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142 THE GENESEE FARMER. 



corn, mangels are gross feeders, and it is almost impossible to liave the soil too rich for 

 them. Let the soil be well manured with well rotted dung or compost, and then if you 

 can drop a pinch of superphosphate of lime in the hill vnth the seed it will give them 

 a first rate start, and you may expect a good crop of thirty tons of bulbs per acre. Sow 

 from the middle to the end of May. 



Ruta Baga. — First and last, much has been written and said for and against nita 

 bao-a culture in this country. Many have condemned them untried, or at least with an 

 imperfect trial ; others think they will answer well in this climate, but that labor is so 

 high it will not pay to grow them. We hope yet to see them and mangel wurzel as 

 extensively cultivated here as in Great Britain, believing that the production of good 

 crops of wheat and corn is intimately connected with the amount of roots, clover and 

 peas grown and consumed on the farm. Ruta baga can be sown in June in the same 

 Avay as recommended for mangel wurzel. Be careful not to cover the seed too deeply ; 

 more seed is lost in this way than in any other. By using superphosphate with the seed 

 you may be sure of a crop. 



Potatoes. — As soon as you can distinctly see the rows, run the horse-hoe through 

 them, but do not go too close the first time. Nothing like taking weeds in hand in good 

 season — not half the labor is required to kill them when young as when allowed to 

 grow strong and cover>the ground. Unless the soil is very light and sandy it is 

 impossible to stir it too much. The idea that a good loamy soil looses ammonia or any 

 valuable gases, or in fact any thing excei:)t water, is undoubtedly unsustained by fact. 

 Whether soil has the power, to any great degree, of attracting fertilizing gases from the 

 atmosphere, is yet a matter of uncertainty. One thing, however, is certain, that if 

 stirring and exposing the soil to the atmosphere does not absolutely increase its 

 ammonia, &c., yet they greatly assist disintegration and decomposition, and thus greatly 

 increase the available organic and inorganic food of plants. Nothing can be more 

 erroneous than the idea that weeds shade the ground and keep it moist in a dry time. 

 It has been proved by experiment that an acre of clover throws oft" daily 8,600 lbs. 

 of water. Every one knows how much sooner a bed covered with strawberry plants* wnll 

 be reduced to a dry powder than one not cultivated. Weeds act in the same way 

 — instead of keeping the ground moist, they pump up the water and evaporate it wth 

 great rapidity. 



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GREEN CROPS FOR BARN USE IN SUMMER. 



It is the great number of cattle that a British farmer keeps on his farm which by fur- 

 nishing so much good manure enables him to raise such good crops. The turnip crop, 

 occupying one-fourth his farm, furnishes him the grand means of keeping so lai-ge a 

 stock during the winter months; and the practice of soiling his liorses and cattle, 

 enables him to keep more animals than he otherwise could during summer. 



By soiling is meant the system of feeding cattle in sheds and stables on green food 

 grown for the purpose, instead of allowing them to graze the fields at pleasure. That 

 more food can in this way be obtained per acre, few will question. That we can adopt 

 soiling, except in some few cases near large cities, admits of some doubt. One of the 

 great objections to the practice is the greater amount of labor required in mowing and 

 carrying to the barn the green food, than in letting the cattle cut it themselves. An- 

 other objection is that our climate is not so Avell adapted for the production of succulent 

 summer food as the cool moist climate of the British isles. Yet, as we have often said, 

 we obtain heavier crops of red clover than do British farmers, and red clover is there 

 considered one of the best crops for soiling purposes ; and could it be grown with as 



