1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



163 



Fur the Neio England Ftrrmer. 



TUElSnPS— THEIR VALUE ITT FEEDING 

 STOCK. 



Mr. Editor : — Believing fully that the value 

 of the common flat turnip is l)y many under-esti- 

 mated, I wish to give you a fact or two in re- 

 gard to their use in the fattening of cows. Five 

 or six years ago, having about a thousand bushels 

 of turnips to dispose of, it occurred to me to pur- 

 chase a few cattle to stall-feed for beef. Among 

 others, there was one small cow, very old and quite 

 poor. She ate the turnips freely, throve well, and 

 iu due time was turned off to the butcher and 

 slaughtered. We took a quarter of the beef, and 

 during the time it lasted, the remark was frequently 

 made by one and another of the family that it was 

 the jucicst, the richest, the best flavored beef we 

 ever had bought of the butcher who usually sup- 

 plies us. This opinion we have remembered, with- 

 out feeling confident that the turnip feed had any 

 particular connection with the quality of the meat. 

 But within a few weeks past, I have sent another 

 cow, (a young one) to the butcher, that was fed 

 and fattened on turnips and meadoio lia^j, having 

 had no grain of any sort till the last fortnight of 

 her life, when the tnrnips were discontinued and 

 four quarts of meal a day and English hay were 

 substituted, that the tiu-nip flavor might have time 

 to pass away from the meat. Being well supplied 

 with meat at the time, we took none of this ; but 

 have the testimony of a neighbor and friend, whose 

 family were supplied with some of it, that it was 

 of superior quality. 



Now it must not be understood from this, that 

 I fully and unhesitatinojly believe that turnips will 

 always make beef of extra quality, but my faith is 

 so strong, that I shall not fear to make another 

 trial when circumstances are favorable ; and I 

 should not hesitate to recommend the turnip as a 

 cheap and valuable feed for the production of flesh 

 or milk. In feeding to milch cows, of course the 

 quantity should not be large, or the flavor of the 

 milk will be aff"ectod. But to a fattening animal, 

 after she has become so accustomed to them that 

 they will not unduly scour her, a bushel and a half 

 a day, if she will eat so many, will not injure her. 

 But it should not be forgotten that the turnips 

 must be discontinued for at least ten or twelve days 

 before she is slaughtered, or the meat will have an 

 unpleasant taste of the turnip. 



I was about to stop here, but it occurred to me 

 that my friend, J. P. B., (who likes to laugh at 

 his neighbors sometimes, when they make a blun- 

 der or a bad bargain,) might ask why I did not 

 tell about my experience in fattening a pair of 

 steers on turnips. So for fear that he will tell the 

 story, with embellishments, I will give it here. At 

 the time before mentioned, when I had such a 

 heap of turnips to feed out, I bought, among 

 other animals, a pair of steers, for which I gave 

 seventy dollars. I made my estimate what they 

 would weigh at the time of the purchase, and Avhat 

 feey would gain as the result of eating one or two 

 hundred bushels of turnips, with hay and grain 

 added ; with the probable rise in the price of beef 

 before they would be sent to the shambles. Well, 

 the result was of course quite satisfactory. A very 

 respectable profit was to be made on these steers. 

 But, Mr. Editor, did you ever make calculations 

 that were not realized? I have, and this was 



one of them. The steers were placed in the bam, 

 and the turnips laid befoi'e them. They put their 

 noses down, smelt of the nice sweet turnips, then 

 looked at me and said, ''Humph ! have you noth- 

 ing better than this for us ?" "O," said I, "you 

 are not used to tiu-nips — you don't know what is 

 good." I left them for a time, tliinking they 

 would bj'-and-by taste, and so find out that tur- 

 nips were good for steers. But they did not taste, 

 and so I found I must try them Avith something 

 else. So I ofiered them some Indian meal, but 

 with the same result, they smelt and loft it. 1 

 thought that by keeping them hungry for a few 

 days they might be brought to eat turnips ; so they 

 were fed for a Aveek or two lightly with hay, turnips 

 being frequently ofiered ; and after a while, they 

 consented to a compromise, and agreed to eat a few 

 of the turnips if I would give them a plenty of good 

 hay. But they never seemed to like them. And 

 meal they would not eat. So you will not be sur-? 

 prised at the result. When they were sold I re- 

 ceived, after feeding them some three or four 

 months, about two dollars Jess than I gave for 

 them. Is farming profitable ? M. P. 



Concord, Feb. 14, 1860. 



For ihe New England Farmer. 



AGBICUIiTUBE AT YALE. 



Letter pro.m Judse French. 



My Dear Mr. Brown: — Boston is a great 

 eity, but New York is so much greater, that here, 

 within two or three hours of her, our modera 

 Athens seems not to be much considered. Here 

 I have been for three days, and not a Boston pa- 

 per can I find in either of the hotels, while the 

 New York dailies load the tables. Possibly the 

 secret of this may be guessed, when it is known 

 that the Tribune and Times have their reporters 

 here, carefully reporting the interesting proceed- 

 ings of the month, while no Boston publisher 

 seems to think it worth his trouble to notice the 

 movement. 



The Farmei' has already published the plan of 

 the Agricultural course of lectures now in pro- 

 gress here. Professor Porter, of the Scientific 

 Scbool, is the prime mover of the scheme, which, 

 in brief, is a course of about sevent)' lectures upon 

 Agriculture, given three or four a day, at conven- 

 ient hours, all at one place, so that any |>ei-son 

 may attend the whole. Tickets to the number of 

 about one hundred and fifty, at ten dollars each, 

 were disposed of, mostly to young farmers, scat- 

 tered through New England, New York, and 

 many other States. Most of these attend regular- 

 ly the whole course ; and many others come in for 

 a week or more to attend the discussions upon 

 subjects which particularly interest them. The 

 first week was devoted mainly to Agricultural 

 Chemistry, Entomology, Vegetable Physiology and 

 Meteorology, and the lectures were given by Profs. 

 Johnson and Silltm.\n, of Yale College, and by 

 Dr. Fitch andD. C. Eaton, Esq. Col. Wilder, 



