]NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Vol. I. 



PUBLISHED BY THOMAS W. SHF.rAlUi ROGEKt-' HUILUli\GS, CO.NXiKLSS STIU'.KT, (KOU KI'H UOOR FIU)M STATE STRL.fT.) 



No. 51. 



IDSTON, SATURDAY, JULY 19, 182.3. 



From the second volume of Memoirs of the Board ol 

 Agriculture of the State of New York. 



OBSERVATIONS 



On the most economkid method, by xihich farmers 

 in this country^ may supply themselves u'lth a 

 sufficient supply of succulcrd fted^ for their stock 

 iji the Tiiinter season. ] 



[By Levi McKean, of Dutchess.] 



Every man who has read English books on 

 husbandry, is at first struck with the important 

 nse tht-y make of their turnip crops in that 

 country, and eagerly engages in the cultivation 

 of an article, the general growth of which has 

 formed an important era in tlie annals of agri- 

 culture in that country. But alas, how often has 

 the American farmer been disappointed in the 

 result of such experiments as have been mos 



There is nothing in which I consider the judiciously made, by reason of the difl'erence of 

 American farmer to be so far behind the best [soil and climate 



European cultivator, as in the suitable provision 

 of green or succulent tood, for his stock in win- 

 ter. It is to this deficiency, that we mus^ as- 

 cribe the loss that we so often hear farmers 

 complain of, when they have attempted to make 

 calculations on the expense of fattening of heef 

 and mutton, in the winter, on artificial feed: 

 or, the expense of keeping dairies, from No- 

 vember to iMay, all of which time cows shJuid 

 have some rich feed, other than dry ha;, or 

 they cannot afford any protit to the farmer. 



For my part, 1 have long ago learnt fromex- 

 perience, that to fatten beef or mutton ; or keep 

 a dairy; or to keep ewes to rear lambs forthe 

 market, on corn, or other farinaceous feed, i^th- 

 out green or succulent food, must always diiap- 

 point the hopes of every farmer, who will hke 

 the trouble to count the cost of any experinent 

 he may make in that wa\'; and unless the far- 

 mers of this country, can succeed in fingng 

 some green article or root, to feed with his lay 

 and corn, he can never make a calculation of 

 prolit on his winter's feeding. ■ 



This subject has long occupied the atten('OB_ 

 of all those farmers, who calculate the co.^^' o' 

 the article they send to maiket, and K'S led 

 them, with much solicitn-i"e, to endeavor to 

 find some article to cultivate for this purpose, 

 ■■without any one, as 1 ielicve, having yet been 

 able to come to am- practical conclusion, as to 

 what article was iest adapted to our climate 

 and soil, or whecher any article can be found 

 to answer the purpose. 



Without system, no business can succeed, ani 

 a systematic farmer should always calculate on 

 results, that would prove as certain as possible, 

 especially in this country, where, if he fails in 

 the growth of a crop of the article on which he 

 has made his principal dependence, for his win- 

 ter feed, he cannot supply the lack by purchase, 

 without giving so extravagant a price, that his 



The season of sowing field turnips /or stock, 

 n this climate, should be from the 10th to the 

 15th of July, which is in the very midst of our 

 larvest, and is a very hurrying season, when 

 abor, is not only very high, but difficult to be 

 obtained. But notwithstanding these difficulties, 

 I some years ago fallowed a good field of about 

 {{''ht acres, and sowed it with the different kinds 

 if turnip seed that are now most approved of in 

 England, all of which came up well, and pro- 

 gressed with great promise, until the roots were 

 of the size of a walnut, when the grasshoppers 

 vent into my turnips, and entirely eat them up. 



The next year I did not sow any, but in the 

 'ear 1817, 1 sowed a very large field, that did 

 ivell as to growth, but when it became fall, they 

 had to be drawn and housed, or put in pie, 

 which was a great labor; and in the winter, 

 when they were to be fed to my sheep, they 

 were to be unhoused, cut and fed in troughs : 

 and long before spring, when they were most 

 wanted', they became poious and light,, and in 

 fact, were a very espensive feed for my sheep, 

 :.i pivijonion to iheir value as an article of food. 

 Trom which I thon concluded, that even when 

 the common turnip grows well, they are not a 

 profitable article for feeding, unless we could 

 feed them on the ground, as is the practice in 

 England ; hut which, from the severity of our 

 winters, we cannot do. I have since several 

 times tried the common turnip, but without pro- 

 fit, or any other satisfaction than was derived 

 from the above experiments. 



I have also, for the last four years, raised the 

 ruta baga with some success, and have used 

 them as a feed for every description of stock, 

 with considerable satisfaction, especially after 

 mid-winter, before which time, they do not ap- 

 pear to be properly ripened for use. But there 

 is a great deal of labor about this crop, that 

 must also be done in a very hurrying season of 



stock will hardly, in the spring, pay for the the year. That the result of ail my experi 

 wintering: or he must force his stock into mar- ments hav 



ket, lean, in the fall, when for the want of re- 

 gular fairs for the sale of stock, which we much 

 want in this country, he must generally sell at 

 such prices as to sacrifice his summer's feeding. 

 The above considerations, have rested on my 

 mind with such weight, that for several years i 

 have been led to make experiments to supply 

 myself with the necessary store of feed, none ol 

 which have been satisfactory, either by reason 

 of the great labor that most of the artificial 

 crops require, at seasons when all the labor of 

 the country is necessarily otherwise engaged; 



e convinced me, that in this country, 

 where every thing is so dissimilar from that of 

 England, that no English theory will do for the 

 American farmer. 



In England, the chief expense of the farmer's 

 :rop, consists in tythes, direct and assessed taxes 

 ind rent. The cost of labour is nominal, in 

 :omparisnn with what it is in this country. 

 While here, thank Gon, there is no tythe, the 

 rent is small, and the taxes are nominal; and 

 abor is every thing. Therefore, in England, 

 t becomes the interest of the farmer to use 

 jvery means in his power, to obtain the great- 



er by reason of the uncertainty of the crop ex- 'est possible products from a given quantity of 

 pcrimented; or its unfitness, when produced, Hand, by laying out much labor on it. But in 

 for feed in this climate. Ilhis country, it is the interest of the farmer, so 



to husband his land, that he ensure the greatest 

 possiMe returns for his labor. On this ground 

 of calculation, 1 have finally concluded, aflor 

 this yoi'.r, (in which I have laid out considera- 

 ble, on jirepaiAtion for turnips, that owing to 

 drought, have entirely failed,) to give up my 

 turnip and potaioe crops; for all the objections 

 that lie against he one, are equally applicablr. 

 to the other, cx;epting that the potaloc is the 

 best feed, when i)n -luced, but the expense of 

 producing a crop of potatoes is veiy great. And 

 while 1 have come to this conclusion, I must 

 confess 1 have been at a loss to find a crop to 

 substitute for tnem. 



It has so happened, that wlionever I have riv 

 sided in cities, it has been as a boarder, and not 

 as an housekeeper; and although I had often 

 seen the .Jcr<isahm. Arlickoke, [IJclianihns Tubc- 

 rosus.) in markets, I had never eaten them, or 

 known any tbinj ol the mannrr by which they 

 were produced and in fact, I had never given 

 any attention to the article, until the last spring, 

 when, being- in a neighbor's house, I observed a 

 child to come in with a present of a basket of 

 artichokes, w hich I noticed were of a size and 

 form similar to the sweet potatoe of the south- 

 ern states. But still I made no enquiry about 

 them at thk time; but after I returned to my 

 own house, 1 recollected the basket of arti- 

 chokes, and determined to enquire where and 

 how they giew, and what use was made of 

 them? wbenl loarnt, that they were grown in 

 a garden in Siis village, (Pougbkeepsie,) and 

 that they we.-e a very hardy and productive 

 vegetable. • ' •'I"" learnt, that when once plant- 

 ed, they required no further cultiva<;o„, ,toJ 

 that they had no enemies during their growth 

 but hogs, who were very fond of them. This 

 was very satifactorv information, as I am well 

 persuaded, there are no animals that pursue nu- 

 tritious food with more attention to its fitness to 

 support animal life, than hogs : and I concluded 

 at once, that this root might be useful to the far- 

 mers of this country., as a substitute for potatoes 

 and turnips. 



On the above information, I went to examine 

 the garden where tiiis article had grown, and 

 found, that a small spot of ground, not exceed- 

 ing 'iO by 3 feet, mi;st have produced several 

 bushels of artichokes, which I soon persuaded 

 myself must be profitable as a crop, and was de- 

 termined to procure some of the seed : and in 

 the mean time, I endeavored to collect all the 

 information of the growth and produce of arti- 

 chokes in my power. 



It is proper to observe, that an English book 

 on agriculture, can never be read with any cer- 

 tainty, as to the results of any experments w liich 

 they pretend to detail; as their most experien- 

 ced writers do not describe any certain quantity, 

 either of land or products, by any certain de- 

 nomination of measure ; and although some ot 

 their writers pretend to understand something 

 about a statute acre, while describing the results 

 of Iheir experiments, and speak of their pro- 

 ducts as being measured in the Winchester bush- 

 el, yet in the next page, or perhaps in the next 

 paragraph, you will find them speaking of acres 

 of seven yards to the perch, and other measures 



