AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
J^igtieir ttf imjrok % farmer, tjj* flatter, aitit t|e (Sarimr. 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHY, THE MOST USEFUL , AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN. -Washington. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ALLEN & CO., 189 WATER ST. 
VOL. XI.] NEW-YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1853. [NUMBER 3. 
a&*FOR PROSPECTUS, TERMS, fyc., 
SEE LAST PAGE. 
JAUNT IN DUTCHESS COUNTY.-No. 3. 
Farm of Mr. Taler. —This is one of the finest 
Amrj toot o©otiov»o of in Dutc-litoD 
County. Mr. T.’s residence stands on the top 
and near the centre of Chetsnut Ridge, which 
spreads out here like a broad, slightly rolling 
plain, and then gently descends in nearly every 
direction to the surrounding valleys. The. 
farm comprises 400 acres, and, like those in the 
neighborhood, is devoted mainly to grazing. 
One large field of this farm has never been 
plowed, and others have not had a furrow drawn 
through them for many years. The land is kept 
quite free from weeds, and is otherwise in ex¬ 
cellent condition. 
The principal stock kept here is steers, which 
Mr. T. usually purchases from the drovers in 
the'fall, and keeps them from eight to twelve 
months, when he sells them to the New-York 
butchers. He had a superb lot of about sixty 
head when we were there in August, which he 
had just sold for the city market, at an average 
price of $73 50 per head. He paid $45 for them 
last fall, which leaves him a profit of $27 50 
each. These had more or less short-horn blood 
in them. Grade steers are found to be much 
more profitable for feeding than the unimproved 
natives. 
In addition to the above, Mr. Taber keeps 
some excellent thorough-bred short-horns. Of 
the cows, Aurora, 2d, bred by Mr. Lathrop, of 
Massachusetts, is one of the finest; she is also 
a great milker. He has several animals that he 
purchased of Mr. Vail, and were bred from 
them, which are good milkers. His bull, Back¬ 
woodsman, is a superb animal. He was bred 
by Mr. Walton, of Canada West, and was got 
by Brilliant, out of Young Favorite, by Comet, 
&c. He won the first prize ($25) in class of 
bulls over three years old, at the Cattle Show of 
the American Institute, October, 1852, and was 
also winner the same year of the first prize at 
the Show of the Dutchess County Agricultural 
Society. 
We found some nice Suffolk pigs here, a great 
variety of pear and other fruit trees in full bear¬ 
ing, and a choice garden. 
Mr. Taber is an excellent farmer, and a great 
friend of all judicious improvements. It was ow¬ 
ing to his exertions principally, and those of a few 
other spirited associates, that funds were raised 
for putting up the buildings and fencing the 
grounds at Washington Iloilow, for the accommo¬ 
dation of the Dutchess County Annual Cattle 
Show and Fair. The main building is 50 by 80 
feet, and two stories high. It is very conveni¬ 
ent for the purpose; handsome, and well put 
together. We think permanent buildings are 
the most desirable for County Societies. It is 
easy to fix upon the most convenient spot 
to erect them in a county, and the distance from 
this to the extreme ends is not so great as to 
deter any one favorably disposed from attending. 
We find those County Societies which have 
erected permanent buildings for their fairs are 
the most prosperous and best off. 
Farm of Mr. Haviland. —This also is mainly 
devoted to grazing. The improved stock kept 
here is principally long-woolled sheep, of which 
Mr. H. has an excellent flock. Some of them 
are very large, and we found all covered with 
thick, heavy fleeces. This is a great consideration 
with wool-growers, and it is too often neglected 
even among high-bred flocks. It makes no 
small difference with the farmer whether he 
gets a large or small yield of wool from his sheep, 
as the cost of keep between a heavy or light- 
fleeced animal is generally in davor of the former. 
This may seem singular, but such is the fact, 
owing principally, we have no doubt, to his 
being the hardiest. No sheep will go through 
our long rough winters that has not a good 
thick fleece over him, to guard his body from 
pelting sleet and snow, and keep out the cold 
biting winds. The lambs from such sheep 
are hardier, and more easily reared; and we 
may set this down as the experience of the 
largest and best flock-masters, that sheep with 
thin, light fleeces are little if any more than 
half as profitable as those producing thick, 
heavy fleeces. 
ROOT CROPS.—SOILING CATTLE. 
BY J. S. HOUGHTON, M. D. 
While at Dunkirk, N. Y., a few days ago, I 
visited the famous Risley Seed Gardens, at Fre- 
donia, now under the care of Messrs. U. E. 
Dodge & Co. I learned from Mr. Dodge a 
practical fact, in relation to the cultivation of 
the beet, as adapted to the soiling of cattle and 
winter feed, which I believe is somewhat new, 
and may prove useful to some of your readers. 
Mr. Dodge says he considers that the beet far 
surpasses the carrot as winter feed for cattle, 
and it has another merit which renders it nearly 
equal to corn fodder for summer soiling, viz.: 
the large amount of leaves which may be re¬ 
moved during the chief period of its growth, 
not only without injury, but with decided ad¬ 
vantage to the root. 
The first large, rough leaves of the blood beet, 
Mr. Dodge says, (and many may have noticed,) 
invariably fall down and rot off, before or about 
the time the root begins to increase materially 
in size. New leaves are constantly forming, and 
the old leaves decaying. Mr. Dodge says, that 
as soon as the first large leaves are formed, a 
man may go along the rows of a plant, and 
break off all the leaves except two or three 
small sprouts on the crown of the root, and in 
five minutes may collect a bushel of leaves, 
which, as food for cows, are unsurpassed by 
clover, corn fodder, or any other green succulent 
food. This practice may be continued on the 
beet field for three months or more, and the 
beet will all the time thrive as well, and even 
better, for the shortening and trimming of the 
leaves thus performed. 
Mr. D., from some experience in the matter, 
estimates that the green food necessary to fod¬ 
der six cows for three months , may be obtained 
from the leaves of an acre of beets, and still the 
roots will be as good if not better than if no 
suen food had been taken from the field. We 
have examined some of the beets from which 
Mr. D. has broken the leaves for his cows, and 
compared them with other beds near by, from 
which no leaves had been taken, and cannot 
perceive that the roots have been at all injured 
by the process, if indeed they are not really 
benefited. He thinks it increases the size and 
yield of the root. This certainly is an important 
source of green food for the owners of smal 1 
farms or gardens near the large towns and 
cities, who wish to keep cows for their own 
families or for dairy purposes. 
An important advantage of the beet over 
turnips is, that it imparts no disagreeable flavor 
to the milk and butter, and is kept over winter 
quite as easily as the turnip. Mr. D. places his 
beets on the ground, in rows, about a bushel in 
a pile, the piles close together, and covers with 
straw and about twelve or fifteen inches of earth. 
He says they keep in that way, perfectly sound 
until spring. 
He thinks the beet is grown with more cer¬ 
tainty than the carrot or turnip ; requires less 
weeding; gives a better yield per acre; is more 
easily dug and pulled ; keeps better; increases 
the production of milk and butter; and has su¬ 
perior fattening properties. He advises three 
kinds to be grown—the large red, the long 
blood, and the sugar-beet. The large red is 
from the Patent Office. 
Philadelphia, Sept. 17, 1853. 
We have frequently seen articles like the 
above in American and European journals, re¬ 
commending the leaves of beets as food for 
stock, and we do not doubt what Mr. Dodge 
says above; but we think it no more than fair 
to add, that we have cultivated the beet exten¬ 
sively ourselves for years; that we have repeat¬ 
edly fed our cattle, sheep, and swine on the 
leaves as recommended above, yet they invaria¬ 
bly scoured them badly, much to their injury. 
We have tried the leaves in various stages of 
their growth, fresh plucked from the growing 
roots, and fed them under the most advantage¬ 
ous circumstances; still, always with the same 
result. We have also tried salting the leaves, 
and mixing them with other food, yet wc thought 
they injured our animals rather than benefited 
them. Boiling the leaves would doubtless ob¬ 
viate scouring; this, however, would hardly pay 
for the trouble in our country. 
Mr. Dodge speaks of putting his beets in piles 
of one bushel each; we have often done it in 
heaps of 100 to 300 bushels each, and never 
found any trouble-in keeping them. They are 
rather apt to grow in mild winter weather, and 
it would be safest probably not to make the 
heaps over 100 bushels each. Give them a 
conical form, and be very careful to have seve¬ 
ral air-holes on the top; see also that the ground 
on which the heaps are made is dry. 
