22 



NEW E N G L i N D FARMER 



JULY 34, 1839. 



I subjoin from another enterprising cultivator, 

 whose whole management in respect to cultivation 

 and stock is entitled to high commendatiou, an ex- 

 act account of a crop of ruta baga and flat turnips 

 in 1837. 



The charges for preparing, cnltivating, gather- 

 ing, and the product of 4 acres ruta baga and Eng- 

 lish turnips are as follows : 

 April 21 and 22 — 2 days man and horse team 



first ploughing 9, " $4 00 



June 5 and 6 — 2 days man and horse team 



second ploughing 2, 4 00 



" 6 to 9—3 teams and 3 hands 3 days each 

 making 9 days, drawing on 64 loads ma- 

 nure, 1 50 13 50 

 " 10 — 2 men spreading manure, 1, 2 00 

 " " — 1 day man and horse team harrowing 2 00 

 " " — 1 day man and horse ridging 1 50 

 " " — 1 day man sowing I 00 

 " " — 11-2 lbs. seed at the price I sold 

 seed, 1 00, 1 50 



$21) 50 



July 5 and 6 — 8 days' labor hoeing and 

 thinning, 1 00, $8 00 



" 12 and 13 — 8 days' labor hoeing 

 and thinning, 1 00, 8 00 



-$16 00 



Oct. 16 to 18 — IS days' laWr charg- 

 ed for gathering, and 3 teams each 

 3 days, drawing, at 75c. $20 25 



Cr. Deduct for tops, $2 per acre 8 00 



n2 25 



The quantity gathered from 1st and 2d 



acres 1600 bush. 



3d acre 1060 " 



4tli " 900 " 



3580 bu. 

 less than 2 cts. per bu. 

 If the interest on land were charged 



at $40 per acre 9 60 



And the manure at its value, (a com- 

 post of muck and stable) 32 00 



41 60 



$99 35 



The turnips would cost not far from 2 3-4 cts. per 

 bush.— $98 45. 



He adds — " From my own observation much de- 

 pends on having the land for the turnip crop, as 

 also all root crops, potatoes excepted, mellow ; they 

 ought to be hoed at least three times, and oftener 

 if the crop will admit of it. My crop of 1836, was 

 hoed three times in the month of July, the ground 

 was kept, light until the tops covered it." 



I annex to this tlie statement of a crop of ruta 

 baga, in Great Harrington, from another farmer, 

 whose agriculture shows his industry and skill. 



The amount of land was 1 acre and 20 rods — 

 the amount of product well cleaned roots, was 

 46,495 lbs. 



The land on wliich they were raised was green 

 sward, and ploughed the last days in April, 1837. 

 It had had no manure for three years preceding ; 

 it then received a thoro\igh harrowing ; it remain- 

 ed until the first of June ; then harrowed it again 

 smooth, and drew on 30 loads short barn manure ; 

 principally the manure of sheep, which is deemed 

 preferable to any other for this root ; this was spread 



and harrowed until it was thoroughly incorporated 

 with the soil; it was then with a plough thrown in- 

 to ridges 24 inches apart. It was then sowed on 

 the 24th of June, which was ten days after the 

 proper season for sowing ; when well out of the 

 ground, they were plastered at the rate of one bush- 

 el to the acre ; they were then ploughed and hoed 

 twice. In cultivating them great care should be 

 taken to have them stand 24 inches apart between 

 the rows ; and the plants 6 or 8 inches from eacli 

 other in the rows. 



From Lanesboro' the subjoined return was ob- 

 tained from a farmer whose whole establishment is 

 a model of neat and e.xact husbandry ; in neatness 

 and carefulness, perhaps no where surpassed. 

 Ploughing 2 doll. ; seed 1-2 bu. 50 cts. $2 50 

 Manure, 20 cartloads, 1-3 of the cord to a 



load, 50 cts., half to be charged to the 



corn 

 Getting out manure 3 doll. 

 Planting 3 feet square, 1 50 ; hoeing 3 times 



7 50 

 Cutting up and gathering 2 doll. ; husking 2 

 Interest on land at $40 



90 



Product. 



Corn fodder equal to 1 ton of hay 9 00 



.50 bush«ls corn 50 00 



Pumpkins, 2 loads 9 00 



61 00 



Profits on corn .$35 10 



This farmer is in tlie practice of occasionally 

 planting potatoes among his corn. In this case he 

 plants his corn 3 feet 6 inclies apart in the rows, 

 ajid a hill of potatoes between the hills of corn. 

 In this way he frequently obtains 150 bu. potatoes 

 upon an acre, and considers the crop of corn not 

 much lessened on account of the potatoes. The 

 injury to the ctirn is in this case rather a matter of 

 judgment than of exact experiment; and therefore 

 this conclusion is in my mind to be somewhat dis- 

 trusted. Corn and potatoes planted in alternate 

 rows, or one row of corn and two of potatoes, have 

 succeeded well ; and from two acres of corn and 

 potatoes planted thus alternately, there is little 

 doubt that more corn and more potatoes may be ob- 

 tained than from two acres where the corn and the 

 potatoes are planted separately. Incases of alter- 

 nate planting, the corn has a great advantage in its 

 exposure to the sun and air. In the case above 

 mentioned the potatoes occasioned a very small 

 diminution of the number of hills of corn on the 

 land. Here the potatoes, which require particular- 

 ly, coolness and moisture, obtained an advantage in 

 being protected to a degree from the drought by 

 the leaves of the corn. In all these cases, howev- 

 er, of mixed crops, and of multiplying plants upon 

 the land, tv/o things are to be remembered ; the 

 first, that they are always of more difliicult cultiva- 

 tion ; a potato crop is kept clean with much more 

 difiiculty than a corn crop, and the corn crop with 

 potatoes intermixed with it, is kept clean with much 

 more difiiculty than when cultivated alone. The 

 second thing to be remembered is, that the prepar- 

 ation of the land must correspond with the amount 

 of vegetation grown upon it ; and a great crop can 

 be expected only from a soil abundantly enriched. 

 The art of producing fire and warmth without fuel, 

 or of sustaining either vegetable or animal life with- 

 out nutriment, is not yet attained. 



FLAX. 



I recollect meeting with a few patches of flax. 

 The crop on an excellent farm in Sheffield gives 

 usually about 400 pounds of flax, and 12 to 14 bs. 

 of seed ; and it may be cultivated on the same land 

 once in four or five years. Under such circum- 

 stances, it is deemed-a profitable crop. Farmers 

 have yet to learn the great value of flax seed made 

 into jelly, in fattening cattle. No substance of the 

 same bulk and expense within my knowledge, is so 

 fattening for neat cattle and sheep. 



DAIRY HHSBANnRT. 



I proceed to speak now of another of the great 

 interests of the agriculture of Berkshire — the dairy. 



The dairy business has always been a great 

 business. For a time it gave way to the raising 

 of fine wool, when the prices of that staple were 

 high. Since the abatement of the demand for 

 wool, with that caprice for which mankind always 

 have been, and there is reason to think always will 

 be remarkable, many farmers have sacrificed their 

 flocks, and are now giving their exclusive attention 

 to the dairy husbandry. These changes, in mat- 

 ters so important as the dairy or the sheep husband- 

 ry, involving, as they do, a considerable investment 

 of capital, and many expensive fixtures, cannot be 

 suddenly or frequently made without risk of serious 

 loss and disadvantage. 



The county of Berkshire is admirably adapted 

 to the dairy husbandry. Grass is everywhere abun- 

 dant. The soil is suited to the cultivation of es- 

 culent vegetables in the highest perfection. Sev- 

 eral increasing manufacturing villages, with their 

 swarming population, require supplies from the 

 farms in the vicinity. Besides this, the great mart 

 of the country, the city of New York, is easily ac- 

 cessible'. Most of the farmers in Berkshire can 

 reach Hudson with their produce, by a journey of 

 four to eight hours, and put on board the boats at 

 4 o'clock, p. m., it is in New York by an early hour 

 the next morning. The farmer usually allows two 

 cents a pound commission for the freight and sale 

 of his butter; and, upon other produce, it is equal- 

 ly reasonable. He does not return from the river 

 empty; but carries home a load of plaster, or of ar- 

 ticles of necessity for his family. The great roads 

 to the river,/ after the hills are surmounted, are 

 among the best in the whole country. The rail- 

 road already open from Hudson to West Stock- 

 bridge, will afford to many of the farmers all the 

 facilities they can desire for reaching the Hudson 

 river. 



(To be continued.) 



Salt should be regularly fed to cattle both in 

 winter and summer. They will never eat too 

 much if it is placed constantly before them where 

 they can obtain it at all times. The best way to 

 feed them with it, except when snow is on the 

 ground, is to employ salt troughs for the purpose, 

 which are made most convenient by making a deep 

 cavity in the convex side of a short thick piece of 

 slab, or a chip from scoring timjjer, to be kept filled 

 with salt, and placed flat upon the ground. They 

 are very cheap and will not easily upset. In win- 

 ter when the ground is covered with snow, salt 

 should be applied by brining the fodder — Farmer's 

 Cabintt. 



They are sifting the land of Missouri for gold — 

 they would find it sooner by planting the land with 

 seed Daily Times. 



