f or Il)c Ucnnuv 
FARMING FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. 
No. 38. 
HENRY STEWART. 
Root Crops. 
The next crops in importance to grass and 
grain are roots. With these, potatoes are gen¬ 
erally included, although these are not roots, 
but tuberous enlargements of underground 
stems. Besides potatoes ihere are usually- 
grown turnips, rutabagas, mangels, beets, 
carrots and parsnips. Turnips are related to 
the cabbage tribe of plants; rutabagas are a 
species of turnip, brought from Sweden and 
Russia, and sometimes called Swede turnips; 
mangels are a species of beet, but not so sweet 
as the sugar beet. This root is largely culti¬ 
vated in Europe for making sugar, and the 
French and Germans procure all their sugar 
and molasses from it. It is grown for the 
same purpose to a small extent in America, 
but it does not seem to become so profitable as 
our more cheaply grown Southern sugar cane. 
Carrots and parsnips are not often grown as 
field crops, except in market farms and gar¬ 
dens; but their great value for feeding render 
them a very desirable crop for farm culture. 
Only good farmers grow roots in large 
quantities, because they require rich soil, 
plenty of manure and ground free from 
weeds, which would choke the plants when 
young and small and prevent their growth. 
But a good crop of roots supplies a larger 
amount of fodder than any other crop that 
can be grown. A yield of 30 or 40 tons of 
turnips or mangels per acre is by no means 
unusual with farmers who know how to grow' 
them; and 30 tons or 00,000 pounds per acre, 
would furnish one cow or ox with 00 pounds 
per day for 1,000 days or nearly three years. 
No other crop that is grown will support an 
animal for this long period of time. 
As roots are usually fed in the Winter when 
the other feed is dry, the fresh, juicy roots are 
then very acceptable to the stock and servo to 
keep them in the best of health, when, with¬ 
out them, the dry feed would not be so health¬ 
ful. On this account mangels and Iteets are 
grown for feeding cows for the dairy in the 
Winter, and turnips and rutabagas are 
grown for feeding to sheep and oxen, or to 
beeves that are fattening for the butcher. 
The latter are not desired for dairy cows be¬ 
cause they possess a strong flavor and give a 
disagreeable taste to the milk and butter. 
Roots are grown in drills, usually 24 to 30 
inches apart, so as to permit them to be kept 
clean with the cultivator or the horse-hoe. 
The seed is sow'n in the drills either by hand 
or with a machine made for the purpose, and 
much thicker than is actually needed for the 
plants to grow'. This is done to get a good 
stand; or a sufficient number of plants so close 
together in the drills that the surplus may be 
cut out with a hoe and leave a regular row of 
plants at even distances apart, and from eight 
to tw'elve inches. If the seed w’ere sown only 
at this distance apart some would fail to grow', 
others would be destroyed by flies or cut¬ 
worms or grubs and then there would be many 
vacant spaces w'hich would greatly lesson the 
yield. For this reason several times as much 
seed is sown as would really lie required, but 
the cost of the seed is of small account as com¬ 
pared with the value of a full crop. Of man¬ 
gel seed, about six pounds per acre is sown; of 
sugar beets, about 12 pounds; of turnips, 
about four pounds; of rutabagas, about four 
pounds, and of carrots about two or three 
pounds. Mangels and beets are sown the ear¬ 
liest; usually earlj in Muy; carrots are sown 
in May or June; rutabagas in June or early in 
July; and turnips in August. The reasons for 
this variation in time of sowing are that man¬ 
gels and beets are tender and require the Sum¬ 
mer heat of the sun to force their growth; 
while turnips are not injured by light frosts 
and thrive better in the cool Fall weather than 
in the hot Summer; besides the turnip is a 
rapid growing plant and if sow'n iu May or 
June it would become too old and perhaps run 
to seed before Fall; and this would destroy 
the value of the root for feeding. 
THE HORTICULTURAL CLUB. 
SECOND DISCUSSION. 
Topic. Orchard Fruits; Their Management 
for Winter Use, Best Varieties, etc. 
The second meeting was called to order by 
the Chairman—Uncle Mark. He said the im¬ 
portance of the question about to be discussed 
could not well be overestimated. It is not 
enough to have apples, plums and pears, but 
W'e should have the beat varieties of them, such 
as will taste, look and keep the best. We want 
not only the best varieties, but we should 
know how to keep them so that we may enjoy 
them, even the year around. Nothing is 
healthier at any season of the year than good, 
sound, ripe fruit, and this is especially true at 
the Spring season. While there are some ap¬ 
ples, such as the Golden Russet, which has 
good keeping qualities of its own, proper 001*6 
in packing, and keeping in a temperature just 
above the freezing point, will enable us to 
keep almost any good Winter varieties much 
longer than we commonly do. For late Win¬ 
ter use the Baldwin, Golden Russet, Belmont, 
Ben Davis and Danver’s Winter Sweet apples 
may be I’ecoro mended. 
Nellie McIntyre —Of our varieties I con¬ 
sider the Wagener the best. For Winter use 
we prefer the Baldwin, Spitzenburg, Ben Da¬ 
vis and English Russet, Apples should be 
carefully picked and put in the cellar on shal¬ 
low box-shelves, where they may be easily 
assorted. 
Henry Welfare —Apples should be packed 
in barrels or laid on shelves in the cellar. The 
more leaves the better. The Snow Apple did 
as well with us, this year, as any. The Russet 
and Seek-no-further keep best here in Michi¬ 
gan. 
Rosy Benton —Orchard fmitsare unknown 
to many of us children on the Western prai¬ 
ries, except as we get them in the market. My 
brother Andrew wonders what those cousins 
living in a world of fruit would think to buy 
apples in the market and find, on opening the 
barrels, that the first two layers were large, 
perfect apples and all the others small, imjier- 
fect Ones. That’s the way we find them some¬ 
times. 
The Chairman —The deception just men¬ 
tioned is, I am sorry to say, too commonly 
practiced. Just to make apples sell well some 
dishonest men resort to mean tricks. I hope 
none of the Club will ever think of doing such 
n thing. Honesty, in everything, is the best 
policy, and those who deceive others in pack¬ 
ing fruit will, i hope, realize the fact. If they 
are once found out nobody will buy of them 
the second time, and while they may get a 
good price for one lot, they may get a very 
poor one or none at all after their way of doing 
business is known. 
Aellik Baldwin —We do not grow very 
large apples in this part of Minnesota, but 
among the best are the Wealthy, Minnesota, 
Tetofsky and Duchess of Oldenburg. We have 
excellent varieties of crab apples, such as Ear¬ 
ly Strawberry, Orange, Whitney’s No. 20 and 
Transcendent. The last is subject to the blight 
after a dozen years or so, but it it very fruit¬ 
ful and pays well before the disease affects it. 
Our plums ai e the wild varieties, some of which 
are veiy fine and large. 
W. J. Mason —About eight yeara ago I 
picked some wild plums and planted the 
stones. W hen the little trees came up I took 
good care of them, and now I have plums that 
are as much superior to wild plums us a peach 
is superior to wild grapes. They are very 
large and sweet. Worms make their nests in 
our trees iu the Spring, but I soon clean them 
out by applying a kerosene torch. 
W. D. Herrick— No farmer should be with¬ 
out orchard fruits. Of apples for Summer use 
I think Early Harvest and Strawberry are the 
best; for Autumn, the Pippin and Maiden’s 
Blush; for Winter, Ben Davis, Golden Russet, 
Baldwin and Talman’s Sweet. 
Willie Preston—W e raise a great many 
peal’s and plums. Among the former vve pre¬ 
fer Beurre d’Anjou, Brandywine, Bloodgood, 
Seekel and Bartlett, and among the latter the 
Early Green Gage, Golden Gage, Isabella and 
Miner are good varieties. 
h Rankle Lewis — 1 would like to ask the 
Club if packing apples in sand or in cut straw 
is better than the old method with barrels and 
boxes simply. 
The Cn airman —It is decidedly better. 
Sand-packing is to be commended. Fruit will 
keep longer and fresher than in any other 
way. The apples thus preserved lose less 
water by evaporation, are very free from 
moldiness, and when one happens to decay it 
does not easily affect the others. Straw-pack- 
ing, while it may preserve the fruit as well, is 
quite apt to give it a musty taste if the straw 
gets damp. There is but little advantage in 
wrapping apples in tissuo paper, since, if the 
cellar is damp, mold will develop itself ou the 
paper. Good authorities recommend storing 
iu dark, dump cellars. 
John Morris—T he great secret in keeping 
apples in the Winter is in first packing only 
the perfectly sound fruit. Bruised fruit will 
soon decay and impart disease to that adjacent. 
The practice qf pouring apples, unassorted, 
from the picker’s basket into the barrel in 
which it is to remain is to be deprecated. 
Ihk Chairman—I am ghul to notice an in¬ 
creased interest in these discussions. The 
topic for December 3 will bo “Winter Flowers 
for the Parlor: how and what to propagate.” 
n » _ 
A PROPOSITION. 
“ All work and no play makes Jack a dull 
boy,” but it is no worse than all play and no 
work, if it is as bad; iu fact, I’d rather raise 
my little ones on the work. I think they 
would be more apt to make good men and 
women, yet I love to see them play and hear 
them laugh, for 
“ The laugh of a child, so wild and so free, 
Is the merrleBt Bound on the earth to me 
and no child better enjoys a romp and play 
than the one who has learned his lessons well, 
or finished any task. 
I am much interested in your Horticultural 
Club; hope you will take good care of your 
gardens, and share your surplus with those 
w'lio have not your advantages. Now if Uncle 
Mark will not let me join because I’m a 
woman, perhaps he Mill let me get things from 
you and at the same time help you. 1 do all 
kinds of hair-work—make sMitches, curls, 
Match-chains and flowers of hair. I will make 
these, or show hoM' it is done, and let you pay 
me in choice lilies, roses, grape-vines, rasp¬ 
berry or strawberry plants or other plants 
that I have not, if you furnish hair material. 
Many little girls would like to leant, and if 
they M’ill write M'hat they have to spare, und 
the price they wish, I will answer, if we can 
make a bargain. Plants must be well packed 
in damp moss or paper. Some years ago I 
gathered a large lot of floM'er seed and sent all 
over the United States to poor little girls who 
were not able to buy, and I’ve never had more 
satisfaction than in the reading of their hum¬ 
bly thaukful letters. But now I have three 
little ones of my own who M'ant to have fiow r - 
ers "ii<l fruits, and they want to know how to 
to help raise them as soon as they are large 
enough. Maggie Woolman Thomas. 
Kent, Union Co., Iowa. 
A PLEA FOR THE CHILDREN. 
“ Please, papa, can’t I go ?” 
“ 1 M'ish you would quit bothering me about 
going to school. They say Tom Hawkins is 
obliged to sell his farm this Fall, and it will be 
sure to go cheap, for he’s let it go doM-n till 
I'm ashamed to have it adjoining mine; and 
wdiat a nice thing it M’ill be to have this farm 
and that all together.” 
“ But, papa, I’d like so M'ell to go.” 
“Didn’t I tell you that I M’ant to save 
enough to buy that other farm f” said Josiah 
Clover to his daughter Nellie, who wished to 
attend a select school. 
I sat iu the next room seM'iug, and thinking 
how I had heard sister Della coaxing father 
for the same luxury which her daughter Nel¬ 
lie M'as pleading for, and 1 can hear the ansM’er 
yet, almost as if I had just heard it ut¬ 
tered. “ For mercy’s sake stop your bother¬ 
ing me about going to school; stay here and 
mind your own business,” said father. And 
as she grew up to be a young woman how 
often I could hear her sobbing after having 
cried herself almost to sleep, 
A few years after, Jo. Clover took our little 
girl to help him build a home. Six years later 
we sum 1 the sod closing over her grave. Baby 
Nellie M as motherless—another victim to over¬ 
work had gone to rest. Many times did father 
tell me that ho wished he had let his darling 
go to school. I don’t believe she ever got over 
that rough answer. 
Now I dare say I have seen as much of this 
w'orld as many of your readers, and i shall al¬ 
ways insist on giving the children a chance to 
go to school, if they want to. 
Aunt Mollie. 
--♦♦ » 
NOTES. 
The Cousins will doubtless be glad to see 
the report of the meeting of the club in 
this issue. I am more and more impressed 
that we, not I, can make this of much inter¬ 
est, if we are so disposed. For our next dis¬ 
cussion which M’ill occur in four weeks, a sub¬ 
ject on flowers for the Winter has been 
chosen, and I hope that the nieces especially 
"fill take up the subject in a lively manner; 
they will have to or the nophoM's M ill out-do 
them. However, the young ladies have done 
well this Meek. Now, let’s see who says the 
best things about the next topic, the boys or 
the girls. If you don’t know much about the 
culture of house plants, ask your mother or 
aimtor cousin about them. Enlist them all 
in your service, then send to the Rural your 
best opinions. In that way our discussions 
will be interesting. My roil of members is 
increasing wonderfully and bids fair to be a 
much longer one than the former. We want 
every wide-awake boy and girl in the Rural 
family to join us. We should like to hear what 
the Cousins think about our “Discussions.” 
New Members of the Club for Week 
Ending: Oct. 29, 
Lizzie Miller, Emma Beshoar, Fred H. 
AY ebster, Lyman Candee, Bertie Brown, 
Nellie McIntyre, Henry Welfare, W. D. Her¬ 
rick, Grace Ellis, Fred H. Loueks, Pearl 
Roberts, Preston Roberts, S. P. Khull, Clara 
Lindsay, Elinor Baldwin, Geo. Baldwin, Lillie 
Bey than, T. E. Tregomba, Minnie Aiken, 
Graeie Neil, G. G. Curtis, Rosy Bouton, An¬ 
drew Benton, Holla Iiorshiser, Hai’M’ood 
Hershiser, Minnie Knapp, Lillie Pratt, Millie 
Pratt, Daisy Johnston, Miuuie Gunn, Charlie 
Chambers, Ella Chambers, Ella Berlin, Clara 
Abbey, Walter Humphrey, Mary Humphrey 
Alida Humphrey, Martha Henry, Belle Law- 
son, Bertha Lawson, Carry Heeney, Herbert 
Green, Mamie Irwin. 
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