AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
199 
some who were particularly anxious to be 
forward, and who planted before the ground 
was sufficiently warm and dry, now hav e the 
pleasure of a second planting, thus giving 
their less aspiring neighbors an opportunity 
of finishing before them. Our corn, planted 
a week ago, is now coming above ground. 
The Growing Crops. —Wheat has improved 
very much within the past month, but the 
crop cannot be more than an average. Grass 
is very promising, and if nothing unforeseen 
occurs to cut it short, there will be a heavy 
crop. Oats begin to thrive, they having had 
a stand still during the cold wet weather of 
the first of the month. More than an aver¬ 
age amount were sown. Apple and other 
fruit trees bloomed out very freely, and there 
is a fair prospect of a good crop of all vari¬ 
eties. Many young fruit trees were either 
killed or very much injured by the severity 
of the past winter. Petit. 
TURNIP GROWING—A FARMER’S EXPERI¬ 
ENCE. 
The importance of turnips as a field crop, 
and the approach of the season of planting, 
induces us to devote considerable space to 
articles on this subject. We give here the 
experience of Mr. Josiah Bennett, of West¬ 
moreland, as communicated to the N. E. 
Farmer. Mr. B. says : Last spring I manur¬ 
ed thoroughly one acre and five-eighths 
of ground and planted the same with corn ; 
at my last hoeing 1 sowed my turnip seed 
broadcast, after having plowed lightly be¬ 
tween my corn rows. The time of sowing 
was some time during the first week in July. 
In the fall I harvested from that field one 
hundred and nine bushels of the soundest 
corn which I have seen for many years, and 
quite late, just before the ground froze. I 
gathered in my turnip crop from the one and 
five-eighths acres, which measured, as I 
stored them away in the cellar, two hundred 
and twenty-six bushels. I had also two cart¬ 
loads of extra pumpkins on the land. I had 
another small spot of ground measuring 
seventy-one square rods, which I sowed to 
wheat; that I harvested sometime in the 
fore part of August, which, when threshed, 
measured ten bushels of good wheat. Im¬ 
mediately after the wheat was cut I turned 
under the stubble, and after ^smoothing the 
ground I mixed turnip seed with my grass 
seed, and sowed broadcast. I sowed the 
small field on the I5th of August. I gave 
this land a sprinkling of ashes at the time 
of sowing my last seed, and harvested from 
it seventy-four bushels of turnips, of the 
best quality that I ever saw, and they have 
so been considered by others who have used 
them for the table. My kind of turnip is the 
flat English. -The principal use which I have 
made of my turnip crop has heen feed for 
my cattle ; I think much of the crop for that 
purpose. I consider it a great saving of 
fodder, and I have had some very fine stock 
which I have exhibited in various fairs, and 
nearly all the extra keeping of the same has 
been turnips, which I cut with a root cutter. 
The grass seed sown with the turnips came 
up very even,and was when small just shaded 
enough to preserve the root in a vigor¬ 
ous state, and when I last saw the grass be-- 
fore the snow fell 1 thought it looked the 
best and bid the fairest for a good crop the 
next season of any which I have ever 
had. I think land seeded in this way far 
better than to stock down in the Spring 
with oats, which I find a very exhausting 
crop. 
In the season of 1854, I found toward the 
last of June, that I had a small portion of 
mowing land which was so bound out that 
there was no promise of a crop of hay, not 
even to be worth mowing. I plowed up 
ninety-two square rods of this land, and 
spread on it twelve loads of compost ma¬ 
nure, about the 12th day of July. On the 
25th day of July, ‘ wet or dry,' I sowed my 
turnip seed, and harvested from that field 
three hundred bushels of turnips. I mixed 
my grass with the turnip seed as above sta¬ 
ted. Last haying season I cut the finest 
crop of herd’s grass on the same land, 
which I ever had from any other method of 
stocking down. The quantity of turnip 
seed sown by me is at the rate of one pound 
to the acre. 
CORN- STARTING EARLY-PROTECTING. 
The following hints are given by the Gran¬ 
ite Farmer : The most sure way to have the 
seed come up, and do well, is first to manure 
and prepare the ground well—plant good 
seed, clean as it came from the cob. This 
never fails with me ; all variations from 
this have failed under different circumstan¬ 
ces. 
To prevent the seed being destroyed by the 
hens. —The pig, with a full belly, will never 
root around ; the hen, with a full crop, will 
not scratch the ground. Therefore—when 
my hens are disposed to scratch, I call them 
to the barn, and give them as much corn as 
they will eat, for which they always sing to 
me a merry tune, and lay a whole hat full of 
eggs. 
To prevent crows from pulling corn .—I 
scatter corn in the field broadcast, which 
they feed upon and leave the seed. If I 
have too much company by my liberality, I 
soak the corn in strychnine and hot water. 
Last spring, after scattering half a bushel of 
corn soaked in this way, I picked up forty- 
two dead crows, and how many more went 
off feeling ‘ kind o’sick,’ I am not able to 
state. 
Wire and Grub worms are more difficult 
customers to deal with—for any poison used 
for their destruction, is always absorbed by 
the soil, which is a sure protection to them. 
I have never found a sure remedy for these 
pests; and can only secure my seed by plant¬ 
ing enough for their wants and mine too, 
and if they get more than their share, I 
plant new hills a few inches from the old 
ones thus destroyed, and ‘thin out’ at sec¬ 
ond hoeing. 
Those who are vain of fine dress are try 
ing to be peacocks. 
He who has a friend bears only half his 
own griefs. 
A gem uncutis of no use ; so a man un¬ 
taught is stupid. 
STATE AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS 1850. 
Name. Where Held. Date. 
Tennesee,.Nashville.June 4— 5 
Vermont,.Burlington.Sept. 9—12 
New-Jersey,.Newark.. “ 10—12 
Canada East,.Three Rivers. “ 16—18 
Virginia,.—Wheeling Island. “ 17—19 
Ohio,.Cleveland. “ 29—26 
Canada West.Kingston. “ 23—26 
Am. Bornological Society Rochester. “ 24— 
Illinois. 
Michigan. 
.. “30 “3 
New-York. 
... “30 “3 
Pennsylvania. 
... “30 “3 
California. 
...Oct. 7— U 
Connecticut. 
.... “ 7—10 
United States. 
. “ 7—10 
Wisconsin. 
. “ S-10 
Iowa. 
. . “ 8—10 
ew-Hampshire... 
.“ 8-10 
North Carolina. 
Georgia . 
.“ 20-23 
Indiana. 
. “ 20-23 
Maine. 
Alabama.Montgomery.Nov. 11—14 
South Carolina.Columbia. ‘ 11—14 
The above list will be extended in our next 
issue, and a list of county exhibitions added. 
We shall be thankful for any information as 
to times and places of holding State and 
County Agricultural and Horticultural Ex¬ 
hibitions, throughout the country. 
INQUIRIES ABOUT WESTERN AND SOUTH¬ 
WESTERN FARM LANDS. 
Perhaps, on no single subject do we re¬ 
ceive more letters of inquiry, than about the 
best locations at the West for Eastern far¬ 
mers desiring to change their residence, and 
also for persons coming from Europe to 
settle in this country. We cannot under¬ 
take to reply to these letters in detail, or we 
should be under the necessity of adding to 
our office a “Western Land Department.” 
Our series of articles in progress of publi¬ 
cation headed “ Do Eastern Farmers better 
their condition by going West,” will devel- 
ope some valuable information, and we shall 
willingly devote some portion of our space 
to the statements of those now residing at 
the West, if conveying reliable valuable in¬ 
formation, and not written by those who have 
“ an ax to grind.” In this connection we 
refer to the advertisement of the Illinois 
Central Railroad Company, in another col¬ 
umn. 
Several inquire about Maryland, Delaware, 
Virginia,Tennessee, &c. Here i6 a sample 
of their letters: 
To the Editor of the Amencan Agriculturist : 
I should be obliged if I could obtain 
through the columns of your reliable jour¬ 
nal, some trustworthy information respect¬ 
ing the lands and localities around, say Cha- 
tanooga, and other parts of East Tennessee. 
Is the climate good, healthy, and suitable for 
Northern men, or persons who have delicate 
lungs, or affections of the throat, to settle 
in'! Are the ordinary winters much milder 
than what we usually experience in New- 
York or Connecticut, and are the summers 
much warmer! I should judge from the 
high situation, that the summer season 
there would not be hotter or more oppres¬ 
sive. 
Is there any locality in that region that is 
preferable as a residence to another, 
taking into consideration Its healthfulness, 
