656 



Farmers* register— carrots. 



advantage, and wc should think that any farmer 

 in Fife wotdd bo sulliciently accommodated v/ilh 

 one of (bur horse power. To thrasli 5G or 60 holls 

 is surely expedition enough for tlic most active far- 

 mer, and more can l.ardiy be necessary at any 

 time. The larp;e cnp;ines require a greater ex- 

 penditure of coal to heat them and get up the 

 steam, and as this is equally necessary, whether 

 much or little work is to be done, a great deal of 

 coal is lost on every occasion, where the quantity 

 of stuff to be put tiirough the mill is not considera- 

 ble. The steam-engine of four horse poV.'er may 

 cost about £100, or a little more, which is nearly 

 £30 above tlie ordinary mill; but f()r this in- 

 creased outlay, the chenpnessof working is a com- 

 plete and sufficient compensation. The subject is 

 one which deserves the attention of landlords as 

 well as tenants, and it will, if wearenot mistaii/en, 

 lead to still greater changes and improvements. If 

 steam-engines were once common about farms, 

 their agency would often be found useful for pur- 

 poses which at present are not tliought of, and the 

 possession of such a disposable power, like a giant 

 continually under Ins command, will enable the 

 larnicr to turn many things to advantage which are 

 now neglected. 



fcAREOTS. 



Frniii Gondsell's Genesee Farmer. 



Mr. Cooc/seZ/^ln compliance with your request, 

 and in fulfilment of my promise, [ now make a 

 short, simple, matter of fact, communication, rela- 

 tive to the crop of carrots which I raised last sum- 

 mer. The ground on which the carrots grew, is 

 what may be termed, a gravelly loam. There is 

 about one third of an acic. It has l)een cleared so 

 long, that the stumps are all entirely gone. It has 

 been constantly cropped, and lias never had but very 

 little manure; consequently it was much exhaust- 

 ed. The crops immediately preceding the carrots 

 was Indian corn. The ground was ploughed in 

 the fall after taking off the corn, the common depth, 

 and left to the operation of the winter frosts. In 

 the spring, a light dressing of barn-yard manure, 

 was put on, and the ground was again })loughed 

 the common depth. Al)out the first of May, the 

 ground was thrown into ridges of four furrows 

 each. The ridges were thrown up as high and as 

 narrow as they well could l)e, and smoothed, and 

 flattened on the top with a rake. I'he seed was 

 then sown in rows on the rid[^s, two rows on a 

 ridge. The two rows on each ridge were twelve 

 inches apart, and there was about three feet space 

 between the rows of the respective ridges, or be- 

 tween the rows of one ridge, and the rows of ano- 

 ther ridge, so that there might have been just 

 twice as many rows in the field, if it had been all 

 sowed in rows tv/elve inches apart. The sowing 

 was quickly done with a machine which I contri- 

 ved for the purpose, whi( h w as so tonslructed, that 

 I could sow one, two, or three rows at a time, and 

 as fast as I could draw it along. The seed was 

 perfectly clean and mixed with dry sifted sand. 

 There was some twenty or thirty times as much 

 sand as seed, and in sowing, it ran together through 

 a goose-quill, iiitoa little furrow whicii the machine 

 opened, and closed again after the seed had fidlen 

 in. But notwithstanding there was so much sand 

 mixed with the seed, the carrots come up so thick 

 that in thinning them I pulled up at least twenty 



times as marty as I left. The barn yard manurd 

 brought in a prodigious quantity of weeds; and 

 liiere was a prodigious quantity before, so that by 

 liie time the carrots were up, llie ground was 

 swarded with weeds. This made the first liooing 

 a tedious and sorry business, and thoroughly con-' 

 vinced me of the necessity of sowing carrots on 

 clean ground. The preparation of the I'idges, the 

 sowing and the hoeing altogether cost me about 

 twelve days work ; wliereas, could the seed have 

 been sown thin enough, and had the ground been 

 pretty clean, the labor certainly would not have 

 l)cen more than half as much. The digging cf the 

 carrots also proved a very laborious process; be- 

 cause llie gi-ound had never lieen worked more- 

 than half deep enough. JVIany of the carrots were 

 half their length below where the ground had ever 

 been worked. The digging was all done with a 

 spade; and every body knows that spading virgin 

 earth is hard work. This shows the necessity of 

 very deep ploughing. This jiart of the work also 

 took me about twelve days; .so that by the time 

 the carrots were secured, I had done about twenty- 

 four days work, besides the team work. The 

 team work consisted of three ploughings, one har-^ 

 rowing, hauling a little manure, and hauling the 

 carrots to the cellar. I will now, Mr. Editor, 

 make a statement in figures show ing at one glance, 

 the substance of the above communication. 



One third of an acre, carrot field. Dr. 



To 24 days work, at 7-5 cents per day, ^18 00 



To ploughing, harrow ing, hauling, &c. 2 00 



To rent of grounds, 2 00 



S22 oa 



One third of an acre, carrot field, Cr.- 



By 2(35 bushels of carrots at 25 cents, ^66 25 



22 00 



Clear gain, ^44 25 



Allowing the team work and the rent to be equal 

 to six days labor for one man, these added to 24 

 makes thirty days — 866 25 divided by ,30, gives 

 Jn;2 20 per day, for all the labor that w as done. On 

 it is a return of more than three times the money 

 laid out. I sold a part of the carrots for 37^ cents 

 per bushel, but I think that 25 cents will probablj' 

 be the market price. I am very sure that they 

 may be raised a great deal cheaper than pota- 

 toes. 



Mr Editor, my communication is before you. I 

 have made it with ditridence, because I have never 

 written for the public. And I have made it with 

 reluctance, because, this is my first carrot field, 

 and I am confident that there might be twice as 

 many carrots raised, as 1 have raised, from the 

 same ground, and at the same expense. If you 

 tliink this communication worthy of a place in 

 ynur paper, you are at lii)erty to publish it ; if not, 

 you are at liberty to put it in tlie fire. And in the 

 mean time, if you,Mr. Editor, or any of your read- 

 ers can give me any practical results or any useful 

 hints I'elative to the cultivation of roots, I shall be 

 very glad to be instructed ; for I am confident, from 

 what I have rea i, and seen, and done, that the cul- 

 tivation of roots, even in this w heut growingcoun- 

 try, may be made very })rofilable. 



AVELCOME EDWARDS- 



Lima, (N. Y.J February 18, 1884. 



