178 



THE GEKESEE FARMER. 



be done to make it into hay, in thia dry climate, 

 than to be raked up in the evening and put into 

 large cocks, and carried to the barn next day, or as 

 800Q as convenient. If a few pounds of salt are 

 thrown on each load as it is spread in tlie mow, 

 all the acidity remaining in the hay will be cor- 

 rected, and fermentation prevented. If clover is 

 mixed with the timothy in a proportion not exceed- 

 ing one-half, let the former wait till the latter is 

 sulliciently mature ; if the clover preponderates, 

 the crop should be cut as soon as the clover is ready. 

 Timothy has the disadvantage of being but a slow 

 grower, after it has completed its maturity and 

 commenced a second growth, which consists of 

 leaves only ; consequently it gives but little after- 

 math. It is then very nutritious, and keeps its 

 greenness and vitality till late in the autumn, and 

 may at that time be pastured by stock without in- 

 jury to the plants. 



In our dry, hot climate, farmers generally leave 

 their grass, after cutting, too long exposed to the 

 Bun, and it then becomes dried up so that its best 

 properties are evaporated. It is a far better plan 

 to cure the hay by putting it in cocks the evening 

 of the day it is cut,, if the weather is dry and tlie 

 grass is mature, and letting it remain so for a day 

 or two, or until it can be drawn to the barn or 

 stack at leisure, taking care that it is not left to be 

 exposed to a passing shower, should one be appre- 

 hended. J. M. 



CULTIVATION OF TUENIPS. 



Messrs. Editors: — There is no kind of fodder 

 of which so much can be raised on an acre of 

 ground as turnips, carrots, or mangel wurzels, and 

 none so well calculated to keep stock in a healthy, 

 growing condition, through our long severe winters. 

 The moisture of the roots seems to give them an 

 appetite for coarse and dry fodder, which they 

 would otherwise scarcely eat, and certainly not 

 kee[i fat on, as they do where a moderate allow- 

 ance of turnips is given to them daily. 



In 1857, my crop of turnips, (ruta baga or pur- 

 ple-top Swede,) occupying an acre and tliree-quar- 

 ters, stood second in competing for the county 

 prize. Soil a sandy loam, rather gravelly. The 

 mode of cultivation was as follows : Millet stub- 

 ble plowed in the fall of I80G; plowed again May 

 22, 1857 ; and again June 14. Harrowed well after 

 the two last plowingg. On the 19th June, com- 

 menced making drills, with a plow, 30 inches apart ; 

 and continued, as the weather permitted, from day 

 to day ; manuring in the drills, with horse and cart, 

 at the rate of 40 cart loads per acre of farm-yard 

 manure of the previous winter. The drills were 

 then split in the center by the plow, throwing tlie 

 earth neatly over the manure, tlius bringing the 

 crown of the drill, on which the seed is sown, di- 

 rectly over the manure. The seed was sown at the 

 rate of one and a lialf pounds per acre, with Mur- 

 doch's Turnip Drill, wliich has a heavy roller be- 

 fore and a light one behind the coulter which 

 forms the furrow for the seed. About twenty drills 

 only were made at once, and then manured and 

 covered, to prevent the manure evaporating by ex- 

 posTire. The seed was then sown on tlie drills 

 while the earth was fresh and moist. The drilling, 

 manuring, and sowing, took six and a half days, 



with a man and horse, and a boy to lead the hore© 

 when drawing the drill barrow. Finished by the 

 1st of July. Commenced hoeing and thinning tlio 

 plants to 12 inches apart in the rows on the 17th 

 of July, and continued from day to day, when the 

 weather interrupted the hay-making, and in thts 

 mornings till the dew was off the hay — altogether 

 about twenty days' work hoeing, and one day 

 afterwards with a drill cultivator, which was run 

 through them later in the season, when the weeds 

 began to come up again. The taking up and stor- 

 ing was equal to eighteen and a half days' work. 

 The yield of turnips averaged 735 bushels to the 

 acre, weighing G5 lbs. per bushel — equal to 21 tons. 



In most seasons, the drill cultivator can be run 

 through the turnips before the hand-hoeing is done; 

 but the season of 1857 was so moist that the tur- 

 nips grew faster than the weeds, and the thinning 

 had to be commenced unusually early. 



There was not a weed to be seen in the field 

 when the croj) was taken up, and the ground was 

 thus in fine order for the succeeding crop, which 

 was spring wheat. j. maokeloan, m. b. 



Anca^er, C. W., FeVy, 1S59. 



FACTS ABOUT MOWING MACHINES. 



Eds. Genesee Farmer: — In the volume for 

 1858, on page 210, after noticing the articles of E. 

 A. lk"NDY and others, you say, "let us have the 

 facts," about the value of reaping and mowing ma- 

 chines. If you see fit to open tiie question for dis- 

 cussion in the present volume, I should like to give 

 a few facts which have fallen under my observa- 

 tion. 



Mr. BuNDT seems to labor under the impressioL 

 that a mower or reaper will not cut, on the aver- 

 age, more than six acres per day ; and he thinks a 

 heavy bill for repairs is necessary. Being some- 

 what inclined to egotism, I will begin by stating 

 my own individual experience. My usual rate ol 

 mowing is one acre per hour. I can do this in hot 

 weather, and let my team stand still part of the 

 time. I usually employ one hand, and by mowing 

 one hour before breakfast, and two after, I have a:; 

 much hay down as we can get in in one day. I 

 get in one day what was mown the previous day. 

 If the weather is threatening, we go into the corn- 

 field, and hoe. Not having a gang of hands to 

 board, I am comparatively independent of the 

 weather; and having a machine, I can afford to 

 wait for good hay weather. One of my neighbors, 

 who cuts about 100 acres annually, says that one 

 hour is longer tlian is necessary to cut one acre. 

 Since lie bought his machine, he has cut about GOO 

 acres of grass, and has paid out just $1 for repairs ! 

 Of course he is a careful man, but this is not an 

 unusual case. I have used the machine three 

 years, and have paid out $1.50 for repairs, entirely 

 for breakages caused by mowing stony meadows. 

 There are some thirty or forty machines of the 

 kind I use, (I\!ETonrM's patent,) in use in this town 

 and the adjoining one, and the total extras sold by 

 the agent here, the past summer, amounted to a 

 little over $43, — of which full two-thirds was for 

 the addition of the recent improvements to old 

 machines. R. L. Howard, the manufacturer of 

 the Ketchcm machine, offered four or five premi- 

 ums the past season for the best mowing and reap- 



