8S0 



NEW ENGLAND FAHIvIER 



APRIL 'it;, igir. 



secnis destined to prove a greater blesisirig to man- 

 kind, than tlis \vh(d(! of the precious ores which 

 attracted so stronjily the first voyagers, or which 

 have since been (hawn from tlie prolific mincH of 

 the south. Potatoes seem to lie ahnost indispcn- 

 wahle as an article of food both to man and heasi, 

 and every farmer will find it very advantageous to 

 deal out a small quantity daily during the winter 

 to his cows and sheep, either of turnips or pota- 

 toes, as it not only makes a saving in hay, advan- 

 ces their flesh, hut tends greatly to the health of 

 the animals. I have made use of the English 

 turnip, more or less for my sheep, this 20 years, 

 at the rate, when I had plenty, of about one ainl 

 a half bushels to the hundred sheep, per day, and 

 they usually come out in the spring in a good and 

 sometimes better |ilight, than when they wont up 

 in tlie fall. When we have not a full supply of 

 turnips, we make use of potatoes. We also give 

 more or less potatoes to our cattle. 



Last wiater, as you will recollect, the price of 

 hay was very high, .nnd I had six or seven tons 

 of rye straw that was very bright, and 1 concln. 

 ded to try the experiment to make my cattle eat 

 it, and conmienced feeding it to them about the 

 middle of December; I gave them straw in the 

 afternoon, and meadow Imy in the morning ; at 

 the same time, feeding my cows with potatoes at 

 the rate of four quarts each, per day, and contin- 

 ued while my straw lasted, and the result was, 

 that ray cows came out in the spring in better 

 plight, than when we gave them good hay. For 

 a horse, boiled potatoes with a small (jroportion 

 of meal, is perhaps th j best, as it is the most heal- 

 thy feed you can give him, especially when his 

 labor is light, and nearly as nutritive as cats. — 

 Those and similar-experiments have fully satisfieil 

 me of not only the importance of growing as ma 

 Jiy roots as we can, but of dealing them out and 

 spending them among our stock in pixference to 

 • jlling them. 



Your next question seems to be, ' what are the 

 comparative profits of Carrots, English and Rina 

 Baga turnips, illangel Wurtzel, and Potatoes?'— 

 This question I shall leave to some gertlcman 

 more able and experienced than I am, having nev- 

 er set apart land fur each purpose, and reckoned 

 the expense. 



Your next inquiry seems to be, 'what soil and 

 manure is best adapted to eacl;.' Respecting 

 soil, I do not deem it of so much importance, so 

 far as respects potatoes or turnips, as the manner 

 of preparing it. Although I have usually had the 

 best crops on my hill land, where the" soil is a 

 mixture of loam and clay, except I have a piece 

 of swamp-land where the mud is very deep, there 

 J have liad the best crops of potat( es I ever raised. 

 Aa to manure for potatoes, 1 believe a mixture of 

 summer and winter will ensure the best crop in 

 proportion of about one load of the former to two 

 of the latter, well mixed together. The former, 

 it used alone, does not seem to be quite strong 

 enough to carry to perfection a large and healthy 

 growth, especially when compost ; the latter when 

 used separate, the potatoes do not seem to start 

 forward in their growth so early, and of course 



will not be so large and ripe as when mixed. 



For turnips, lime or ashes, undoubtedly, are pref- 

 erable to any other manure, and should always, if 

 it can be obtained, made use of, when they are 

 sown in yards. Your next query seems to be, 

 ' what mode of cidture will ensure the greatest 

 prop of each, at the least expense ?' English tur- 



nips, I have been in the constant practice of rais- 

 ing for more than twenty years with various suc- 

 cess, somelimes raising several him^lred bushels, 

 it depending much on the season. My method 

 in general, has been to sow the seed in my corn- 

 field at the last time lioeing, and I have never 

 failed in raising more or less. I recollect a few 

 years since, we bought one paper of Shaker seed, 

 (which by the way was all we could obtain) con- 

 t lining about half a gill of seed, and sowed it as 

 1 could over about an acie of corn ground, and I 

 had one hundred bnsliels of the handsomest tfir- 

 nips I erer saw. And 1 am of opinion this meth- 

 od is the best for raising English turnips, that is, 

 generally speaking, inasmuch as the labor and ex- 

 pense is very trifiing when compared with any 

 other method 1 am acquainted with, and 1 a?n of 

 the opinion that it should never he dispensed with 

 by any fu-mer who raises corn. Other methods 

 of growing tmnips may be, and no doubt are 

 profitable, such as turning up old sward land, 

 some time the fore part of June, harrowing well, 

 yarding cattle or sheep on the land thus ploughed, 

 and sowing about the first of July. I have also, 

 frequently seen large fields of turnips growing in 

 the vicinity of Boston, which were sown broad 

 cast, they were sometimes sown as a first, and 

 sometimes a second crop after peas, and I have 

 been told they are a very profitable ci-op. And 1 

 believe they may be raised with profit on any 

 land that is in good tilth forcorn. Notwithstand- 

 ing the English writers say ' the true turnip soil 

 is a deep sandy loam.' Potatoes, it may i)erhaps 

 be somewhat difficult to determine how the great- 

 est crop may be raised with the least labor. My 

 experience however, has taught me that when I 

 intt-nd planting on sward land, to plough it in the 

 fall, turning it over smooth as possible, in the fol- 

 lowing spring harrow it and plough it lightly, 

 being careful not to turn up the sward, furrow it 

 about three and a half feet apart, quite light, and 

 lay out the manure about two feet apart, seeding 

 with large potatoes, or the crown and cut from 

 large ones, (whole ones being preferred) and cov- 

 ering ihem light, as 1 believe a large hill an ene- 

 my to the growth of the potato, in that it ex- 

 cludes the influences of the snn, and is not go 

 readily moistened by small showers, which seem 

 to be so necessary to their growth. J never was 

 mor-e fully satisfied cf a small hill being prefera- 

 ble to a large one, than a few years since, when 

 I planted with potatoes a piece of swamp, where 

 we cut the wood and brush off the year previous. 

 We carried on the manure in the winter, and the 

 spring followini!-, hodded it out on the top of the 

 swamp, covering it as well as we could, which at 

 best was very light, hoed thenr but once, and ow- 

 ing to its being very tough and full tf roots, we 

 made but small hills, they grew very rapidly, and 

 in many instances grew themselves out of the 

 gi-ound,and 1 had the best crop of potatoes I ever 

 raised ; averaging (ronr six to ten liills to the bush- 

 el. Another method I think valuable and gener- 

 ally adopt it, (in the cultivation of potatoes,) is 

 where my corn does not come up well, or from 

 any other cause is missing, I plant potatoes at the 

 first hoeing, and I find them far rnoi-e profitable 

 than beans. 



As respects the culture of Carrots, Rnta Baga 

 or Mangel Wurtzel, I never have grown but few, 

 and am wholly unqualified to judge. I intend, 

 however, cultivating half an aci-e of ground to 

 Kuta Baga this season, and hope soitto gentleman 



will favor us with the results of their experience 

 on the subject. 



Mr President, — I have said titis much in re- 

 gard to the utility of a more general cultivation of 

 roots as food for domestic animals, and have giv- 

 en a brief sketch of my experience of cultivut on, 

 not because 1 deem myself adequate to judge in 

 the one, or direct in the other, but from a belief 

 that in a genei-al interchange of our views and ex- 

 perience, some practical good may result. 



MR CI>AY'S OPINIONS OS BEET SUGAR. 



Every body knows Henry Clay is one of the 

 most scientific as well as practical agriculturists in 

 the country. In reply to a gentleman ia Penn- 

 sylvania, last Dec. he says — 



I received your favor of the 19th inst. with the 

 paper published by the Royal Agricultural Socie- 

 ty of France, on the subject of sugar from Beet. 

 I have read those [lapers w ilh much attention and 

 interest, attracted by what J had learnt of the pro- 

 gress of that manufacture in p'rance, and bv the 

 patriotic endeavors of yourself and others in Piiil- 

 adeljihia, to introduce it iu the United States. I 

 took pleasure in distributing some of the Silesian 

 beet seed brought from France la.-t spring, and 

 for which I believe I was indebted to Mr Ronald- 

 son, and i caused some of them to he sowed at 

 Ashland, my residence. Although it was late in 

 the spring, the-y grew very large and were more 

 productive than any other beets which I have ev- 

 er tried. Thei-e was a similar result with all to 

 whom I gave any of the seed. I consider, then, 

 that this important and fir^t step towards the in- 

 ti'oduction of the manufacture of sugar from beet 

 sufliciently ascertained. Tlieie is rea.scn indeed 

 to believe that the climate and sods of our coun- 

 try are he.ier adapted to the growth of beets than 

 those of France. 



In my opinion, the establishment of the manu- 

 facture of Beet sugar in the Ifnited States, emi- 

 nently deserves the liberal pati-onage of Govern- 

 ment. What, if successful, would so greatly re- 

 dound to the common benefit, oitght to be demon- 

 strated by an experiment made at the ccuiinion 

 expense. — For it is the appi-eliensien, incident to 

 all new and untried enterprise, that now deters in- 

 dividuals from embarking in this. Owing to the 

 diversity of opinions which exist as to the powers 

 and duties of the General Government, which oth- 

 erwise would be the most fitting to bestow the 

 proper patronage, [lerhaps an a|)peal had better 

 he made to the liberality of one of the state Gov- 

 ernments; and I know of none to which it can 

 be addressed vvith more pro|)riety, than that of 

 Pennsylvania. Fortunately the sum necessary, 

 would not be large to make a full and fair exper- 

 iment. 



I have no doubt of the nltiniate introduction of 

 the manufactme, either with or without the aid 

 of Government, and I believe that at no distant 

 day, a great part of this necessary of human life, 

 will be derived from this source. If we are to 

 ci-eilit the authentic evidence obtained from the 

 experience of France, the manufacture of sugar 

 from beet is less costly than from cane. Ou"ht 

 we not admire, and to be profoundly i)enetrated 

 with gratitude for the Providential care which, at 

 a moment when from various censes, the supply 

 of this necessary article is likely to prove inade- 

 quate to consumption, opens a new and hound- 



