning the food of a 

 day, when confined to their stalls. 



I once had the pleasure of witnessing an ex- 

 periment made by an intelligent German farmer, 

 to ascertain the advantage of steaming this prejia- 

 ration, before feeding, and was nmeh pleased with 

 the result. The milk evidently was increased 25 

 ])er cent., and the capacity of the food for giving 

 out its nutritive qualities almost thesame. — Farm- 

 er's Register. 



Between two objects, of equal attraction and 

 importance, the decision soonest made is best. 



[From the Maine Farmer] 

 Cows boldiiig up 1lK«lr Alilk. 



Can you, or any of your correspondents, inform 

 me whether cows are ever in the habit of halding 

 up their milk so ns finally dry themselves off? 

 One of my neighbors has a heifer three years old : 

 after she calved the present season she gave 8 or 

 9 quarts to a milking, and exhibited every appear- 

 ance of making an excellent Cow. 



About two or three weeks ago, she gave from 

 one teat, which swelled at the time, a small quan- 

 tify of curdled or clotted milk. Some supposed 

 that she was troubled with the Garget, and she has 

 been doctored for that complaint. Others say 

 that she retains her milk, or, as it is generally 

 tenned, '^ holds itvp" so that now her milk is re- 

 duced to less than half the quantity it was three 

 or four weeks ag'o, although the clotted niilk and 

 swelling have subsided, her appetite good, and no 

 falling off as to feed. Any information touching 

 this case through the columns of the Farmer wilt 

 be thankfidly received. Cakolcs. 



August 22, 1835. 



JVb<e.-:^We once owned a cow that would hold 

 up her milk, after the calf was weaned, until she 

 would become dry, or rather until she gave so lit- 

 tle milk that it was no object to tnilk her. This 

 she did for two summers. She is living yet ; and 

 is kept for the i>urpose of rearing calves upon, she 

 being excellent for that business. — Ed. 



Ska-weed manure. — Fleets of boats, to the 

 number of sixty or seventy, are dai y arriving at 

 Galway, with sea-weed for manure, fixun Bunna- 

 mara, Arran, and the county of Clare, which is 

 purchased with avidity, and conveyed on carls all 

 over the country, in various directions, even to the 

 distance of forty or fifty miles into the interior. — 

 Gahoay paper. 



