252 
AMERICAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
[July, 
Turnips—Their Place on the Farm. 
The amount of turnips -which may be raised 
upon an acre of good land is very great, yet 
other crops may produce more nutriment, for 
a very largo proportion of the root is water. 
Nevertheless, were the question to be, ITow 
may the greatest quantity of foorl be produced 
upon an acre after the first of July? we should 
liardly hesitate in saying, by sowing common 
turnips in drills, 14 to 20 inches apart, accord¬ 
ing to the soil. Turnips are always good to 
have, but their quick growth and our ability to 
sow them as a second crop—after taking off 
potatoes, grain, onions, or corn, (being sowed 
at the last hoeing,) etc.,—make them an inval¬ 
uable aid to the farmer in supplying deficiencies 
in either grain, hay, I’oots, or anj^ kind of forage. 
Superphosphate of lime is required as a specific 
for turnips, and on any tolerably good soil, 500 
pounds will almost insure a fine crop. Lime, 
ashes, plaster, guano, bone dust, are-each excel¬ 
lent in moderate quantities, harrowed in before 
sowing, or scattered broadcast, when the crop 
is hoed. On sward land it is best to turn under 
some fresh manure to insure fermentation and 
quicker rotting of the sod. Turnips may be 
sown at anytime in Juljq and should be thinned 
to, at least, 6 inches apart. There are no better 
varieties than the Cow-horn, and Purple-top 
Strap-Leaf—the former long, the latter flat. 
Broadcast sowing gives poor results compared 
with drilling in the seed with a machine. 
Walks and Talks on the Farm.— No. 43. 
Farmers in this section are wuaking up on the 
subject of underdraining. The Rochester Brick 
and Tile Co. have sold every tile they had— 
culls and all. I wanted a load the other dajq 
but not a tile was to be had. The fact is an 
encouraging one. Underdraining is the first 
step in improved farming, and the farmer who 
makes one drain is pretty sure to keep on till 
the w'hole farm is drained. And this is not all. 
Other improvements are sure to follow. He can, 
and will, plow earlier. The crops wull be sown 
in good season. He will feel encouraged, and 
this in itself is a great point gained. The pros¬ 
pect of a good crop leads to renewed efforts. 
Weeds will be killed before they obtain full 
possession of the ground. The cultivator will 
be kept moving. The effect is soon seen on the 
crops, and (heir luxuriant growth cheers the 
farmer, and he will put forth an energy that 
will surprise none more than himself. 
Some years ago we used to have what was 
then called “a lightning express” train from 
Albany to Buffalo. It made few stops and ran 
at great speed. Everything gave way to it. 
The engineer and conductor had a pride in 
making good time, and generally succeeded. 
But one day, when Henry Ward Beecher hap¬ 
pened to be on board, something gave way 
about the engine, which delayed them half an 
hour. They lost the right of way, and he des¬ 
cribes the changed aspect of passengers and 
officials in his own inimitable style: The engine 
was the same embodiment of energy and power. 
But instead of the proud and noble steed that 
commanded the admiration of all its fellows, 
whose coming was looked for with interest, and 
to whom all other trains respectfully stood 
aside, it moved on in an uncertain, sneaking 
sort of way, waiting at this station for a dirty 
cattle train, and at the next for a slow string of 
dingy coal cars. It was capable of great things, 
but had lost the right of way, and fell behind 
later and later. The few minutes lost became 
hours. It was no use grumbling. The other 
trains were not to blame ; they were on time. The 
trouble arose from the lost half hour. No effort 
could make up for this. It is just so in farming. 
This spring I proposed sowing forty acres of 
barley and oats. The first half of April was de¬ 
lightful weather, and we got about a dozen acres 
of land in good order, and drilled in the barley 
on the 18th of April. I had eight acres more that 
were plowed last fall, that I thought of getting in 
Avithout again plowing. But there were some 
potato heaps on the land Avhich had been cov¬ 
ered with manure. This Ave spread on the land, 
and Ave found that neither the gang-plow nor 
the cultivator Avould make a good job of it, and 
Ave Avere obliged to ploAA^ This Avas on the 20th 
of April. But for this, Ave could have got in the 
barley, as the Aveather was splendid. On the 
22d of April it snoiced. The next day it rained, 
and the next. We managed to plow on sod for 
potatoes, but could not Avork the barley land. 
On the 28th of April Ave had ice half an inch 
thick. May came in Avith a severe rain storm, 
and it Avas only by Avatching our opportunities 
that Ave -were able to get in the barley this Aveek. 
After that it was rain, rain, rain ! We were off 
the track. Had the land been all drained, and 
had Ave plowed more last fall, the barley and oats 
could have been put in during the fine Aveather 
in April. But Ave missed the opportunity, and 
no after efforts were of any avail. We had lost 
the right of Avay. The rains Avere not so bad. 
Had the barley been in, and the land drained, 
they Avould have done more good than harm. 
As it was, Ave had to give up all idea of soAving 
barley and finally of sowing oats. There Avas 
nothing for it but to plant the land with 
corn. Part of the field was soavu and seeded 
down, and it is a serious inconvenience to plant 
corn on the other part, and not to be able to 
seed it doAvn. It gives me more work than I 
had calculated for this year, and next year part 
of the land wull be in grass and the other part 
in crops. And all this for want of a little un¬ 
derdraining. It is no use to •complain about 
the weather. Better anticipate such seasons and 
be prepared for them. 
But farmers are improving. There can be no 
doubt about it. They are underdraining more, 
and working their land better. At present 
prices, farm products will pay for good culture, 
and the prospects are favorable. I feel quite 
encouraged, and expect to see agriculture com¬ 
mand the intelligence and capital Avhich its im¬ 
portance demands. 
The Doctor says he was talking, the other 
day, Avith one of the oldest and most experienced 
millers in Western New York, and he remarked 
that it Avas “ surprising how the quality of our 
Avheat Avas affected for the worse by the practice 
of manuring the land instead of ploAving in 
clover.” There may be some truth in this obser¬ 
vation, simply from the fact that the manure Ave 
use is not Avorthy of the name. It is composed 
principally of straAV and corn stalks, and Avhat 
little plant food it originally contained is half 
Avashed away before it gets back to the land. 
But the idea that rich, carefully preserved ma¬ 
nure will not produce wheat of as good quality 
as green cloAmr ploAved under, is contrary to 
sound theory and practical experience. The 
truth is, that too many fiirmers neither manure 
their land nor ploAV in clover, and of course 
there is a great falling off in the quantity and 
quality of the Avheat. To make clover into hay 
and sell it, is one of the sui’est methods of im¬ 
poverishing the farm. It is a good deal Avorse 
even than selling timothy hay or straw. It is 
almost as bad as raising turnips and selling 
them. Whether it is better to ploAV under clo¬ 
ver or to make it into hay and return the ma¬ 
nure, depends on circumstances. .PloAving it 
under is the quickest method of enriching the 
land. But consuming it on the land by sheep, 
or making it into hay and returning the manure, 
accomplishes the same object in the end, and you 
get the value of the food in addition. There is a 
little loss, but not enough to affect the question. 
I got a letter to-day from a subscriber of the 
Agriculturist, asking w’hether I still used True’s 
Potato Planter, and whether I would advise him 
to get one to plant three acres. The Planter 
does the work as Avell as can reasonably be ex¬ 
pected. Last year I planted three acres Avith it, 
and the remainder of the field by hand, and, if 
anything, that planted by the machine Avas the 
better crop, owing to the sets being larger. The 
machine cuts the potatoes, drops them and coa"- 
ers them, all at one operation, and it wull plant 
five or six acres in a day. The objection to it 
is that you require round potatoes, and they 
should be all of the same size. When you have 
a good many potatoes to plant, and it is difficult 
to get extra hands, the Planter Avill prove Amry 
useful. I have just finished planting twenty 
acres of potatoes, but did not use the machine, 
not because it does not Avork Avell, but because 
I Avanted to use smaller potatoes than it is safe 
to cut Avith the machine. Larger sized potatoes 
are doubtless better for seed, but I had a quan¬ 
tity of potatoes that were rather too small to sell 
well, and concluded to plant them. I think it 
better to plant good sized potatoes, but I Avas 
offered a dollar a bushel for all the marketable 
potatoes, and concluded to risk small seed. For 
a year or tAVO at least, the yield of potatoes de¬ 
pends a good deal more on the richness of the 
soil, and on good culture, than on the size of 
the seed. Another reason Avhy l did not use the 
Planter, was that it drops the seed in drills, and 
Amu can only cultivate one Avaj^ I think this 
not a serious objection, but it is easier to dig the 
potatoes Avhen in hills than wdien in drills. And 
the great labor of the potato crop is in digging. 
A really good potato digger is much needed. I 
dug several acres Avith one last fall, but it did 
not work at all satisfiictorily, and I have seen 
none that do. As a general rule, where you 
have only a few acres to plant, either of corn or 
potatoes, it is hardly wmrth while attempting 
to do it by machinery. 
The best thing I have tried for sore shoulders 
in horses is crude petroleum. It seems to have 
great healing properties. I had been using it 
for paint, merely rubbing it on the wmod Avith a 
rag, and was astonished Iioav soon a sore, that 
happened to be on my hand, got wmll. Since 
then I have used it for sores of all kinds on ani¬ 
mals, and am satisfied that it is excellent. I rub 
it, not merely on the sore itself, but for some 
distance round it. It has a slight exciting action 
on the skin for a few minutes, and, when rubbed 
on the parts near the sore, probably has a ten¬ 
dency to scatter the inflammation. 
Petroleum, just noAV, is one of my hobbies. 
Dr. Eddy took out a patent for its use as a 
paint for preserving wood, and gave me a “ farm 
right.” If he wmuld be equally generous Avith 
other farmers, I Avould advise every one of them 
to buy a barrel of petroleum at once, and use it 
freely. That it Avill preserve Avood I have no 
doubt, although, of course, I have not used it 
long enough to ascertain the fact. It is just the 
