682 



FARMERS' REGISTER— ROOT CULTURE. 



wheel. He has but (o step over to tlie nei<2;hl)or- 

 ino- county of Prince Edward to find them in suc- 

 cessful operation on a smaller scale. There, the 

 principal part of the work is perfiarmed by plou<ihs ; 

 the whole of which is but little more than tlie best 

 James river farmers expend in water furrow in;4- 

 their lands laid down in wheat. Examples of like 

 success elsewhere might be cited. 



I object, as Wardsfork does, to the perpendicu- 

 lar ditch. Yet no plan i)roposed as yet, not even his 

 own, prevents the partial descent of soil between 

 the drains, in very heavy rains. It is nearly all 

 caught, however, in the drains themselves, and 

 may be taken out to the embankment with the 

 hoes, after being loosened, if required, by the 

 ploughs, 



" But the carls break through them and make 

 ruts down the hill." Really, Mr. Editor, if we 

 are to be deterred from making any improve- 

 ment by the occasional negligence of negroes and 

 overseers, we might be forever stationary, or ra- 

 ther, retrograde. Carts have occasion to go on 

 corn or wheat fields at but one season of the yeai-, 

 after the crop is seeded. If the proprietor has his 

 farm roads properly disposed, I know of nothing 

 to prevent their going directly on to each interval, 

 and returning parallel with the furrows. Bridges 

 are not needed ; and if the carters did occasionally 

 cross a drain, how long would it take the farm.er 

 to re})air the injury, before a rain could come to 

 make it greater? 



" But lastly, it is complicated — difficult of exe- 

 cution." The greatest mystery connected with it 

 is the use of the railer level, which is common to 

 both plans; and there is nothing very al)struse in 

 running four furrov.'s along a defined course with 

 a hill side plough — the fourth to be in the track of 

 the second — and afterwards drawing out the loose 

 dirt with the hoes. Nor is the whole process ex- 

 pensive. 



One word more. I have seen the graduated fur- 

 row used with advantage on a Jiill side which was 

 in wheat, and where but little more land was lost 

 by it than if it had been a flat. It prevented the 

 formation of small gullies before the wheat had 

 taken sufficient root to hold the land together; and 

 as a smooth surface for this crop on broken land is 

 preferred to bedding, Wardsfork's chief objection 

 to its use is thus obviated. Might not a row of 

 peas or some other low-growing plant, which 

 would neither prevent the passage of the plough, nor 

 obstruct the free current of the air to the adjacent 

 row of corn, be set on the end^ankment of the 

 " trenches," and thus prevent the partial loss ot 

 crop .'' 



I find, Mr. Editor, that I have proceeded much 

 farther than I intended, being led on by my anxie- 

 ty to have the attention of my brother farmers 

 drawn to this matter : and if I have stopped before I 

 have finished what I had intended to say, it is in the 

 hopes that others better qualified than myself, by 

 experience and more extended observation, will 

 give us their views of the relative value of these 

 suggestions. There can be but one opinion as to 

 the importance of the device, if successful. A 

 large portion of the cultivated land in our coun- 

 try is broken in its outlines — and if it can be se- 

 ctored by these means, its value must be greatly 

 enhanced, as it may now be ploughed with ease; 

 and it is well ascertained that a hill side will with- 



stand a drought better than the level above it — a 

 consideration of no small moment in this climate. 

 I wish Wardsfork many happy returns of the 

 luxuriant harvests from fields which he has restor- 

 ed to more than tlieir primitive fertility, with such 

 benefit to his comitry, and such profit to himself 

 He has fiivored us with his views of prevention: 

 will he or some other of your hundred correspond- 

 ents give us a dissertation on the cure — of gullies? 



C. F. N. 



ROOT CULTURE. 



From the Genesee Farmer* 



We have the pleasure to acknowledge the re- 

 ceipt of a letter from the President of the late Ag- 

 ricultural Society of Pennsylvania ; and for our 

 present number, select his remarks on the culture 

 of esculent roots as a branch of husbandry. His 

 skill and experience as a practical farmer, entitle 

 his opinions to great respect. "We hope hereafter 

 to obtain his method of preparing the ground, and 

 of applying th.e manure, which may be of impor- 

 tance to us, altiiough there is a greater difference 

 of climate between us than three degrees of lati- 

 tude on the same plain would indicate. We wish 

 to learn every particular ; for though we adopt the 

 opinion of our friend W. G., that good land'm good 

 order is necessary for turnips, yet there is room 

 enough, even on this basis, for considerable diver- 

 sity of practice. 



" 1 have noticed in the Genesee Farmer, an ar- 

 ticle from Judge Buel on the culture of turnips. 

 His object was to show the profitableness of that 

 culture. I cultivate a stifT calcareous loam ; and 

 in such a soil, long experience satisfies me that the 

 turnip is the only root crop worth attention. It is 

 raised at less expense of labor and manure than 

 any other that I have tried. The Swedish turnip, 

 as Judge B. well remarks, will follow a grasscrop. 

 The white Norfolk turnip will follow several 

 ploughed crops, such as flax, hemp, rye, or even 

 potatoes. I Jiave thought the soil was rather 

 improved than impoverished by a crop of tur- 

 nips. I have found them to make excellent beef 

 and mutton. 



" I have ceased to raise potatoes for live stock. 

 I think good farming, where a certain market is 

 not contiguous, requires the potato crop to go but 

 little beyond table use. I have found them to re- 

 quire heavy manuring; and put in what you may, 

 without another dressing, the ground will not be 

 fit for laying down to grass. The boiled potato 

 is a nourishing food for man and beast; but raw, 

 it appears of little value except as an opening me- 

 dicine. As food for man in high latitudes, they 

 are the best substitute for bread ; and will justify 

 the culture, because a given space will produce 

 more, and they are a much surer resource than 

 frumenlaceous crops ; but in this part of Pennsyl- 

 vania, even contiguous to the city, they make but 

 a poor return in abundant years, from reduced 

 prices ; and in seasons of scarcity the result is not 

 much better, from the expense required to make 

 a crop. 



" The mangel wui-tzel and carrot will do little 

 with us, though in a light granitic loam, I have 

 observed that they succeed better. For stock feed- 

 ing, the turnip is decidedly preferable. The white 

 turnip feeds well through the month of January, 

 and sometimes later. Indeed I have preserved them 



