so 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Jan. 
sun’s rays, on a moist, stiff subsoil, harden it, and render 
it unfit for the roots of plants. 
Remember I am speaking of a stiff clay, or wet 
meadow ground. My plan is to plow late in the fall, 
with a large plow, when the ground is wet, twelve in¬ 
ches deep, and throw the subsoil on the top as much as 
possible. It may freeze or thaw two or three times, in 
the course of the winter. In the spring, that which 
before looked as if it was very unsuitable for the growth 
of plants, is now changed, crumbling all to pieces, and 
readily mingling with the top-soil. Here, you have 
new land again, and as soon as it is dry, you may pre¬ 
pare it for whatever crop you think proper. If your 
object is to improve the land, leave it for rye, in Au¬ 
gust. or wheat, in September. Be sure never to work 
it when very wet, in summer. Harrow in April, plow 
in May, harrow in June, and again before sowing. Put 
on eight quarts of timothy to the acre in the fall, and 
the same quantity of clover in the spring. Again, I 
say, if you want to improve the soil, have a good coat 
of grass to turn down the next time. 
In December, 1847, I plowed about eight acres, from 
eleven to twelve inches deep, part of which had a 
dressing of sand and lime. It was planted to corn. 
We have just done taking it in. It made twelve bar¬ 
rels to the acre, which is at least a fourth more than 
any field in the neighborhood, worked in the common 
way, where the plowing is done about six inches deep. 
I should be decidedly in favor of making the time of 
plowing late in the fall, or just before frost sets in, as 
this will apply to different climates, and, as I said be¬ 
fore, the wetter the better—the work to be done at one 
plowing, which can only be done in this part of the 
country when the ground is wet. We cannot plow 
twelve inches at any other time, and, besides, we are 
opposed to plowing while the ground is wet in summer. 
I was so pleased with the article before alluded to, 
that I could not refrain from noticing it, and if any hint 
has been given that will tend to illustrate the subject, 
I shall be gratified. Wm. Todd. Utica Mills, Frede¬ 
rick county , Md. 
Comparative Value oi Crops. 
We have received from John W. Proctor, Esq. 
the report of the committee of which he was chair¬ 
man, appointed by the Essex County (Mass.) Agri¬ 
cultural Society, to consider the “comparative value of 
crops as food for cattle.” From the want of actual 
data, the remarks of the committee are given rather 
as suggestions, than as the embodiment of ascertained 
results. The subject is one of very great importance, 
and any observations tending to elicit- facts in regard 
to it, must be useful. 
We give the following remarks from the report in 
regard to the comparative value of beets and car¬ 
rots. As to the production of milk from the sugar 
beet, we found in a trial of them, several years since, 
with three cows, that though the quantity of milk was 
as great as when the cows were fed with the same 
quantity of potatoes, the amount of butter obtained 
was considerably less. The beets did not impart rich¬ 
ness to the milk: 
“'Carrots and beets are cultivated to some extent to 
help out the feed of our animals. Is there any one 
of our farmers who can answer with confidence, which 
of these is most worthy of cultivation? Satisfactory 
experiments to determine this would be of great value. 
We have used them both, to some extent, and will 
state such impressions as have arisen from this use. 
We have found the sugar beet one of the very best 
vegetables for the production of milk; far superior to 
the carrot —which is thought by some to be the very 
best of feed for milch cows. We have found the carrot 
better for fattening than for increasing the milk of 
animals. We speak of the sugar beet, in preference 
to the blood beet, because it grows more abundantly. 
There are other considerations to be taken into view, 
in determining which of these vegetables is most worthy 
of cultivation, as well as the effect on the animals fed 
by them. We have found the carrot to yield the most, 
and to leave the land in the best condition, especially 
for the succeeding crop. Almost all other crops will 
grow well after the carrot ; few will grow well after 
the beet. The carrot will grow well successively, 
year after year; the beet will not. The carrot requires 
less manure than the beet. What kind of crop, therefore, 
it will be most judicious to plant, will depend upon the 
combined consideration of the quality of the article 
grown; the labor and expense of growing; and the 
contemplated future use of the land. In our remarks 
upon the comparative cultivation of the beet and carrot, 
we do not intend to speak with that confidence, which 
should be a rule for others; all we intend is, to induce 
others, if possible, to make such observations, as will 
relieve them from the uncertainty under which we 
labor.” 
The report gives the following judicious remarks in 
regard to feeding stock: “Our impressions are, that a 
mixture of feed is preferable to any one kind exclusive¬ 
ly. English hay should be the basis for winter, and 
Indian corn or meal the first 7 accompaniment. Vege¬ 
tables may be advantageously used, when combined 
with Indian meal. No stock can be fed, in the most 
successful manner, without a fair portion of this indis¬ 
pensable ingredient. It is to the animal, what steam 
power is to the traveller, the most certain means of 
going ahead. But whatever may be the kind of food 
used for the feeding of cattle, of this we feel confident, 
that it should not be sparingly used. Feed full, or not 
at all, is our motto. It is the worst possible economy 
to scrimp the feed of cattle, or to attempt to impose 
upon them a kind of food of ordinary or mean quality. 
How much time is annually wasted in gathering in the 
coarser grasses from the meadows, and forcing them 
down the gullets of animals, when their knees have hard¬ 
ly strength sufficient to support their emaciated bodies. 
If such kind of feed is to be used at all, it should be 
chopped and mixed with something nutritive, So that 
the animal may strengthen and thrive thereby. He 
that withholds from his beasts any portion of a full and 
generous feed, whatever may be the use he contem¬ 
plates to make of them, in the same proportion dimin¬ 
ishes his own income.” 
Farming and Fishing on Long Island. 
My farm lies on the east end of Long Island, in the 
town of Southold, Suffolk county. It consists of eighty 
acres, ten of which are salt meadow, the residue good 
tillable land. We get from 100 to 200 bushels of po¬ 
tatoes, or 50 bushels of corn per acre. After these 
crops are off, in the fall, we usually sow wheat with 
timothy and clover. Wheat yielded last harvest, 28 
to 35 bushels per acre. We iikewise raise large quan¬ 
tities of Russia turneps, [ruta-baga?] which are sent 
to the New-York market, and fetch from 25 to 50 cents 
per bushel. They yield from 300 to 600 bushels per 
acre. 
Last year I had six acres in potatoes, six in corn, 
six in wheat, two in rye, three and a half in oats, one 
and a half in turneps. I raised 170 bushels of wheat, 
30 of rye, 150 of oats, 300 of corn, 850 of potatoes, 
300 of turneps. I cut 20 tons of upland hay, and 10 
tons of salt meadow. I have kept six cows, one yoke 
of working oxen, eight yearlings, four calves, three 
horses, one yearling colt, and twelve sheep. I sold a 
yoke of oxen in June, for $154. I fatted one yoke o* 
