THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



5 



sufficient to cover and mix the manure with the 

 soil. It is now suffered to rest until the seed is 

 to be sown, which in this climate will be from 

 the 10th to the 20th of May. Previous to sow- 

 ing it is thoroughly harrowed, and then throwa 

 into ridges, twenty-seven inches apart, which is 

 done by turning two furrows together. A light 

 roller is then passed over, flattening two ridges 

 at every turn, the horse walking between them. 

 This leaves a flat surface of about four inches 

 wide for the drill, which follows and deposites 

 the seed in the centre about half an inch deep ; 

 a small roller attached to the drill, follows, co- 

 vering and compressing the earth to the seed, 

 which completes the operation. 



As soon as the plants are about an inch high, 

 they are wed and thinned, which is considered 

 the most tedious operation, which is rendered 

 easy and expeditious by what we term the 

 "push and pull" s}'stem. In the first place we 

 run the cultivator, with the wings closed, be- 

 tween the rows, and then by standing in the 

 furrow, with a small narrow hoe, say three inches 

 wide, push one side of the plant and pull the 

 other side into the furrows, which will leave the 

 plants about four or five inches apart, which I 

 conceive to be the proper distance. After the 

 second working, which, is merely running the 

 cultivator between them again and cutting up 

 the weeds, the ridges vanish and the soil be- 

 comes nearly level. 



The advantages of cultivating on ridges, are, 

 the soil is warmer and dryer, the plants are more 

 easily distinguished, the weeds do not grow as 

 vigorously and are much more speedily removed. 

 The great secret in making good root crops is 

 in thorough cultivation and a generous supply 

 of manure. 



You will recollect the carrot I cultivate is the 

 while Belgian variety, which I esteem ihe most 

 profitable on account of the great produce and 

 the ease with which they are harvested. Un- 

 like any other variety, from three to four inches 

 of the root rises above the soil, which affords 

 greater facilities in drawing, which can be done 

 by grasping them with the hand, resembling in 

 that respect the mangold wurtzel. 



I gathered them on the 14th of October, which 

 was accomplished in the following manner. — 

 Each man took two rows, pulling and laying 

 the tops all one way in a row. After they were 

 all pulled, the tops were struck off' at one blow 

 with a knife made of a piece of an old scythe, 

 and the roots of four rows w 7 ere thrown into one ; 

 the cart followed and the roots were tossed into 

 it with the hand. The crop obtained from the 

 patch, which is about one-third of an acre, was 

 305 bushels. 



It is impossible for me to estimate the expense 

 of this crop, as the labor was done at odd times, 

 in the morning before breakfast, when the main 

 work was at a distance. In comparison with 



the ruta baga, I judge they cost about one-third 

 more, which would bring them at about nine 

 cents per bushel. 



I agree with Mr. Botts in estimating their 

 value. For horses and milch cows, I consider 

 them superior to any other root. Horses become 

 very fond of them, and fed once per day with 

 them, their bowels are kept loose, and the hair 

 becomes glossy, giving them a lively and healthy 

 appearance. Cows eat them greedily and their 

 milk is of the richest color, and the butter of 

 superior quality. They are in such high esti- 

 mation in this section, that a gentleman in the 

 city paid me twenty-five cents per bushel for a 

 load of them to feed his cow. 



From the amount taken from the small piece, 



I as above, I am well persuaded, that 

 | sand bushels, every thing- 



favorable, can 



tbou- 

 be 



grown on an acre. 



My method of cultivating the ruta baga is 

 similar in several respects to that of the carrot. 

 They require a lighter soil and delight in a sandy 

 loam, and will bear as much manure as any 

 other crop, not even excepting corn. I have 

 grown good crops on a sod, by turning under 

 forty loads of fresh yard manure. I prefer, how- 

 ever, to have them succeed potatoes, which was 

 the case with the field you saw in October last. 



Last spring a compost of yard manure and the 

 refuse of a glue factory, consisting of lime, bones, 

 wool, hair and bitsof pelt, was applied, say twenty 

 loads to the acre, carefully spread after the first 

 ploughing, and turned under with a shallow 

 furrow and thoroughly harrowed, and mixed 

 with the soil — then thrown into ridges twenty- 

 seven inches apart, the tops flattened with the 

 roller, and the seed deposited with the drill, &c, 

 The after culture, with the exception of leaving 

 the plants from nine to ten inches apart in the 

 drills, was the same as that of the carrots. 



There is one fact in regard to this crop which 

 I never noticed until last summer. It so hap- 

 pened that a part of this field was not wed and 

 thinned for some days after the other, and the 

 plants and weeds had attained considerable 

 height before they were worked, and caused 

 about double the labor to finish them. On pull- 

 ing we found them on this part of the field, less 

 in size, necks long and tops large — termed 

 " necky." On reflection, the same has happened 

 before, and I could not account for it. 1 have 

 also, heard others complain of the quality of 

 their seed, that the plants would not bottom, &c. 

 I have seen some of these patches and recollect 

 that they were very close and there was appa- 

 rently a great strife between the plants and 

 weeds for the ascendency. 



I finished pulling my crop on the first of this 

 month, and they amounted to 2,355 bushels, and 

 as near as I can make it out, the expense of cul- 

 tivation would not vary much from six cents 

 per bushel. We think there was not far from 



