374 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



June i, isfGV 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JUNE 1, 1S36. 



FARMERS' WORK. 



Roots fob Cattle. — It is impossible to mannge n 

 farm to advantage, or raise stuck to profit without feed- 

 ing cattle with roots; and among tlie best of roots for 

 tliat purpose is llie ruta baga, or Swedish turnip. 

 We believe that the person most instrumental in intro- 

 ducing the culture of that excellent root into the U. S. 

 was th-e late William Cobbett, The following directions 

 for raising that root arc extracted from a treatise written 

 tiy that famous agriculturist; and perhaps are as plain 

 and correct as can be prescribod. 



JifuHc of saeing and presermng the seed. — The ruta 

 hifa is apt to degenerate if the seed is not sowed with 

 care. In England wc select the fairest roots and the 

 ticsl 'form for ■seed, rejecting a'l such as are of a wliitish 

 coloror greenish towards the neck, preferring such as 

 arc of a reddish cast. These wh^en seleiued should be 

 ■corcfully pieserved mer the Vvinter, and set in the 

 month of March or April, in a rich soil, remote from any 

 Toots of the turnip or cabbage kind, to preserve the seed 

 (pure and unmixed. Two or three roots if they do well, 

 will yield seed sufficient for an acre of land. Let the 

 seed remain in the pods imlil the time of sowing. 



Time of sowing.- — The time of sowing may be from 

 'the 2r>lb of June to the IGth of July, as circumstances 

 may be. 



Qualiii/an'dpreparattonof the hand. — As a fine, rich 

 jgarden mould of great deptli, and havmg a porous sub- 

 stratum is beat for every ihiog that vtjgetates except 

 iplants that live best in water, so it is best Willi ruta ba- 

 jga. i know dfno-aoil'in the United Sta-trs, upon which 

 S'fais i'oot may not te cultivated ■wjtli the greatest facility 

 e,\cepting a jiure sand and a stiff clay^ whicii are very 

 ;-are in this country. 



;M«nncro/50!(!i,n.ir-— Jt^yplu-Jglnnan P"'s tlie ground 

 •tip in little rklges, having lv«o,-furtow« on each side of 

 the ridge, so ihal-saeh ridge, consists offimr fcrrows, and 

 ■the tops of the Tidgfs were, about four fectfrom each 

 oilier; spd as . j,Uej)louglung,.was perjormed to a great 

 depth, there wae of coursea.-very deep gutter between 

 .e^.ery two ridges. 



I took cure tohavethe-manurephiced soas to be un- 

 .t!or,tlie ,Ti4ddlc-of each ridge, that i.-! <o say , just beneath 

 ^vhere my seed was to cppic, vyhicj) was sown princi- 

 pally in .this ninnncr ;— A ,n)ivn went along by the sides 

 ofeach r.idge, and put -duvvo two or jlireo eee^s jo pla- 

 ces \e,Vf or twoly.e inches distance from eacih other, just 

 draWjing a lijttle earth over and presiiing it lightJy upon 

 tli.e sec^, fn order to make it vegetate (juickly, before the 

 earth became too dry. In lliis method four pounds o( 

 seed sowed seven acre?. Two nien sowed the whole 

 seven acres in two,d"y!- 



Jifler culture.— When tlie pifints were fairly up, we 

 went with a small l)oe, and took out all but one in each 

 ten ortwclye inches, and thus left tliom to stand single. 

 VVe nc^l'wept yvith a hoe, and hoed the t"ps °*" ''"^ 

 ridoes about si.\ inches wide on each side of the rows of 

 plants, and then horse hoed between the rovys, with a 

 eoipuion horse plough, after the mmner of tilling Indian 

 corn, or poiatO);s, by first turping the ear h from the 

 plants, and next towards the plants at the second hoeing. 

 There is no ground lost iii these wide intervals, for the 

 lateral roots of the largo turnip, as well as the rutf baga 

 vill extend six feet from the ball of the plant; and my 



bushels to the acre, taking the whole field togelher, had 

 the same intervals; and less than this, as was practised 

 by my neighbors, always din>inished the crop. Wide 

 as the intervals were, the leaves of some of the plants 

 would nearly meet across the rows, and I have had them 

 frequently meet in England. 



accompanied with a written description of the manage- 

 ment, condition, and worth of the land before and sine 

 reclaimed, 10. — A'orthampton Cour. 



The Potato Squash. — We have received some 

 Squash Seeds, together with the following note. 

 Mr. Fr.ssENDEN, 



Sir — I send you for distribution, though perhais, 

 rather late a few squash seeds, which I obtained in Illin- 

 ois last season. They are known there by the name of 

 the " Potato Squash," resembling very much the sweet 

 potato, being ve ry dry am' sweet to the taste. If they 

 can be raised here as well as there, they will surpass all 

 others. I ate of them mashed as we mash our common 

 potato, and their flavor was exceedingly fine. They 

 grow about the size of the common short necked squash, 

 and weigh about six pounds; their color nearly white. 

 Respectfully, JACOB N. BANG. 



We are much obliged to the donor of the above men- 

 tioned seeds, and will distribute them among careful 

 cultivators, in small parcels, for the benefit of the com- 

 monweal. 



The Morus Multicaulis, CChinese Mulberry) as sold 

 in this town, is g5 00 a paper. A paper contains seed 

 enough for about two thousand plants, but it is hirdly 

 probable they will all vegetate. But supposing only half 

 do, at a year's growth they are worth 2.5 cents each, 

 and can be sold readily for that money. This, it will be 

 seen, gives $250 for what cost $5 00. A letter to Dr. 

 Stebbins from a gentlpman in this state, says — " 1 have 

 now from a paper of seed sold by you two years since, 

 350 thrifty trees, and have put out from the same, 1200 

 cuttings. 1 have sold about $50 worth of cuttings, all 

 from the seed of one paper." This paper cost at that 

 time but fifty cents ! Is not this conclusive demonstra- 

 tion .' — li. 



PTemiums offered by oui* Jlgricul tural Society. Silk 

 and Mulherry. — On the greatest n umber of acres set 

 with White Mulberry Trees, regard bei ng had to the 

 average size, age, and height of the trees, the inferi- 

 ority of the soil and cash value of the same, before the 

 first day of October, 1836, $15,10,5. On the greatest 

 number of Chinese Mulberry, (Morus Multicaulis) which 

 shall be raised from cuttings, layers, or seed, before the 

 first day of October, 1836, 15, 10,5. On the most ex- 

 tensive and best arranged orchard, of White Mulberry, 

 forgathering and feeding Silk worms, the greatest num- 

 ber of worms fed thereon, and cocoons produced there- 

 from, the present year, 10, 7, 5. On the greatest quan. 

 titv of Raw Silk made in 1836,5,4. On the greatest 

 quantity of manufactured silk, made in 1830,5,4. On 

 the greatest quanity of cocoons, by weight and measure, 

 raised in 1836, 3, 2. 



On Crops To he awarded next March. — On the 

 greatest quantity and weight and value of good clean 

 Wir.ter Wheat, from an acre of I.nd, meaning the net 

 •value of the crop, alter deducting every expense of cul- 

 tivation, labor, manure, seed, and interest of the value 

 of the land, estimating good clean wheat at 1.50 per 

 bushel, 6, 5,4. On the greatest quantity and weight and 

 value of good clean Spring Wheat, from an acre of old 

 land, deducting all expenses, estimating good spring 

 spring wheat at 1.25 per bushel, 5, 4, 3. On the great- 

 est quantity and weight and value of good Indian Corn, 

 from ai> acre of old land, deducting all expenses, and es- 

 timating corn at 75 cts. per bushel, 7, G, 5. On the 

 grcalest quantily and value of good Potatoes, for the ta- 

 bic, from fjne fourth of an acre, deducting all expenses, 

 estimating good potatoes at 35 cts. per bushel, 5. On 

 the greatest quantily of good Wheat, raised on a farm 

 within the limits of ihe society, in llie year, 1836, being 

 not less than 200 bushels, 10. On the greatest quantity 

 of good Rye, being not less than 500 bushels, 10. On 

 the greatest quantily of Indian Corn, being not less than 

 500 bushels, JO. On the greatest quantity, of Oats, be- 

 ing not, less than 300 bushels, 10. On the greatest quan- 

 tity of Beans, being not less than 100 bushels, 10. On 

 the greatest quantity of Peas, being not less than 100 

 bushels, 10. On the greatest quantity of Clover seed. 



Farmers of Vermont. — Some of the best and most 

 productive farms in the country may be found in the 

 valley of the Connecticut. Their produce in the mar- 

 ket always commands a. high price. The amount of 

 butter, beef, and pork, sold since the first of October 

 last, by farmers of the single town of Barnet, Caledonia 

 county,Vt. brought the snug sum of $20,340 88. Dur- 

 ing tlie four months mentioned, they sold 349 head of 

 beef cattle for $5,745 ; 68,147 lbs of butter for $12,676- 

 J2, and 123,.525 lbs. of pork for ^7,719. One farmer sold 

 three thousand pounds of butter and the same of pork' — 

 1,600 lbs. of butter sold at an average of 20 cts per pound. 

 The butter that was sold in Barnet in the month of Oc- 

 tober, averaged about a shilling per pound, while that 

 carried to the Boston market, brought, during the same 

 time from 22 to 26 cents — which one would think ought 

 to pay handsomely for the cost of transporlation. Anoth- 

 er of the Barnet farmers sold 836 lbs. of butter, amount- 

 ing to over two hundred and fiftysix dollars. Truly the 

 Barnet Fanners have been living in fine clover during 

 the past season. Several of them carried ofFjiremiums 

 offered for the best butter by the Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural Society at their last exhibition — and one of 

 them, the first premium of fifty dollars. We gathered 

 these facts from a statement in the last number of the 

 Vermont Farmer. — Eagle. 



being not less than 25 bushels, 10. On the greatest 

 cron'ofihirtylhreetons, or thirteep hundred and tweniy I quautity of Land rcnlaimed, and crops therefrom. 



Remeuv for the Lock Jaw. — We are informed 

 by a friend, that a sure preventative against this terrible 

 disease is to take some soft soap, and mix it wilh a suf- 

 ficient quantity of pulverized chalk, so as to m.ike it of 

 the consistency of buckwheat batter; keep the chalk 

 moistened with a fresh supply of soap until the wound 

 begins to disiharge, and the patient finds relief. Our 

 friend stated to us that implicit confidence may be 

 placed in what he says , that he has known several cases 

 where this remedy has been successfully applied. So 

 simple and so valuable a remedy, within the reach of 

 every person, ought to be universally known. — JY. Y. 

 Ev. Post. 



UonTictJLTiiRAL Anomalv — The shaddock fruit 

 always contain 32 seeds. The seeds have been exper- 

 imentally planted a number of times, and it is invariably 

 found that there are never more than two out of thirty- 

 two, that produce like fruit. The others produce, some 

 sweet oranges, some bitter, and some the forbidden 

 fruit, which are all, wilh the shaddock, varieties of the 

 orange species. The leaves are similar in appearance, 

 and until the trees are actually in bearing, it is impos- 

 sible to know what the fruit is likely to prove. — Gen- 

 esee Farmer, 



