NEW ENGLAND FARiMER. 



277 



1 lieen fed regularly three times a day, by 

 same man. One of them has had three 

 a of Mangel Wurtzel, and four quarts of 

 meal daily ; the other, four and a half 

 ;s of Mangel Wurtzel. The last, which has 

 Mangel Wurtzel alone, is in the condition 

 ood beef, the other is not more than what 

 iiers call half fat. 



am aware that repeated experiments on va- 



animals, must be made, to sanction any 



: ;i 3ral conclusion, as to the comparative effects 



liferent sorts of food. I mention the trial 



I the heifers, but as one of a series of al- 



pts which I shall make, to determine, whe- 



the great German Beet can be as effective- 



pplied to the formation of fat, as to the pro- 



tion of milk, and the enlargement of size. 



hirty perches of this field produced more 



ts, than nearly two acres which were differ- 



?i! y managed at the same time. Much de- 



ds upon the kind of seed — upon the great 



th of ploughing, and fineness of the tilth — 



not less is dependant upon the quantity of 



nal manure. Among the various practices 



. which we have been seduced, by the plau- 



e theories of the advocates of British sys- 



s of husbandry, there is none which appears 



ie more absurd, than that which has led us to 



, or dibble, our crops on ridges. The English 



ner wisely contends with the evils produced 



too much rain — the American husbandman 



uld as anxiously guard against his most for- 



able enemy, drought. I am inclined to 



ik that there is no crop, cultivated in this 



e, which ought not to be put upon a flat sur- 



n citing the experiment upon feeding with 

 igel Wurtzel, I have no intention to convey 

 idea so preposterous as some of the '• Fan- 

 i" have conceived, that Mangel Wurtzel, or 

 of the fashionable roots of the day, should 

 Tfere with the king of vegetables, Indian 

 •n ; or that where land is cheap, and labor 

 r, a farmer is " wise to amuse himself," and 

 i his bullocks by plucking the luxuriant 

 veg of " the majestic Beta Altissima." 1 

 uld merely recommend its cultivation, to a 

 ited extent, on all farms. Its influence upon 

 le cattle, milch cows, and more especially 

 )n calves, during their first winter, is very 

 Dortant. I have attended, with great accura- 

 te the ills which are brought upon most 

 jng quadrupeds, when first weaned ; and 



ire invariably found them materially diminish- 

 by the use of succulent roofs. 

 The application of Mangel Wurtzel as food 

 sheep, is not the least important of its uses. 

 tes yean usually at the season when grass 

 inot be supplied. The health of them- 

 ves, and the thrift of their lambs, essentially 

 pend upon succulent food being had. I am 

 ;lined to think, that no small portion of the 

 xess which English breeders have met, is to 

 ascribed to the large stores of roots, which 

 ay always have at command. It cannot be 

 nied that Indian meal will, of itself, in most 

 ses, produce extraordinary fatness, as well as 

 eat size — but I have been led to believe, that 

 leases are early engendered by this species ot 

 rciag, which is always expensive, and too of- 

 n eventually destroys the animal, vvhich has 

 len thus reared. 



I was induced to cultivate this vegetable, by 

 e success of Mr. Isaac C. Jones, who I may 



venture to assert, after the most diligent inqui- 

 ry, is the only person, by whom it had been 

 grown in this state, except in small patches or 

 gardens, until within two years. 

 I am, &.C. yours, 



JOHN HARE POWELL. 

 Jox.vriu.N Roberts, Esq. 

 President q/ Penn. Agricullural Socictii. 



I have made many experiments on various 

 soils, and at different seasons, to ascertain the 

 product, as well as the properties of Millet. 

 I'pon light land, in good condition, it succeeds 

 l>est, it requires in all cases, fine tilth, and as 

 much strength of soil as is necessary to produce 

 heavy oats. I have not seen, either in Europe 

 or America, any green crop, which so largely 

 rewards accurate tillage and plentiful supplies 

 of manure, as the species of millet usually 

 grown in this and the adjacent counties. 1 have 

 sown it from the first of May, to the 20th of 

 June, and have invariably obtained more fodder 

 than could have been had from any grass under 

 similar circumstances. In the autumn, eighty 

 bushels of eoj«(!c lime per acre, were strewed 

 upon an old sward, which was immediately 

 ploughed, closely harrowed, sown with rye, and 

 rolled — the rye was depastured in the winter 

 and succeeding spring — early in April the land 

 was ploughed again ; the lime and decomposed 

 vegetable matter was thus returned to the sur- 

 face — about three weeks after it was harrowed, 

 to destroy weeds ; early in May it was again 

 harrowed for the same purpose — within a fort- 

 night it was stirred with Beatson''s Scarifier, to 

 the depth of nine inches, harrowed, sown with 

 Millet, and rolled. The crop was fairly estima- 

 ted at three tons per acre. After the millet 

 was cut, the field was stirred, and repeatedly 

 harrowed, to destroy the after growth of nox- 

 ious plants. I intend to again sow rye, not on- 

 ly to obtain pasturage, but to protect the soil 

 from the exhalations of the sun. In the succeed- 

 ing spring, a slight dressing of fresh manure was 

 ploughed under; the scarifier, roller, and 

 harrow were used at intervals as before. On 

 the 5th of May, five bushels of millet seeds 

 were sown on four acres — on the 5th of July 

 the crop was hauled, and estimated at four tons 

 per acre. I have obtained this season, forty 

 tons from sixteen acres, of which lour only had 

 been manured, the remainder could not have 

 borne a good wheat crop. One of the loads 

 was weighed ; an account of them was regular- 

 ly kept ; their size was made as nearly equal as 

 possible. I have generally used a large quanti- 

 ty of seed, as not more than two-tliirds of that 

 which is usually sown, will vegetate. Whilst 

 my oxen consumed millet in its green state, 

 they performed their work with more spirit and 

 vigor than they had done before, or have shewn 

 since, except when fed with grain. My cattle, 

 of all ages, prefer it to both red, and the best 

 white ciover, meadow or timothy hay. 



I am not disposed to cultivate it as a farinace- 

 ous orop, since 1 have ibund great difficulty in 

 protecting it from the ravages of immense 

 flocks of birds, which it attracts, and in secur- 

 ing it sufiiciently early to prevent a large part 

 of the grain from being left on the ground. 

 The seeds on the upper parts of the stalks, gen- 

 erally ripen, and fall, before those below have 

 been filled. I therefore invariably cut it, when 

 the upper parts of most of the heads contain 



seeds, which arc hard. All my observations 

 have confirmed mo in the belief, that in this 

 stage it affords fodder, more nutritious, and 

 more easily made, than any sort of hay. The 

 expense of tilling (he land, in the accurate' 

 manner which I have detailed, is not so great 

 as at first view would appear. A yoke of good 

 oxen can scarify three acres and an iialf, with- 

 out difficulty, in one day. I would recommend 

 millet, not merely for its value as a food, but 

 for the means it affords of making clean the 

 land, without summer fallows, or drill crops. 

 The ingenious arguments which have been ad- 

 duced to prove, that deep stirring between grow- 

 ing crops is advantageous to them and the soil, 

 are founded upon English experience, properly 

 directed by close attention to the eflects of a. 

 moist climate. Home of our writers have pro- 

 foundly asserted, that as" dew drops"' are found 

 on the under leaves of plants after deep stir- 

 ring has been given in a time of great drought, 

 the practice is sound. I should suggest, if I were 

 allowed, that moisture had better be at such 

 times, conveyed to the roots, than be exhaled 

 by the sun, or placed on the leaves until his 

 rays shall have exhausted it all. The valuable 

 parts of most manures, readily assume the gase- 

 ous torm — every deep stirring, to a certain ex- 

 tent, in hot weather, therefore, impoverishes 

 the soil. Deep ploughing, at proper seasons, 

 is, I conceive, the basis of all good farming ; 

 such crops as shall enable the husbandman to 

 extirpate weeds, and obtain large supplies of 

 fodder, without much exhaustion, should be the 

 great objects for his aim. I would propose 

 that a foul sward receive its proper quantity of 

 quick lime, which should be spread, and plough- 

 ed under, in its caustic state, in the early part 

 of September ; that the field be harrowed suffi- 

 ciently ; sown with rye at the rate of two bush- 

 els per acre, as early as possible — that it be 

 depastured late in the autumn, and eafly in the 

 spring — that in May, it be again ploughed three 

 inches deeper than before— that it be harrowed, 

 and left until the small weeds begin to appear 

 — early in June, Millet should be sown — in Au- 

 gust, the crop can be removed after the labors 

 of the general harvest. The field should be 

 slightly stirred with the scarifier, occasionally 

 harrowed, and left throughout September, for 

 the destruction of weeds as belbre. In Octo- 

 ber it may be manured, and sown with wlieat, 

 or left for a crop of Indian Corn. 

 I am, kc. vour's, 



JOHN HARE POWELL 

 JoNATHA.N' Roberts, Esq. 

 President of Penn. Agricultural Society. 



Dr. Taylors easy method of ascertaining the qua- 

 lities of Marie, Lime Stones, or (^uick Lime, 

 for the purposes of Agriculture. 

 This was a communication by Dr. Taylor, to 

 the Manchester [Eng.] Agricultural Society ; 

 the general use of marie and lime, as manures, 

 having prompted him to point out the impor- 

 tance of an easy and certain method of deter- 

 mining the qualities of Jitferent earths and 

 stones, and ascertaining the quantity of calcare- 

 ous earth in their composition ; their value, in 

 agriculture, commonly increasing in proportioo 

 to the greater quantity of it which they contain 

 The process recommended is thus described: 

 The marie or stone being dried, and reduced 

 to powder, put half 9Ji ounce of it into a haJc' 



