182 
EXPERIMENTS WITH RUTA BAGAS. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH RUTA BAG-AS. 
Last fall, I gathered from one and a half acres 
1.200 bushels of ruta bagas, and the whole cost, 
when in the cellar, was two cents per bushel. 
The season was particularly unfavorable to 
their growth, as the dry weather set in as soon 
as they were out of the ground, and continued 
for six weeks. At the end of that time, they 
looked so badly, that I did not expect to have 
200 bushels; but the weather grew more favor¬ 
able, and gave me the above yield, which I have 
been feeding out this winter to sheep, milch 
cows, fat cattle, and breeding sows, to my satis¬ 
faction, as to their great value for feeding this 
kind of stock. 
I am convinced that I can winter sheep better 
with half the cost on hay and ruta bagas, than 
on hay and grain. Sows, intended for rearing 
pigs, will do better on ruta bagas and a little 
grain, than when fed entirely on grain. 
I also proved by experiment, this winter, that 
fat cattle will grow faster on eight quarts of 
grain and one bushel of ruta bagas, than on six¬ 
teen quarts of grain and no ruta bagas. Milch 
cows, when fed regularly on good sound ruta 
bagas, give large quantities of milk and butter; 
and when they have been fed for eight days, 
there cannot be discovered any taste of the root 
neither in the milk nor butter. Our butter made 
this winter on hay and ruta bagas, is as good 
flavored and nearly as yellow as that made in 
June. In my opinion, this crop is one of the 
most profitable that a stock farmer can raise. 
Valentine Hallock. 
Northeast Centre , N. Y., April , 1850. 
-- 
AGRICULTURE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
New Hampshire is more famous for its gran¬ 
ite foundation, beautiful and sublime lake and 
mountain scenery, than for any remarkable 
fertility of soil, or exuberance of vegetable pro¬ 
ducts. Thousands upon thousands are attracted 
hither annually; but it is more to view our 
beautiful sheets of water, upheaved masses of 
granite, and to be regaled by our delicious 
mountain air, than to witness extended fields of 
waving grain, or the numerous other products, 
which other regions produce almost in sponta¬ 
neous perfection. The stranger loves to indulge 
in his merry jokes, and represent us as “ sharp¬ 
ening our sheep’s noses—as shooting our grain 
into the earth among the rocks—how the cattle 
shed tears in the pastures, and grasshoppers 
pine away on mullen stalks, &c.” 
It is true, we have no corn cribs three miles in 
length , nor corn fields of thousands of acres. 
The fertile prairie is not here, nor the deep bot¬ 
toms of the west. Our corn and grain fields are 
often but “ patches,” still, we are not the poorest 
of the poor. Our labor is not unrewarded, nor 
our tables scantily spread. The fact is, we have 
some of the best soils in the country, some that 
is poor enough, and every variety between. 
Some of it requires much labor and expense to 
reclaim and subdue it; but every additional 
amount of labor, judiciously applied, yields ad¬ 
ditional product. If nature has been less lavish, 
industry supplies the deficiencies, so that in 
physical comforts, we may challenge comparison 
with others who boast a richer inheritance. 
We have no cause to be ashamed of our pro¬ 
ductions, that is, those adapted to our climate 
and soil. Fifty, sixty, and even eighty bushels 
of corn to the acre, are no very uncommon 
crops, and in fact, one hundred and thirty-five 
bushels have been raised ! Twenty-five and 
thirty bushels of wheat are sometimes produced, 
which is more than thousands of acres in Ohio 
can boast of, according to her agricultural re¬ 
ports. Nor are our domestic animals of inferior 
or ugly growth. Our best beef and pork, butter 
and cheese will disgrace no market. Our best 
wool is eagerly bought up and manufactured 
into the finest fabrics; and doubtless some fash¬ 
ionable beau is now arrayed in it, who does 
not dream that he is indebted for it to a state 
which he has pronounced too mean to “ keep 
grasshoppers from starvation.” The apple and 
various other fruits find no more genial climate. 
Nor is our water power elsewhere surpassed on 
streams of equal size. 
It is believed this state is not backward in the 
improvements that are going on in agriculture. 
The true principles of farming are becoming 
more understood and better applied. Old prej¬ 
udices are giving way, and men are seeking for 
light. Farming may never be so profitable 
here as in some other sections; yet we have 
the foundation for a successful husbandry. We 
have the rich interval, (bottom,) and the fer¬ 
tile swell; and even our pine plains, which 
have been considered almost worthless, are 
found to yield a good return, when subsoiled 
and manured with ashes and swamp mud. 
There are farmers in this state, who sell from 
moderate-sized farms, $1,000 to $2,000 worth of 
produce annually, and have left a supply for 
home consumption. We have a State Agricul¬ 
tural Society and several flourishing county 
societies. 
I have no wish to boast what the state can do, 
but am disposed to defend her agricultural char¬ 
acter. If we have industry, intelligence, and 
morality, what have we to fear ? There is no 
necessity of emigrating to a land of unbounded 
fertility, in order to enjoy the comforts, and 
even the luxuries of life. One of the pleasures 
of farming is, to be making constant improve¬ 
ments—to see useful plants taking the place of 
thistles, brambles, brakes, (ferns,) and other 
things that incumber the ground. Such im¬ 
provements are visible on every hand; and if 
they constitute the pleasure of farming, wherein 
is the west better than the east ? The true im¬ 
provements cost something here, but the prox¬ 
imity to market and facilities of transportation 
will reward a liberal outlay. Both sections are 
wanted for the millions that are to arise and 
people the land. Let us leave them the inheri¬ 
tance of a country beautified by the hand of in¬ 
dustry, furnishing “ pleasant places” for happy 
homes. 
The true philosophy of farming, I understand 
to be, to increase our crops, at the same time 
that we increase the fertility of the soil. This, I 
conceive to be the perfection of husbandry, and 
