154 
THICK AND THIN SEEDING. 
weeks, commences laying until the number of 
.eggs is complete, when she re-engages in the 
task of incu bation. But I object to this practice 
in toto. It is cruel and it taxes the system ; she 
has already sat patiently for thirty days, that is 
four weeks and two days, and surely that is 
quite enough. Besides, the brood thus hatched 
will be late in the season, and late broods of 
turkeys cannot be reared without very great 
care ; they cannot stand the chilly mornings of 
autumn nor the frosty nights; their limbs be- 
come swollen and rheumatic, and they die one 
after another, few surviving, and these few never 
become fine, healthy bird from which the breed- 
er would select his stock. Let nature alone. 
Should a hen lay after hatching her clutch of 
eggs, and should she, (which is very unlikely,) 
indicate a desire for incubation, it is better to 
prevent her, and use the eggs for household 
purposes. — American Poultry Yard. 
—•- 
THICK AND THIN SEEDING. 
Your correspondent, Nugator, at p. 60, of the 
February number, has given a statement of his 
experiments of thick and thin sowing, which 
have produced entirely diiferent results from 
similar experiments tried by myself. After 
testing the matter thoroughly, J am convinced, 
that, on land like mine, (clay loam,) in this cli- 
mate, grain, at least, requires to be sown accord- 
ing to the capability of the soil to produce a 
crop. If it is good, seed thick ; if poor, thin. 
Experiments tried by me have shown that on 
land that will produce 50 bushels of wheat per 
acre, when seeded with two bushels per acre, 
will not produce over 40 when seeded with one 
bushel ; and in about the same proportion when 
seeded with 5, 6, or 7 pecks to the acre. 
Troy, Oakland Co., Mich. Linus Cone. 
-•" 
FATTENING CALVES. 
Mr. Jacob Taylor, of Monmouth county, New 
Jersey, fattens his calves for market in the fol- 
lowing manner : — The calves, in the first place, 
are put into a pen, or stable, lighted only by a 
lattice door, the number of calves, of course, 
corresponding to the size of the pen. 
The feed, which is usually Indian meal, is 
placed in a trough situated about 2 feet above 
the floor, sufficiently large to accommodate each 
calf. The older ones soon learn the younger 
ones to eat from the trough. Adjoining the pen, 
there is a yard for the cows, into which the 
calves are turned whenever it is necessary for 
them to suck. 
The older calves are taken to market as soon 
as they are ready, and their places filled by 
young ones, thus keeping up a constant supply 
of delicious veal during the season. A. S. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH ROOT CROPS. 
At page 192, vol. viii., of the Agriculturist, 
you requested some one to try an experiment 
with roots, on a green sward. In accordance 
with that request, last year, I sowed a small 
piece of ground with carrots, and although the 
experiment was only partially successful, I con- 
sidered - it as one of the most profitable crops, as 
feed for store cattle, of the season. 
The land had been pastured for five years 
previous to plowing, and cattle and sheep had 
sometimes been yarded upon it. At the time of 
sowing, it received not much manure, as that 
had mostly been applied to other crops, and the 
little that was applied was harrowed in. I sowed 
one third of an acre with orange carrots in 
drills, 20 inches apart. The seed had not heen 
soaked and was a long time in coming up ; and 
at harvest time, the drills were not more than 
two thirds filled with the roots. The crop was 
fed to horses and store pigs. The expense and 
profit were as follows : — 
EXPENSE OF CULTIVATION. 
May 18, 1849. To fit £ of an acre, $1.00 
" 22, " Sowing with drill and 
seed, 0.75 
June 12, " 1 bushel plaster, and 
applying, 0.38 
" 22, " 2 days' weeding, first 
time, 1.25 
July 3, " 3£ days' do., 2d time, 2.17 
Aug. " 1 day's weeding, 1.00 
Nov. 7, " 7 days' dragging, 3.06 
Whole expense, including board, $10.07 
Cr. 
By 150 bushels carrots, estimated at $18.75 
I also tried another experiment with ruta ba- 
gas, the expense and profit of which were as 
follows : — 
EXPENSE OF CULTIVATION. 
May 22, 1849. To fitting 1 acre joining 
the carrots, $3.00 
" " Carting 12 loads manure, 1.00 
" " Plaster 2 bushels, and 
applying the same, 0.62 
June 9, " To drilling in seed and 
seed, 1.25 
" 22, " To weeding, first time, 
2 days, 1.25 
July 9, " 2£ days' weeding, 1.88 
Nov. 13 " n\ days' digging and se- 
curing, 3.00 
Whole expense including board, $12.00 
Cr. 
By 420 bushels ruta bagas, estimated 
worth 6f. cts. per bushel, for feed, $26.25 
In the first place, I sowed too little seed, and 
in the next, the flies made sad havoc with the 
plants, and the weather being so dry that those 
transplanted did not live. The later sowed pro- 
duced roots of a better quality than the earlier, 
and they were nearly as large, yet the yield per 
acre was much less, as a greater proportion of 
the crop was destroyed. 
I fed the greater part of them to store cattle, 
and I find that one bushel per day, with the 
addition of good oat straw, will keep an ox in 
good condition when he is not at work. 
Stephen R. Gray. 
Salem, N. Y., March, 1850. 
►♦< 
Milklng Cows. — Let care be taken that your 
cows are milked clean ; the last milk is much 
the best. Cows are often spoiled by lazy, care- 
less milkers. 
