1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



195 



inches by thirty, there will be 11,616 per acre. 

 At this distance, each beet weighing eight 

 pounds, would give to the acre forty-six and 

 one-half tons. 



Singling and Hoeing the Crop. 



After the plants have put forth their second 

 pair of leaves, the cultivator should be run 

 between the rows, and the bunching should 

 follow. This is done with a hoe, cutting out 

 twelve or fifteen inches, leaving about three 

 inches in the drill untouched all along its 

 length. Soon after bunching, the singhng 

 and weeding should be performed. After the 

 singling out and the first weeding is performed, 

 the after labor is all accomplished with the 

 hoe and cultivator, requiring but little more 

 labor than an ordinary hoed crop. Beets re- 

 quire a large amount of moisture, and fre- 

 quent tillage, keeping the surface light and 

 porous, the soil will retain this necessary 

 moisture. 



Harvesting. 



In ordinary seasons, the middle of October 

 is the best time for harvesting this crop. 

 This variety of beet can be lifted by hand 

 without the use of a fork. The roots when 

 pulled are left lying in the rows until dry, 

 the tops are removed by wrenching them off 

 by hand, or cutting with a knife. If the knife 

 is used, care should be taken not to injure the 

 crown of the beet. As the tops are removed, 

 place the roots in heaps to dry and go through 

 the sweating process, previous to their re- 

 moval to the cellar. Protect them at night 

 and from storms, with their own leaves. 

 After two or three days, they can be stored 

 in the cellar for winter use, and if stowed dry, 

 will keep sound, even if hundreds of bushels 

 are placed in one pile. 



Cost of Raising. 



If we will make a field crop of the beet, 

 avoid the old practice of domg all the labor 

 with the hoe, thumb, and finger, giving them 

 clean culture by the frequent use of the horse 

 cultivator, they can be raised for five cents per 

 bushel, of sixty, poimds. At this low cost, 

 and considering their great value as food for 

 cattle, sheep, and swine, how can a farmer 

 think of wintering his stock without his cellar 

 of roots ? This subject is well deserving the 

 attention of all farmers. Heniiy LaJvE. 



Cormvall, Vt., 1871. 



FUTURE WEALTH OF THE UNITED 

 STATES. 



Mr. E. P. Whipple contributes to the March 

 number of the Atlantic Monthly a very reada- 

 ble essay which he styles "Shoddy." Of the 

 future resources of this country he takes a 

 very hopeful view, as will be seen in the fol- 

 lowing extract : — 



"Of the enormous undeveloped resources of 

 the United States, it is difficult to speak with- 



out an appearance of exaggeration. The tax- 

 able value, which all men of property well 

 know is far below the exchangeable value, of 

 all the propertv in the United States was, in 

 1860, in round numbers, $16,100,000,000, 

 showing a rate of increase, in ten years, of a 

 fraction over one hundred and twenty-six per 

 cent. It has been computed that if this rate 

 is preserved through the next four decades, the 

 taxable value of the United States would. In 

 1870, be $36,500,000,000 ; in 1880, $82,800,- 

 000,000 ; in 1800, $187,300,000,000 ; in 1900, 

 $123,300,000,000— an increase of wealth which 

 will be over eight times our estimated increase 

 in population. Vast as these sums appear, 

 drowning in their sound all shoddy groans 

 over our predicted financial ruin, and making 

 our big debt of two billions and a half shrink 

 by comparison into dwarf-like dimensions, 

 there is no reason that tbey should not be re- 

 alized prc^'ided the brain of the nation ade- 

 quately seconds its hands. Massachusetts, 

 with an area of only 7800 square miles, now 

 owns a seventeenth of the whole taxable pro- 

 perty of the nation. If the other States, with 

 greater natural advantages, should increase, 

 during the next thirty years, so that their 

 wealth should b«ar the same proportion to the 

 scptare mile of territory which the wealth of 

 Massachusetts now does, the property of the 

 nation in 1900 will be $115,000,000,000." 



Grafting Grape Vixes. — At a recent 

 meeting of the Horticultural Society of ^Vest- 

 ern New York, D. S. Wagener gave a de- 

 scription of the method he adopts in grafting 

 the grape vine. He grafts from early spring 

 till last of June. The grafts are cut early the 

 previous winter and packed in saw-dust. He 

 grafts a little below the ordinary surface of 

 the ground and covers with earth. The mois- 

 ture of the soil is preserved by two inches of 

 mulching. The cleft is sawn in without split- 

 ting. He has set the Delaware and Isabella 

 roots with good success, and in one instance 

 had a crop of grapes the same year. A strong 

 stock is desirable, such as Isabella, Catawba, 

 and Diana. The Rebecca does better on a 

 strong stock than on its own roots. 



A Cheap Hot-bed. — Get a common, large 

 "W" goods box, — as large as you like, or 

 several of them If you need so many. Fill it 

 with fresh, dry stable manure, and water it 

 gently as you put it in. When the box is two- 

 thirds full, put on about two or three inches 

 of rich, fine soil, and sow your seed ; then put 

 a common window sash — or make one to fit — 

 over it, and put the box in a sunny spot, shel- 

 tered from the north and west winds. Water 

 occasionally, and give air on hot days. You 

 will thus have plenty of fine plants at small 

 cost. Even a common barrel will answer a 

 pretty good purpose. — Rural New Yorker. 



