SECRETARY'S REPORT. 147 



The turnip being there fed in part on the land to store cattle 

 and sheep, at a saving of labor over us, the manure is thus left 

 without cost or trouble where it is wanted. The turnip in 

 England is the second crop in a season. It is also a coarse 

 crop in every plan of rotation, and is, moreover, demanded by 

 the land owner of the tenant. The English farmer cannot 

 prudently feed his accustomed quantity of oil meal and slravj, 

 without recourse to roots. The writer is persuaded, from the 

 attention which he has been called upon to give to the subject, 

 that on most farms, as a staple crop, Indian corn will do more 

 for tho farmer of Massachusetts in the way of enabling him to 

 make bolh ends of his farm accounts meet, than any other crop 

 which can be as generally cultivated, except hay. How much 

 food and what kind is most cheaply gained from a given quan- 

 tity of land and labor, is the question which has not yet been 

 answered. The farmers of Massachusetts must share the cost 

 of doubt and the loss of delay in the answer. The writer is, 

 however, decidedly of the opinion that root crops should claim 

 a larger share of the attention of the farmers of the State. 



Proposed Rule for Measuring Bushels, by J. H. Yuman, of 



Alabama. 

 Take a rod ^^--^-^-^ inches long, 11 inches wnde, one-half inch 

 thick ; divide its length into four equal parts, numbering them 

 with large plain figures as shown by the example. Divide each 

 division into ten equal parts with smaller figures. The larger 

 divisions will be the lineal dimensions of a cubic bushel, and 

 the smaller ones tenths. To apply the rule, take the three 

 dimensions — length, breadth, and depth, of the roots as stored 

 in bushels and fractions — multiply them together, and the result 

 will be in bushels and tenths of a bushel. The side indicating 

 bushels may be divided into four equal parts as proposed 

 above, and then each division also into four equal parts*, which 

 would denote fourths of a bushel. Example. — To make a box 

 or bin to contain a given number of bushels, fix upon its length 

 and width in bushels as per rule. Divide the number of bush- 

 els in its contents by the product of its desired length and 

 width, and the result will be the length and depth. The other 

 three sides of the rule might be divided into other measure- 

 ments, as yards, feet and inches, and found very useful. Dis- 



