THE CULTIVATOR 
A MONTHLY PUBLICATION, DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE 
I KNOW OF NO PURSUIT IN WHICH MORE REAL AND IMPORTANT SERVICES CAN BE RENDERED TO ANY COUNTRY, THAN BY IMPROVING ITS AGRICULTURE .—Wash. 
Yol. VI. 
NO. 3, WASHINGTON-ST. ALBANY, N. Y. MAY, 1839. 
No. 3. 
Conducted toy J. BUEI, of Albany. 
TERMS.—One Dollar per annum, to be paid in advance. 
Subscriptions to commence with, a volume. 
Special Agents. —L. & R. Hill, Richmond, Va.; Bell & 
Entwisle, Alexandria, D. C.; Gideon B. Smith, Baltimore, 
Md.; Judah Dobson, bookseller, D. Landreith, and M. S. 
Powell, seedsmen, Philadelphia; Israel Post, bookseller, 
88 Bowery, Alex. Smith, seedsman, P. Wakeman, office of 
the American Institute, Broadway, N. York; Hovey & Co 
Merchants’ Row, Boston; Alex. Walsh, Lansingburgh, and 
Wji. Tiiorburn, Albany, gratuitous agents. For general 
list of agents see No. 12, vol. v. 
The Cultivator is subject to common newspaper postage. 
QjT The published volumes are for sale at the subscription price, or, 
if bound, the cost of binding added. The bound volumes may be also 
had of our Agents in the principal cities. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND. 
HF Advertising. «0 
Otf* At the request of many of our patrons, and to 
save the trouble of frequent inquiries, we propose to 
publish short advertisements in our last page, relating 
to farm stock, farm seeds, farm implements, &c. and 
to make up to our customers, at the end of the volume, 
by an extra sheet, the space occupied by advertisements. 
The terms of advertising will be one dollar for ten 
lines, or less, for each tnsertion, which will not be 
deemed extravagant for twenty thousand impres¬ 
sions. Cash in advance. 
The Debt of the Nation. 
The National Debt, we believe, has been wholly paid 
off: hut a new debt has since been created, by some of 
the stales, of a greater amount than the national debt 
ever was According to the late Comptroller Flagg’s 
tables, eighteen of the states have authorized a public 
stock, most of which has already been issued, and prin¬ 
cipally for canals, rail-roads and other internal improve¬ 
ments, of about one hundred and seventy millions of dol¬ 
lars, which is as much a mortgage upon our farms, as 
was the national debt. The interest upon this amount, 
which is ten or twelve millions annually, must be paid 
punctually, and the principal must be paid ultimately. 
And it is well to inquire, who owns this one hundred 
and seventy millions of stock ? To whom are we pay¬ 
ing ten millions of dollars annually as interest? Not, 
we are sorry to say, to members of our national family, 
but to foreigners—who are at least aliens to our coun¬ 
try, if not secretly hostile to its institutions and its pros¬ 
perity. Most of the one hundred and seventy millions 
of American stocks, have been sold in Europe, to pay 
mercantile balances, or to provide the means of making 
improvements, many of which, instead of repaying the 
outlay, are likely for a long time to continue to be a 
drain upon the treasuries of the states which have made 
or are making them. It verily appears to us, that some 
of the states, and our own state among the rest, have 
become deeply infected with the spirit of wild specula¬ 
tion, which so lately caused distress and individual ruin 
to many in our land, impaired public confidence, and 
deranged the ordinary course of business;—and that 
the states, like the individuals, will learn, when too late, 
that prudence is the better part of wisdom. 
No individual can truly exercise the volition of a free¬ 
man, who is deeply involved in debt. He has not al¬ 
ways the power of willing and determining according 
to the dictates of his conscience, or his sense of right. 
He is, though perhaps sometimes unconscious of it, more 
or less subservient to the will of his creditor; because 
he feels conscious that the creditor can harass and 
harm him. Hence, a man with limited means, who is 
under no pecuniary obligations, is more independent, if 
not more honest in his intercourse with society, than 
he who nominally possesses great wealth, but who 
holds a portion of that wealth on the sufferance of others. 
Prudent fathers admonish their sons, as a cardinal rule 
of life, to keep out of debt. It is true that individuals 
sometimes bolt into fortunes, by an adventurous specu¬ 
lation—but they do not always find, when successful, 
what they seek—a contented enjoyment of it. But we 
all know there are ten blanks to a prize in this lottery. 
Wherein does the case of the nation differ from that 
of an individual? A nation is a community of indi¬ 
viduals; and what tvould be prudent in the manage¬ 
ment of a family, would seem to be prudent and politic 
in the management of a state or nation. The head of 
a family often finds it necessary to repress the wild ex¬ 
travagance' of the sons and daughters; and where he 
does not do it, bankruptcy is sometimes the penalty of 
indulgence. And the managers of a state should exer¬ 
cise a like prudence. If they give way to all the wild 
schemes of personal aggrandizement, however plausibly 
concealed under the guise of public improvement, which 
are pressed upon their consideration, in the hope of 
either winning power, or winning fame, we think they 
will betray a great want of prudence, if not a want of 
principle. The policy of a state should be that of a dis¬ 
creet individual—a liberal outlay upon all objects with¬ 
in its legitimate sphere of business—and which pro¬ 
mise at least an ultimate interest upon the capital ex¬ 
pended. No one would commend, in an individual, an 
expenditure which should not only not return him inte¬ 
rest, but which should constitute a lien, and cause a 
perpetual tax upon his posterity. Feeling none of the 
fever of party, we conscientiously declare our belief, 
that millions have been already expended by the state 
of New-York, or the responsibility of payment assumed, 
from considerations unworthy the enlightened patriot, 
which will not, in the present age, pay an interest; hut, 
on the contrary, will operate as an annual drain upon 
our treasury; and that if this system is followed up— 
call it either the wild speculation of enthusiasts, or the 
mad and reckless ambition of party—or the cool calcu¬ 
lation of statesmen—the state will soon be in the con¬ 
dition of the foolish farmer, who, to gratify the weak 
and selfish views of his children, has incurred a greater 
debt than he can pay—and who must toil hard to pay 
the interest on the mortgage which covers his farm.— 
Economy is as commendable in a state as it is in an indi¬ 
vidual ; and though at the present time it may be fashiona¬ 
ble with neither, and may subject to ridicule its advocates, 
it is nevertheless one of the most sterling republican 
virtues, essential alike to individual and to national in¬ 
dependence. It is the parent of plenty, of contentment, 
and of happiness. It is always most safe to err on the 
side of prudence, if we do err at all—for error here 
maybe corrected, butit can seldom be on the side of extra¬ 
vagance. Every legislator, before he incurs a new debt, 
should bear in mind that the state is already pledged for 
forty millions of dollars, and that the mortgages for its 
payment are mostly in the hands of foreign capitalists. 
Our statute books, for the last few years, bring forci¬ 
bly to mind JEsop’s fable of the dog in charge of the 
butcher’s tray, who, unable to defend it from the avidity 
of other curs, said—“Well, then, I may as well have 
my share of the meat,” and fell to accordingly, crying, 
“ Here it goes! there it goes!” 
We insert the following, as matters of useful record. 
The data have been collected and compiled by the late 
Comptroller. The rapid accumulation of debt within 
the last five years cannot but strike the reader with 
astonishment; and if it is considered that the state of N. 
York is already pledged, to the amount of twenty or 
thirty millions, beyond her present debt to complete in¬ 
ternal improvements already authorized ; and that, some 
of these improvements are not likely, for a long time to 
come, if ever, to "pay for repairs, attendance, and the 
interest on the capital loaned—we say, when these mat¬ 
ters are duly considered, it will require no argument of 
ours to show, that we are hastening to a dangerous cri¬ 
sis. Such reckless extravagance in an individual would 
be branded, by common consent, as the highth of folly, 
and as highly demoralizing to society. 
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The debts of the states have been created for the fol¬ 
lowing objects, viz: 
For banking,... $52,640,000 
For canals,. 60,201,551 
For rail-roads,. 42,871,084 
For turnpikes and M’Adam roads,.... 6,618,958 
For miscellaneous objects,. 8,474,684 
$170,806,277 
Root Culture. 
V.—THE TURNIP. 
The turnip culture, it has been remarked, effected as 
great and beneficial a revolution in British husbandry, 
■as the introduction of the steam engine and spinning 
jenny effected in British manufactures. This crop has 
there proved a great source of wealth and fertility. It 
constitutes by far the greatest material for making beef 
and mutton, as well as for enriching, or keeping up, the 
fertility of the soil. From an experience of twenty years, 
in the culture and use of this root, we are persuaded it 
is destined to become the means of great improvement 
in American husbandry, when our farmers become more 
familiar with its culture and mode of preservation and 
feeding. 
In the fourth number of our third volume, we gave 
particular directions for the cultivation of this root, with 
several illustrative cuts, and lor preserving and feeding 
them to farm stock; and in our March number of the 
present volume, we have given an' estimate of the pro¬ 
duct and value of the Swede, compared with other crops 
which we cultivate for feeding and fattening cattle. It 
would be superfluous, to repeat these details here, in¬ 
asmuch as they may readily be referred to. Yet as we 
have many patrons who may not possess our third vo¬ 
lume, we will give some brief directions. 
The Swedish turnip, or ruta baga, has a manifest ad¬ 
vantage over all other varieties of turnip, as cattle food, 
being the most nutritive in their properties, and retaining 
their soundness and richness much the longest. The com¬ 
mon varieties, if drawn, as all turnips must be with us, 
become pithy, or spongy, before mid winter, and lose 
much of their value; while the Swede rather improves, 
by keeping, till February ; and may be fed in a perfect¬ 
ly sound state till June. And it possesses one quality, 
not known, that we recollect, in any other root—that of 
increasing in nutricious matter with increase of size— 
the largest roots being specifically heaviest and richest. 
The reverse of this happens with other roots, particu¬ 
larly with beets, those of medium, or diminutive size, 
being found to contain a much larger proportion of sac¬ 
charine matter than very large ones. For table use, the 
early rock turnip may be sown in the garden, the com¬ 
mon flat or green top for autumn and early winter, 
while the yellow Aberdeen should be chosen for late 
winter and spring use, being the best keeping variety, 
when the ruta baga is either not liked or not to be had. 
All kinds of the turnip like a sandy and a dry soil; and 
the ruta baga, in particular, requires a rich one. We 
have been accustomed to raise the common varieties as 
a second crop, i. e. of sowing upon a grain stubble, with 
a single ploughing and harrowing, after the grain is har¬ 
vested, from the 25th of July to the first of August, 
brushing or lightly harrowing in the seed. The plants 
must be thinned and cleaned with a hoe. They should 
not be left to stand nearer than six or eight inches. If 
sown broadcast, they yield more, and are of a more 
suitable size for the table than if raised in drills. 
A grass ley is best for the Swede. If an old sod, it 
shouid be ploughed in autumn, or early in the spring; 
and it should be dunged and completely pulverised on 
the eve of being planted. If a young clover ley, the 
dung may be spread, ploughed under, the ground har¬ 
rowed, and the seed immediately put in. We usually 
select the latter. We cut the clover by the 25th of June, 
and manure, plough and sow the crop within the ensu¬ 
ing seven days. The seed is generally sown with the 
drill-barrow, at the rate of a pound to two pounds an 
acre. It is preferable to sow thick, on account of the 
fly, and as the crop may be readily thinned when the 
plants are out of danger. 
The turnip fly often commits great depredations up¬ 
on the crop. This, was particularly the case the last 
season. We cannot recommend any certain preventive. 
It has however been stated that mixing the seed with 
sulphur several days before it is to be sown, and then 
sowing the sulphur with the seed, has preserved the crop 
from the fly. If this is so, it is owing to the juices of 
the young plant becoming impregnated with the subtle 
pi operlies of the sulphur, which is obnoxious to every 
species of insect. Another mode, which has been suc¬ 
cessfully tried, is that of collecting the weeds in piles 
around the field, when the seed is sown, and when the 
plants are coming up, to put brimstone and fire upon 
the piles on the windward border, which will continue 
Durning, ordinarily, for some days, and the smoke of 
which expels or destroys the fly. 
In the after culture of the Swede, there is great eccu 
