€}L.AN1> FAMM£2II. 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL. AT NO. S2 NORTH MARKET STREET, (at the Agricultural Warehouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEX, EDITOR. 



^OL,. IX. 



BOSTOIV, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL, ^t^ 1881. 



NO. 41. 



j^sasawsriivSii^acaKrsa 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



SERVING TURNIPS FROM THE FLY. 



r of the New Englind Farmer. 

 R — You wished to know the result of my ex- 

 iico hi using hemp as a proteotioii of turnips 

 St the flies and l)Ugs by whicli thoy are apt 



injured. I sowed the hemp around tlie out- 

 of the fiehl and across in rows at about a 



listaiicc. Tlic crop was about 140 l)u^els 

 tie more than a quarter of an acre, which came 



rfoction witliout any injury from the above 

 y other cause. How far tliis was the result 

 otection by the hemp, it is of course not prcc- 



say. 1 would observe, liowevcr, that the use 

 mp or what I suppose will answer the same 

 sc, tiiat of flax is no now thing in this biisi- 



When flax, was a more common article of 

 ion than at present in New England it was no 

 imoii tiling for those who raised it to scatter 

 in the field a little turnip seed for early use; 



1 this way they used to get turnips in a fine 

 ion, at a season when it is not easy to pro- 

 ;heni free from injury by flies. This ^^as 

 Dimon practice of our respected father, the 

 DH.v Tdttle, Esq. as I have heard, one of j 



^^ily state many times. The reason of t\ie 

 ttion which turnips received in this way prob- 

 ivas not understood, and as the habit of rais- 

 .V went into disuse, the advantage of it as a 

 tion to turnips was forgotten. The princi- 

 tis you well know, the offensivenessof liemp 

 to the flies with wliich turnips are often in- 



'. am upon this subject you will permit me 

 ;rve that I have found from several years' 

 nent, that the tomato plant is of much use 

 Dteetion of the cucumber vines against the 



with which they are so often destroyed, 

 Uy the little green and black fly. I do not 

 o intimate that hemp or flax in the former 

 tomatos in the latter, will entirely jirevent the 

 erred to ; entire exemption from disappoiut- 

 e are not to look for in anything. I have, 

 ;r, no hesitancy in expressing it as my opin- 

 t they are of so ninch use as to justify a gen- 

 ort to the help they affnd. G. B. P. 



Bradford, Jpril 27, 1831. 

 the way, by a similar experiment made 

 vo or three years past, I am disposed to be- 

 at the turnip rooted cabbage will prove 

 the most ])rofitable plants for field culture 

 s, and that we have never too much said 

 ere on the subject. G. B. P. 



arl 



?] 



FUR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



THE DAIRY. 



MIFessenden — On a former occasion I gave 

 le account of the Dairy of Mr Jesse Curtis in 

 lead. (N. E. Fanner, vol viii. page 73.) 

 iial as for the year 1828 ; having now in my 

 on the accounts for 1829, and 1830, I 

 e pleasure to forward them toyou, believ- 

 will regard them in this branch of husban- 

 xamples of excellent management, highly 

 i le to the proprietor and to his stock. 



In 1828, between the 11th of March and the last 



of November, eight cows produced 1272 lbs. of 

 ♦ Butter. 



This is equal to 159 lbs. to a cow. 

 In 1829, from27tli March to 28th Sept. (6 months) 



seven cows produced 916 lbs. 1 oz. 



The account for the remainder of this season is 

 unfortunately not in my possession : it was however 

 proportionate to the preceding months. 

 In 1830, from 8tli Aiuil to 1st March, 1S31, six 



cows produced 1117 lbs. 10 ozs. 



This is more than 186 lbs. to each cow. 



The abovo is additional to the supply of a fami- 

 ly of .5 or 6 persons, with what new milk is requir- 

 ed for mixing bread and other domestic purposes. 



The cows are of native stock ; several of them 

 raised by Mr Curtis on the farm, and have no extra 

 feed whatever. Their winter keeping until March 

 is Eng-lish hay of a meilium quality — after March 

 they have the best of English hay until turned to 

 [lasture. Their pasturing is very good indeed ; 

 they have commonly one feeding of green corn- 

 stalks in the latter part of the summer, and are 

 turned early into the mowing grounds in the fall. 



The winter keeping is by no means so good as 

 it should be ; and without doubt, more butter would 

 be made in the winter, and the cattle would be 

 likely to feel the beneficial effects of it through the 

 following season, if they had some succulent feed 

 with their hay ; such as carrots, ruta baga,or mangel 

 wurtzel. The summer produce of cows will depend 

 much upon the manner in which they are kept 

 through the preceding winter. If they are stinted 

 and ill-used, they will not recover from the effects 

 of such treatment by any luxuriance of feed in the 

 subsequent season. A valuable communication 

 on this subject from one of our most intelligent 

 farmers (John Prince, Esq. of Roxbury,) may be 

 found in the publications of the Mass. Agr. 

 Soc. vol. vii. p. 163. 



Carrots arc an excellent food for cows. I know 

 of no objection to this use of them ; though they 

 tend to increase the richness rather than the quan- 

 tity of the milk. They are beneficial however in the 

 latter respect. Ruta Baga increase the quanti- 

 ty of the milk, but do not improve its quality. They 

 rather, as far as my observation goes, render it thin ; 

 though I do not find that they afl"ect the taste of 

 the milk, unless a portion of the tops is given with 

 them or they are given to the animal with the 

 sprouts on in the spring. They are very beneficial 

 to the health of the animal. Raw potatoes in- 

 crease the quantity but injure the quality of the 

 milk. One of our most experienced and intelligent 

 : milk farmers in the vicinity of this town (J. Nichols, 

 Esq.,) who keeps from thirty to forty cows, allows 

 one peck of vegetables and two quarts of Indian 

 meal to each cow per day, in addition to as much 

 of the best of English hay as they will eat. The 

 meal is of the greatest importance to the quality 

 of the milk. ' He says, he is confident that he can 

 at any time increase the quantity of milk in the 

 proportion of eight to five by increasing their po- 

 tatoes and meal. He prefers potatoes to Mangel 

 Wurtzel as he thinks they increase the milk to a 

 I greater degree. He is not able to increase the 

 I milk in any sudden manner by Mangel Wurtzel, but 



can do it with potatoes and meal as above stated 

 in fortyeight lionrs.' 



Of Mangel Wurtzel as a valuable' feed for milch 

 cows I am compelled to speak with great hesita- 

 tion. I know the popular opinion is altogether in 

 their favor ; but experience is a teacher to whose 

 authority I must defer before all others. My cows, 

 when they have been fed freely upon them at the rate 

 of from half a bushel to a bushel per day, have invari- 

 ably been much reduced in flesh. They increase 

 the quantity of the milk ; I have been disposed to 

 think they improve its quality ; this point however 

 is not settled with me; but they have very mUch 

 injured the condition of tlie cows, who have been 

 freely fed with 'ftfceni. 



There are some authorities in this case, which 

 certainly deserve attention.- It is confidently stat- 

 ed that Mr Coke's cows (the most celebrated fann- 

 er in England) were very materially injured by the 

 free use of the mangel wurtzel and some of them 

 (lied. A writer in the British Farmer's Magazine, 

 vol ii. p. 155, a strong advocate of mangel wurt- 

 zel, says ' that he has no doubt this arose from its 

 being used in an unlimited manner immediately upon 

 its being drawn from the ground. The roots ought 

 not to be used before Christmas and tlie cattle 

 ought to be habituated to them by degrees. I 

 have known boast.! to suffer very much from inat- 

 tention to Ihis^rulo.' Experiment only can determine 

 this. My mangel wurtzel have been used both 

 in spring a.cl f I, and through the winter. 



Anotliur — " ji n the same Magazine (p. 212,) 

 though upoii^'^ftrewhole an advocate for tliis plant, 

 says ' that mangel wurtzel are highly purgative 

 and reduce cattle to a very thin state. As regards 

 their feeding properties, we have observed thus 

 much, that cattle to which they were given in mod- 

 eration with a quantity of hay throve indifferently ; 

 and that the same cattle, changed from them to a 

 moderate quantity of Swedish turnips, made twice 

 the progress in condition.' 



At the meeting of the Mancl'ester Agricultural 

 Society, Eng. in Nov. 1829, the Rev. Henry Berry, 

 one of the most distinguished breeders and feed- 

 ers of stock in England, and who, in this respect, 

 ranks next to the celebrated Bakewell, remarked, 

 ' To the comparative merit of mangel wurtzel and 

 Swedish turnips I have paid great attention. I 

 shall strictly confine myself to facts, which have 

 come under my own observation ; and in what I 

 have to say 1 shall have to differ from many high 

 authorities. It has been said that mangel wurtzel 

 is more nutritive than Swedish turnips, but I am 

 decidedly of a contrary opinion. Some yeare ago 

 I was a great grower of mangel wurtzel ; and 

 I gave it very liberally to my cows; but I soon 

 found that it reduced them to skeletons ; they cer- 

 tainly gave a great quantity of milk whilst feeding 

 on this root, but the milk was both thin and poor.' 

 British Farmer's Mag. vol. iii p. 480. 



It will be readily granted that there are many 

 counter authorities. With respect to my own case, 

 they may have been given in too great quantities ; 

 or the feeding may have been begunTtoo early in 

 the season ; or it should jjave been accompanied 

 with something else besides good hay ; or the 

 flesh of the cows may have been reduced by some 

 other unknown cause. I submit the facts, as I 



