1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEATRR. 



27 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CTJLTIVATINQ AKD KEEPINQ BOOTS 



One method of agricultural progress, and 

 a very good one, too, is by the perusal of agri- 

 cultural publications, another by experiment, 

 and a third, and by no means in^igni6cant 

 means of advancement, is by observation. 



I am in the habit of raising a quantity of 

 roots every jear for feed; consisting this 

 year of mangolds, carrots, parsnips, and 

 Swedish turnips, compri^ing about three- 

 fourths of an acre in all. On one side of the 

 piece, but at the ends of the rows, was a 

 ridge from one and a half to two feet higher 

 than the ground occupied by the roots. In 

 July, when the beets were about two inches 

 through, I had occasion to li vel this ridge, and 

 in so doing filled in between the rows a dis- 

 tance of about two feet from the t-nds, and 

 from three to six inches deep, covering some 

 of the beets and carrots up around the tops. 

 There were two kinds of mangolds, two of 

 carrots, two of turnips, and one of parsnips. 

 On harvesting, it was found that on the two 

 feet of the rows so filled in, the ) ield was 

 double, by actual weight, that of the same 

 distance on any other part of the row, with 

 one exception, that of the long orange carrot, 

 where the difference was not as great, owing, 

 1 presume, to their growing entirely below the 

 surface at all times. 



Now the query is, will it pay to hill up 

 root crops like potatoes, or must it be fillid up 

 between the rows and kept level, as was the 

 case with these? Would it have bad the 

 same tffcct if the season had been wet, in- 

 stead of dry? I have observed also that the 

 mangolds that were filled in are as tender and 

 good to cook as the table beet, and those not 

 £0 treated are a liitle more stringy, though 

 not very much so. 



Speaking of the quality of beets, or any 

 other vegetable, for that matter, I am led to 

 express an opinion which is at variance with 

 that of most writers, and I prefaume that of the 

 Editor of the Farmer, viz : that, one ) ear with 

 another, early sowed or planted vegetables are 

 the best in quantity and quality, turnips except- 

 ed. I know that Mr. Gregory, and all seed men, 

 recommend sowing the mangolds, carrots and 

 al.so table beets, for winter use, the last of 

 May or first of June. I have been experi- 

 menting for ten years, and I now plant all 

 such things as early in the spring as 1 can get 

 the ground in good condition. I leave the 

 roots in the ground as late as possible, then 

 store in a cool dark cellar, and 1 have as good 

 vegetables as one can ask for. In ISfJ'J I 

 eowed table beets the 22d of April, and had 

 some of them the next year, when new beets 

 were large enough to cook, that were almost 

 as teni;er as the new ones. For fpring and 

 Butnm'^r n^e, I bury tome in the fall, and in 

 the spring take them up and pa< k them in a 

 box, with mots, and they will keep until new 



ones come. Turnips and carrots can be kept 

 in the same manner. Some contend that the 

 expense of cultivation is greater when sown 

 early, but if the land was properly tilled the 

 previous season, there is but little difference, 

 or at least so thinks OiiSEUVER. 



Oak mil, N. Y., Nov., 1870. 



SAVING MANURE. 



Our correspondent, J. M. Crafts, Whately, 

 Mass., writes as follows to the Boston Culti- 

 vator : — 



For the last ten years, I have not allowed 

 any waste, from water or wind, of my manure, 

 as I have carefully housed it all, and have en- 

 deavored to save the urine by means of ab- 

 sorbents, placed in a trench behind uiy stock ; 

 using, more generally, peat muck for that 

 purpose ; sometimes I have used sand. The 

 quantity and quality of the manure thus made 

 IS about in the same ratio, say, one multiplied 

 by ten. Antediluvians thought, and plainly 

 told me, that "1 should spoil my land by using 

 so much muck ; it would sour it all up." But 

 1 have lived to see some of these same men 

 drawing muck of late years, and using the 

 same quite freely. It has, however, been at- 

 tended with a good deal of labor — the supply- 

 ing of the trench every day — and I have been 

 casting about for some easier method of ac- 

 complishing the same result with less labor. 

 I have just completed a new stable, 1.5 by 

 40 feet, making room for nine head of cattle 

 and two horses. Underneath I have a base- 

 ment room — above ground — that is the same 

 size of the stable, and about eight feet high ; 

 a wall of stone surrounds it on three sides, 

 three and one half feet high, on which rest 

 the sills of my barn. The whole cellar is en- 

 closed and warm, so that I hope to prevent 

 the manure from freezing in the winter. 



The bottom of this cellar is covered with 

 old brick, laid flat ways down, and a little 

 apart, and then covered and completely filled 

 with hydraulic-cement mortar, made so soft 

 that it would easily fill every crevice between 

 the bricks, and the coating will vary from one- 

 half to one inch on the top of the brick ; the 

 wall is pointed with the same material. This 

 is done to prevent the pigs from rooting the 

 bottom of the cellar all up, and to retain, to 

 an extent at lea t, the urine not taken up by 

 the peat and other absorbents supplied. I 

 have now four pigs but-ily at work on the pile, 

 and 60 far I am pleased with the results of my 

 labors, and I l^ope to make more manure, and 

 better, than 1 have ever done before. When 

 I have proved it, I will give the results. 



— Horses, it is stated, are among the articles in 

 Paris which have been most greatly depreciated 

 by the si''ro. At the fashionalilc horsr; Imzmrs, 

 aniiiils whii h ht fore the war lirought from ^.lOO 

 to $1000, arc now selling as low as from $S to $40. 



