1862 .]' 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
171 
interposed Setli, with a knowing wink at Jake 
Frink for his recent experience with the horn-ail. 
“ Cherry,” I continued, “ is what I call a liv¬ 
ing commentary on roots. Mr. Spooner has a 
good deal to say about the opinions of different 
commentators on this and that text from which 
he preaches. I always thought that the best 
commentary on a man’s faith, was his practice. 
His life shows well enough what sort of food 
his mind lives on, and it is pretty much so with 
fodder. There’s a good deal of truth in the old 
adage ‘ The proof of the pudding is in the eat¬ 
ing.’ The kind of pudding my Cherry has lived 
on all Winter is turnips, sugar beets, and good 
hay. Not an ounce of meal upon the honor of 
a gentleman, and she gave milk until within 
two months of her calving. You see, now, she 
is as sleek as a mole, with a bag as big as a milk 
pail, and a fine calf.” 
I put the case to my neighbors, Mr. Editor, in 
that way, and made them see it. I know a good 
many farmers say roots don’t pay for raising, 
that they are all water when not frozen; and if 
they are frozen, you might as well feed your 
cattle on snow banks. I know that the chem¬ 
ists say that they are more than three-fourths 
water, and not worth half as much as hay, 
which may be true enough. But what do I care 
for these opinions, so long as roots make flesh 
andhnilk cheaper than any thing else I can raise. 
I am after milk and flesh by the cheapest meth¬ 
od, and if giving water to the stock will bring 
them, I shall give them water—Jake Frink, and 
Mr. Retort to the contrary notwithstanding. 
White turnips stand particularly low in the 
scale of nourishment, and yet Cherry had white 
turnips, a half bushel a day, until they were all 
gone, and gained flesh upon them. She did bet¬ 
ter on sugar beets; and for that reason, I think 
they are worth more, and if they could be raised 
as cheaply as turnips, I should prefer to raise 
them. But I do not see how they can be. I 
can raise turnips among corn, as a stolen crop, 
for four cents a bushel, and I think all roots 
that require a whole season—beets, carrots and 
parsneps—will cost not far from tenets, a bushel. 
My rule is to raise all the roots I can, of the 
several varieties, so that every animal may have 
a daily feed of them from November until May. 
They like a variety of food, and with hay as a 
staple, I think the greater variety the better, 
feeding say two weeks upon one kind, then tak¬ 
ing another two weeks. Many think they can 
get more fodder from an acre of land in grass 
or in corn, than in roots. Not so:—An acre 
of land has to be highly manured to produce 
seventy bushels of shelled corn, and four tuns of 
dry stalks—worth at the market price not far 
from a hundred dollars, which is perhaps a fail- 
expression of their value for feeding. The same 
acre, with rather more labor, will produce 
1000 bushels of carrots worth from two to three 
hundred dollars in different markets, just as 
then- value is known and appreciated. I have 
raised all the roots usually cultivated for feed¬ 
ing, and I come to the bottom of the root bins 
every Spring with a stronger conviction of their 
value. The living commentaries tell the story 
a great deal better than I can, and some of 
my neighbors have got the lesson. Deacon 
Smith learned it before I did. Mr. Spooner 
got hold of it early, and he always drives a 
fat horse, that goes round the parish preaching 
carrots, wherever he calls, just as plainly as Mr. 
Spooner preaches election in the pulpit. Now 
I have nothing agin Mr. Spooner in the world, 
and I don’t mean any reflection on him when I 
say that the old horse has more “unction” in his 
preaching than any thing we have in the Hook- 
ertown meeting-house on Sundays. There 
hasn’t been a rib in sight since he has owned him, 
and when he drives up to the door on Sunday 
morning the horse comes up with a prancing 
gait, and a coltish air, that says “ carrots,” as 
plain as if Mr. Spooner had a bag of them under 
his carriage seat. I don’t talk such things Sun¬ 
days, but you know a man can’t help thinking. 
And there is Seth Twiggs, whose brains one 
might think were all smoked out, has got ideas 
straight as a ramrod on roots, and raises heaps 
of them every year, though he has but a few 
acres of land. Even Jake Frink is waked up by 
the preaching of Mr. Spooner’s horse, though 
he never hears the man—except at funerals. He 
goes in for a crop of sugar beets this season, for 
the first time. Tucker and Jones are not yet 
converted, but I am expecting even they will be 
brought in before long. 
Oue of the advantages of the root crop is, that 
it may be put in late. Rutabagas and carrots may 
be sown without any detriment any time in the 
month of June; white turnips a month later, and 
the first week of June will do very well for sugar 
beets and mangel wurzels. This last is the 
most productive of all the roots, and but little in¬ 
ferior to the sugar beet in quality. The “ com¬ 
mentaries” on roots are multiplying here. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Rocky Mountain Farming. 
Our climate here is generally the most delight¬ 
ful I have ever experienced. Our rains are pe¬ 
riodical and of short duration, say about four 
weeks, commencing the last of June and ending 
the last of July. In the mountains the rainy 
season is longer. The atmosphere is light and 
dry, the nights cool, the days warm. During 
the Summer of 1860, we had no warm nights— 
all cool enough to bear a good comforter—but 
the Summer of 1861 had all comfortably warm 
nights. The former year developed no mosqui¬ 
toes—the latter produced multitudes. Last sea¬ 
son we had but little frost in April or May, none 
to hurt lettuce, radishes, and hardy vegetables. 
But little snow falls in the valleys during Win¬ 
ter, and we have but few days of severe weath¬ 
er. The cold snaps usually come from January 
1 to 15, but sometimes either earlier or later. 
September, October, November, and December, 
except a few days, are pleasant beyond any 
thing I ever experienced elsewhere. Our warm 
weather in Winter does not produce lassi¬ 
tude; the atmosphere is clear and bracing. 
Except on the highest, or Snowy Range, 
little snow falls in the mountains, where the 
most of the quartz mills are running, and that 
little does not lie long, except where drifted in 
valleys. The changes from hot to cold are not 
greater than I have always experienced in the 
North, East, and South. Vegetables have been 
drawn into the mountains all Winter so far; at 
no time has the grass been covered by the snow. 
Our cattle have been unhoused and are fatten¬ 
ing finely. This Winter is milder than last— 
about like that of ’59 and ’60, and a fair average 
of tire winters in this climate. 
Severe and killing frost comes September 
14 to 17, uniformly—in three Falls it has not 
varied from these dates; then follows the most 
beautiful fall weather I ever saw. Certain warn¬ 
ing is given to secure all perishable products, 
and ample time to save fall crops. We have an 
occasional hail storm; severe blows, with cloud¬ 
less sides, and sudden changes of weather; we 
have dry roads all the year—the best natural 
roads the world ever saw—and general freedom 
from colds. With proper care this is certainly 
a healthy climate. But we have yet no system, 
no care, and few of the comforts of our former 
homes. As the country improves the little 
sickness we have will greatly diminish; and I 
am satisfied our mineral springs, mountain 
ranches, and country seats, will be the resort of 
invalids of other climes. Exposure and neglect, 
with improper diet produce scurvy, fever and 
rheumatism, with an unusual amount of erysip¬ 
elas; all which yield readily to proper treatment. 
Among the prominent causes of diseases may be 
counted the universal and immoderate use of 
soda in cooking. Yeast bread must remain a 
scarcity until the supply of women is increased. 
Soil. —Our valley soil is composed of- sand, 
ashes, and decomposed vegetable matter. Most 
of the tillable land lies in the creek valleys, 
though there is much of the high lands on the 
divides, [elevated land between the creeks or 
“ forks,”] which can be made highly productive 
by the application of water; these uplands have 
more clay, less sand and decomposed mountain 
vegetable matter. What we call willow land on 
the bottoms is very rich and productive—yield¬ 
ing 200 to 400 bushels of potatoes per acre. The 
soils in the valleys vary from 6 inches to 4 feet 
in depth, the whole being regulated by the 
irregular action of the streams in changing their 
channels in past ages. The bottoms of these are 
uniformly covered with bowlders and sand. 
The mountains yield an annual supply of ashes 
from the burnt districts, which can be rendered 
useful by irrigation. Our larger valleys, further 
from the mountains—such as the Platte—have 
fewer bowlders, and more rich tillable land. 
When our lands are brought fully into use w T e 
shall be able to support a large mining popula¬ 
tion, and raise nearly every thing we want. 
Capacity of Soil and Climate. —Wheat, rye, 
oats, barley, corn (early varieties), vines (cucur- 
bitous) of all kinds; roots of all kinds; in short, 
nearly every thing produced for the New-York 
market can be raised here in great perfection. 
Sorghum and Imphee cane have both been suc¬ 
cessfully produced. Sugar beets would attain 
prodigious size. I have raised Kidney potatoes 
weighing \\ and 2 pounds ; other varieties grow 
much larger than in the States. Cabbages 20 
and 24 lbs.; pumpkins and squashes enormous, 
and finely flavored—say 60 to 100 lbs., and fine 
grained, splendid for table use. Beets, turnips, 
8 and 12 lbs. Wheat 35 bushels per acre with¬ 
out irrigation—will probably reach 50 with 
proper culture. Flat turnips and rutabagas, 
yield immensely. Hungarian grass also does 
well. These items will give your readers an 
idea of what the natural soil will do. The re¬ 
sults of manuring, this deponent will not calcu¬ 
late. Potatoes, onions, turnips, and kindred 
plants, come to perfection even in the mountains. 
Fruits. —I fear we shall not be able to raise 
fruits. Our warm days and cool nights, Spring, 
Fall, and Winter, will render all tender fruits un¬ 
certain, provided there be no other difficulty; 
the shortness of our seasons will enhance the 
obstacles. A few fruit trees are planted in this 
vicinity. On the Arkansas, which rises in the 
mountains, my brother has started a fine peach 
orchard which, will soon test the southern part 
of our Territory, and as soon as may be, I 
shall test this section. Time will likely point 
out favorable spots, on north hill-sides, and at the 
base of the mountains—perhaps in the Canons 
(kan-yons)—where fruits may be successfully 
grown. John B. Wolff. 
