U6 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOV. 10. 1^41. 



State, not finely pulverized ; here then \a a key to 

 the production of thesu plants; lienco the necessi- 

 ty of h.avinj the land well pulverized in the early 

 part of the spring, and then to keep it so for the 

 porfect (levelopenient of the turnip plant, whose 

 habits in the early stages of its growth, are in eve- 

 ry respect like those of the wild mustard and 

 charlock. 



We think, therefore, to secure a good crop of 

 turnips, the hinil must be early reduced to a fine 

 tilth, and when in this fine pulverized state, it nnist 



TEIE FARMER'S ALMANAC FOR 1842. 

 This good old farmer's companion, by Robert B. 



Brought forward JC8 2 6 

 instead of 200 sheep at night only ; after 

 this rate the manure would be worth 4 16 1 Thomas, again makes its annual appearance, and' 



! among all the works for telling u6 of the changes 



£12 18 6 I of the moon, the times of the tides, and the risings 



Thus a clear loss of £12 I8s. (id. per acre, is the ' and setluigs of the sun. there is none that we like 



result of a failure in our crop of turnips. j belter than Thomas's. For f/ty years the autlior 



But although we have now come to the end of , has annually furnished his manual for the farmer, 



our course, with a loss of £12 18*. (id. per acre, | and his ren. arks upon the length of time he has 



during the course of four years yet the evil does < been an almanac-maker, are well worth a reprint: 



, . , ., not terminate here ; for it cannot be expected that ; c. F,^..rv Years Ago! It is just fifty years, 



also be kept moist; for a fine pulverized soil, re-Uhe land will be in so good a stale for the produc p^;^,„j, „„j p^^,„^,^ ^ and new_we know not 

 cently inade^»o by mechanical means, .b dry and Ho,, of ^ crop of turnips now, as it would have been j „hich arc the most numerous or the most kind, 



without moisture in it to vegetate the seed. This had a good crop of turnips been produced on it , ,, „ho have gone hand in hand with us for 

 IS universally the case w_,th land (ho«ever light four years ago, and by their consumption on the j ^ century, or you who have known us but a 



half ie 



and sandy it may be) which is plowed the first 

 time for turnips in the spring, and we have seen 

 the first plowing given to turnip land in the month 

 of May, and the result was, wlint was predicted, a 

 complete failure of the whole crop of turnips. 



Here let us stop for a little, and try if we can 

 ascertain the amount of loss sustained by the fail- 

 ure of the turnip crop ; for this is a most impor- 

 tant question, and it is right that we should liave a 

 clear view of it, for it is universally believed by 

 every turnip farmer, that if they gel a good crop 

 of turnips, there is no fear of good crops during 

 the remainder of the course, and this we believe 

 to be the case. 



But before we can ascertain what loss we sus- 

 tain from not having a good crop of turnips, it will 

 bo necessary for -us Lo know the value of such a 

 crop: well then, a good crop of turnips may be 



feir 



and, leaving such a quantity of manure of the | ^j^^^^ summers— it is just fifty years since we- 

 most excellent kind. There is, therefore, not such j gjj,^[p,| ^^^^ unpretending, but, as we trust, useful 

 a prospect of your getting a good crop of turnips | jj,„„j| Fifty years 1 It is a life by itself! In 

 now as you had four years ago when you failed, j j^at time how many millions, who were, half a cen- 



The evil is llierefore perpetuated, and a diminu- 

 tion of the productive powers of the land is the 

 result ; and all this evil has arisen from your fail- 

 ing to produce a good crop of turnips." 



From the .same. 



would be more anxious about its increase anil more 



careful of it, so as to prevent it from running to 



waste ; for we have seen dung. hills on the road 



reckoned at 20 tons of bulbs per acre, and it has ' aide wiih the rich liquid manure running out of 



been ascertained by many experiments on a large, j|,e,n i„to the ditch, or sinking into the rock ; we 



vho. 



on turnips, will i have also seen them covered with docks, nettles. 



oC^l", thnt f=hpcp, 



consume as great u weight of turnips per day as j and every kind of weed, and we have seen a 



the quarter weight of their mutton; that is, if a Ltream of water, in wet weather, from the yard, 



tury ago, living, breathing and moving, full of Ij 

 hope, of young lite, of energy and of vigor, have- li 

 gime down to the silent grave ! In that time, what 

 countless millions of the human race have been- 

 called " to sleep the sleep which knows no wak- 

 ing!" It is now but a little over fifty years sinca k 



, the immortal PVanklin, author of that quaint, buB 



SAVE YOUR MANURE. time-honored work, "Poor Richard's Almanac," 



The real value of manure to a farm seems notj^j^j. ^^ ,^ho "wrested iho lightning from tha 

 to have entered your head; for had you a right j ,^g_^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ sceptre from the tyrant." Fiftwii 

 ideaofitsvalue, one would have thought that you years since, and the high and pure-souled Wash- 

 ington, one of the noblest characters that our ' 

 country, ay ! or any country has produced, was 

 alive, directing with his wisdom, and giving, by 

 his presence and counsels, new vigor to those en- 

 e.-gies vrhich tl;e people of these United States 

 hardly dared lo hope that they possessed ! 



sheep weighs 80 pounds of mutton when dead, the 

 same sheep will have consumed about 20 pounds of 

 turnips per day while fattening, if no other food 

 was given to it, and if it had as many as it could 

 ei»t. 



carrying off all the most valuable parts of the ma 

 Dure, without any attempt being made lo stop it, 

 or to mix it with the eartli, &c. : this is a very 

 common case all over the country. It would be 



Patteninor r»ttle rnn?orT' nbotn the p».mc ] .liiT.tult lo culculule how much is lost yearly 

 quantity in proportion to their weight ; thus, if an I throughout the country by inattention to this sub 



Within filty years, while we have gone on in 

 the even tenor of our way, our blessed country hai 

 stretched upward, from the lithe and pliant Eap-4 

 ling, to the strong and mighty tree, spreading 

 abroad her majestic branches, giving shade and 

 protection t.n all who ha'e sought her shelter, and 

 firmly establishing herself among the other nations 

 of the earth, with a population increased during 



per day, if no other food was given to it, and if it 

 had as many turnips ns it could consume. 



From the above facts, we learn that an acre of 

 turnips weighing 20 tons will keep in a fattening 



ox weighs when dead 8 cwt. of beef, it will while ' iprt • nerhnns a oiiarter i'" not one third or even a ! , • /• ■ n <• n- 



f„„„-° . I k . o . p. iJ^'^^' l"^"^""!"* '''l"*™'^' '•■""■""'' ""^"' ",'^,' "' I that lime, from hardly four millions to seventeen 



fattening have consumed about 2 cwt. of turnips half of the value of all the dung, is thus allowed to Ljj„JQ^g 



I Fifty years ago, and cities now full of thousand! 

 of souls, were the hunting-ground of the Indian^ 

 and covered only by the forest or swamp. Fift] 

 state 12 1-2 sheep, weighing 20 pounds per quar"- j gold,' conveys a truth which you really seem lo years ago, and the city of New York contain, 

 ter, six months from the 20th day of October till have lorit sight of, but which I hope you will be 



the 20lh day of April ; but if the sheep are kept in more familiar with for the lime to come, as it is, , . ,^„,_„ „ .„ „ „ „,. 



a store stale, the same acre of turnips may keep 16 I for your own pecuniary advantage, for without ma- , ^^-'P'"" '''«" "bout 40,000 ; now 200,000. BalU* 

 sheep for the same period. t n,„o we seldom succeed in procuring good crops ': '""re, "hich then had but about 13,000, has no- 



Now, from the above facts, let us see what loss r,f nnu L-in.l nn.l win, « lilioml simnlv nf it of „ 1 100,000. 



go to waste, thus exhausting the soil hy negli 

 gence, instead of increasing its ptoductivenet^s by 

 attention to the subject. 



The old maxim that ' muck is the mother of 



>«Vi[ 



but about 3;i,000 inhabitants ; it has now 312,000.' 

 Boston then about 18,000 ; now 1>,%000. Phil»- 



we sustain from not producing a good crop of tur- 

 nips. 



The increased value of the 12 1-2 sheep which 

 an acre of turnips will keep for 6 inonths, in a fat- 

 tening slate, we cannot reckon at less than 13j. per 

 head ; this is after the rate of Cul. per week per 

 head, or 16 store at lOj. per head - - £6 2 G 



There is aljo the loss of the manure (dong 

 and urine) which the sheep would have 

 made from the consumption of 20 tons of 

 turnips ; this must be equal to 15 tons at 5«. 

 per ton, or if wu take the opinion which 

 farmers have of the value of the fold, which 

 18, that 200 sheep will, during the night, in 

 a week, go over an acre, and that this Is 

 worth £1 IOj., this folding will be equal lo 

 325 sheep for a week, both night and day, 



good quality, jiroperly applied, we can produce the 

 most luxuriant crops nf every kind, you should 

 therefore use every means in your power to in- 

 crease its quantity and improve its quality, and 

 inake every exertion to produce the largesl quanti- 

 ty per acre of those crops which by their consunip 



Fifty years ago, and we had nolhing of the gi- 

 gantic wonders of steam ; we had no boiling cauU 

 drons traversing the land and wat(?r. puffing and 

 groaning, and pulling or pushing enormous iiiasBCJ 

 with fury along, now here, now there, as the mas- 

 ter spirit which controlled them might dictate. — 



lion with sheep on the land, or with stock in the ' Fifty years ago, the worthy fathers and mothers of 

 house or yard, will return the greatest quantity of | the present generation were willing to drc-s in 

 so valuable an article." j llitir own homespun; the busy wheel was «hir- 



I ring by the kitchen fireside, the knitting ncedlci. 



The farmer with no inheritance hut health, with ! «ere plied, and the wool woven in the house, 

 no riches but industry, and with no ambition but ] the finer fabrics dressed at the fulling-mill, whii 

 virtue, is the sole king eniong men, and the only I I'^s given way to the spacious factory. The 



man among kings. 



Irrfall and steam engine, the improved spindra 

 and other machines, manufacture now millions I 

 Resolve to perform what you ought, and perform ! yards, where fifty years since only hundreds weJ 

 without fail what you resolve. , made, and that by the induslrioufi and thrifty ban 



