18(50.J 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
175 
-where the wheat cioj s so liable to fail from a 
want of snow during Winter, or from any other 
cause, as in southern Illinois and many other 
places, it would be a much surer crop. 
Brown Co.', Ill WM. W. JBOWER, M. D. 
Hints on the Root Crops. 
We have just fed out the last of our carrots, 
and the only fault we have to find with them, is, 
that they are gone. The quadrupeds that have 
fed upon them, from the horse in the stable to the 
pig in the sty, coincide in this lamentation. We 
are sorry that we had not raised two tuns more, 
both because our neighbors want to purchase, and 
we want more to finish out the season. We 
have fed ruta bagas, carrots, sugar beets, and 
mangel wurzels, and like them all so well, that 
we shall plant more of them all than we have 
ever raised before. Each of these roots has its 
peculiar advantages, and every farmer who lias 
the usual variety of stock upon his farm, should 
raise them all. All domestic animals crave a va¬ 
riety of food, and will thrive much better upon a 
half dozen different kinds, than upon any one. 
They not only eat a larger quantity of food, but it 
is more perfectly assimilated, and the farmer gets 
a better return for his fodder, in the growth of his 
animals, or in beef, milk, or butter. 
We have never found any thing to bring out 
horses and cows in so good condition in the 
Spring, as a diet partially of roots. They ate 
particularly valuable in the three Spring months, 
before cattle are turned out to grass. They are 
full of juice, and are highly relished with the dry 
hay and meal to which cattle are often confined 
at this season. They keep the bowels loose, and 
the appetite in uniform good condition. We have 
never had the slightest case of illness among ani¬ 
mals fed on roots. 
The carrot is the best of roots for horses ; fed 
a. peck a day with other food, they aid digestion, 
and keep them in good flesh. We think a diet of 
hay, oats, and carrots, half and half of the last 
two, is the best food we have ever tried for 
horses. They work as well as when fed with 
hay and oats. Carrots are also admirable for 
milch cows and for young stock. They increase 
the richness of the milk, without adding any un¬ 
pleasant flavor. This objection is brought against 
a diet of turnips, and for this reason they should 
be fed to other animals—oxen, fallings, and young 
cattle. The sugar beet is more nutritious than 
the ruta baga or the mangel wurzel, but does not 
yield so large crops. The mangel gives the 
largest crops to the acre, sometimes reaching 
forty tuns. Its keeping qualities are excellent, 
and it should come in for feeding in the Spring 
months. 
These roots economize land, and should re¬ 
ceive a large share of attention from those farm¬ 
ers who live in the suburbs of cities and villages, 
where land is dear. The yield will vary from 
five hundred to two thousand bushels to the acre, 
according to the quality of the soil, and the amount 
of manure and labor expended upon it. With ex¬ 
traordinary treatment, much larger crops than 
these are sometimes realized. The land that pro¬ 
duces three tuns of hay to the acre, maybe made 
to yield twenty five tuns of carrots, which would 
have five or six times the nutritive value of the 
hay. In no way can a farmer get so much valu¬ 
able fodder upon a given piece of land, as by root 
culture. 
The bearing of these crops upon the compost 
heap, is a very important advantage. The ma¬ 
nure voided by an animal fed on roots, is enor¬ 
mous in quantity, and of very good quality, 
though not equal to that made by feeding grain 
and oil-meal. If properly cared for, and mixed 
with muck undercover, it will take but one season 
to make a farmer a warm advocate of root crops. 
The strongest objection brought against the 
cultivation of these roots, is the fact that farm¬ 
ers have never tried them. The labor of culti¬ 
vating, harvesting, and storing, is generally over¬ 
estimated, and the stereotyped farmer keeps on 
with his hay and grain. We greatly desire the 
class of our readers who own small farms, and 
want to make the most of them, to try roots, even 
if it be no more than a quarter of an acre. The 
great thing is to make a beginning, and to see 
with one’s own eyes the enormous quantities of 
food the soil will yield in roots. Prepare the 
ground thoroughly, and manure as heavily as for 
the largest corn crop. 
In all latitudes north of this, the first of this 
month is not too late for sowing the seed. 
We have for years sown a portion of our carrot 
seed in June, and got fine crops. The turnips 
may be sown still later. The beets should not 
be delayed. Try roots. * 
*- ^-4 - — I » - 
We Want Good Butter. 
The dairying season is now at full tide; the 
milk pails overflow with their foaming treasures, 
the pans are crowned with rich cream, and gold¬ 
en nuggets of butter are ready for transportation 
to the market, there to be minted into solid coin. 
The quantity of dairy products brought to this 
market alone, would surprise a novice; the 
quality of much of it is still more astounding. 
An average of 500,000 lbs. of butter per week is 
consumed in this city and vicinity ; 100,000 lbs. 
would be a full estimate of the prime article to 
be found in the whole quantity. The price paid 
for the best sorts, over the inferior, would seem to 
be inducement enough to furnish a good article in 
abundance, but, when purchasing family supplies, 
we have often sampled and tasted large lots— 
smelling was enough in many cases—without 
finding a single desirable firkin. Scarce a coun¬ 
try housekeeper would allow such trash to ap¬ 
pear on her table ; indeed, visitors from the 
country find the poor butter here, one of the great¬ 
est drawbacks to their pleasures at the table. 
Why then is such butter sent here 1 From some 
sections, no doubt, because it is poor. A neg¬ 
lected churning is found unfit for family use, and 
is “ sent to the store ” in barter for other neces¬ 
saries ; the merchant pays one price to all cus¬ 
tomers, packs it all, yellow and pale, pure and 
poor, waxy and greasy, in one firkin ; the better 
quality is soon corrupted by evil communication, 
and when opened in market, all is thoroughly 
vile. If country dealers would fix tire price ac¬ 
cording to the quality, much of this would be 
remedied. Housekeepers have little encourage¬ 
ment to do their best, when a pound of grease, 
fit only for the soap-maker, buys as much sugar 
as a pound of good table butter. 
Dairymen who produce a really superior arti¬ 
cle, are often surprised at the small returns re¬ 
ceived from the distant market. Their neigh¬ 
bors exult in two or three cents more per lb. ob¬ 
tained for the same quality, and sold by the same 
commission merchant—there must be a mistake 
somewhere. The mistake is at the dairyman’s 
door. His neighbor procured new firkins or tubs 
this Spring, has kept them neatly painted, with 
his name plainly marked in full upon the cover. 
A grocer or hotel keeper was attracted by the 
promising look of the package, tried it, found it 
good, and engaged it for the season—the brand 
was estab'ished, and will always sell well while 
it keeps its reputation. Our less fortunate friend 
made the old pail answer, marked it with a cross 
or a notch which he would know, and sent it along 
The weather-worn and rusty pail was overlooked 
by the best customers ; it was set with the sec¬ 
ond sorts, and sold for second prices, to the joy 
of the purchaser, and the loss of the economical 
dairyman. Three cents per pound on thirty 
weight of butter would pay for a new pail every 
week. 
But the great drawback in the quality of our 
butter is tlie want of elbow grease. It is not suf¬ 
ficiently worked. It leaves the dairy apparently 
sweet and fresh, and is so for the time, but the 
ladle or the roller were sparingly used, the but¬ 
termilk and sour milk soon become rancid, and 
five to ten cents per pound loss is the penalty 
It would be thought a hard law that inflicted a 
fine of that amount for every pound of poorly 
worked butter, but the inexorable laws of trade 
do impose just such a fine; no excuses are re¬ 
ceived, no penalties remitted, and there is no ap¬ 
peal. But on the other hand, good butter, nicely 
packed, and carefully forwarded to honest dealers, 
invariably receives a premium, which we wish 
all our dairymen would compete for, and part of 
which we will cheerfully pay. 
-•- —1 - » m* .. 
Remedy for Short Pastures. 
Those who have but a limited range of pasture 
and keep stock enough to crop it well, are almost 
at the mercy of the weather. If there chance to 
be favoring rains, and a good season for the 
growth of grass and clover, all is well ; but if, as. 
frequently occurs, there comes a long period of 
drouth, the browned fields already closely cropped, 
suffer severely, having little to protect the roots 
from the full power of the sun, and the cattle suf¬ 
fer yet more. The milk pails show serious dimi¬ 
nution, the dairying profits shrink, and the stock 
fall off when they should be gaining. A severe 
check of this kind will be felt too throughout the 
season, for much of the pasture may be “ Sum¬ 
mer killed,” and the full flow of milk can hardly 
be regained. This may be guarded against by 
putting in a small plot of corn, sorghum, millet or 
other suitable crop for cutting and feeding green. 
An acre of corn sown broadcast now, will very 
soon yield sutficient to give great relief to the 
short pasture. It is not necessary to stable the 
cows ; cut a good supply for them, and feed night 
and morning before they leave the yard ; they 
will eat it with a relish, and make ample returns 
in the milk pans and the churn. Even if the 
threatened drouth should not come, and abund¬ 
ance of grass should grow, the soiling crop need 
not be lost. Cut at the proper season, and prop¬ 
erly cured, it will not come amiss next Winter. 
--— —o— ■ ■- 
What is “Five Finger ” 
A correspondent inquires what this plant is, the 
name of which he has often met with in the Ag¬ 
riculturist. He is fortunate not to have found it 
in his fields. It might appropriately be called the 
hand of poverty, gleaning among poor soils for 
scanty nourishment which clover or any decent 
grass would disdain ta accept. The botanical 
name is Poter.tilla Canadensis. It has a branch¬ 
ing stem, from three to eighteen inches long, 
resting on the ground; the leaves are hairy, and 
spread out in fives like fingers (whence its 
name) they somewhat resemble strawberry 
leaves; it beats small, yellow flowers. It comes 
in where grass starves out, and is a sure index 
of unthrifty farming. Good manuring, or a top 
dressing of plaster, or lime will help to banish it. 
