1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
155 
THE FARMER’S MOTE HOOK. 
Culture of Carrots and Corn for Fodder, &c. 
About the time I commenced doing a little business 
for myself in the way of farming, in the early part of 
1846, a friend of mine solicited me to take the Cultiva¬ 
tor. Not having a ready command of that harsh little 
word wo, I consented as a matter of courtesy to take it 
for one year, as the expense was not very great. At 
the end of the year I was not quite ready to spare the 
Cultivator, and concluded to take it one year more; 
and at the close of 1847, I concluded to subscribe for 
the next volume, and prevailed on two or three of my 
neighbors to “ do likewise.” Is it asked what I have 
found in its pages to repay the trouble of perusing and 
the cost of paying for it ? I reply, that I think I have 
obtained general information relative to the business of 
farming sufficient to compensate me amply . 
At page 217, vol. Ill, I found a description of a 
cheap and useful root cellar, from which I have received 
hints worth more than the price of two years subscrip¬ 
tion. I of course varied the plan to suit circumstances. 
Mine was under a hay barn, 16 ft. by 26. Under one 
half the building the sheep have a shelter, and under 
the other half, 16 by 13, the cellar is located. Of 
course it is not quite as large as that of our Yernon 
friend, but otherwise it is similar to his. The passage 
is through the sheep shelter. It may be well to re¬ 
mark that the barn stands on descending ground, and 
the sheep occupy the lower end, and the cellar is at 
the upper end. 
Carrots are the roots I keep in the cellar, and I will 
just mention my mode of cutting them:—-I made a box 
by taking a piece of plank, say one foot wide, and two 
and a half feet long, nailing pieces of boards one foot 
wide to the sides and ends. A strip of leather nailed 
at each end, to the sides of the box, forms a handle. 
This box is filled with carrots, and by the aid of a com¬ 
mon spade, ground sharp, they are soon “ chopped up,” 
when they are placed in the sheep-troughs and soon 
devoured. For feeding hay I use racks, made by nail¬ 
ing boards to upright pieces of scantling, similar to 
those described by L. A. Morrell. 
When I commenced reading the Cultivator, I found 
the raising of carrots and corn fodder recommended. 
Not being much acquainted with the business, I tried 
a little piece of each in the garden by way of experi¬ 
ment. A neighbor when he saw me weeding the car¬ 
rots, (little things scarce large enough to be seen,) told 
me it looked like u little business,” and that for his 
part he had rather hoe potatoes than trouble himself 
with such small affairs. However, when autumn came 
and he compared his diseased potatoes with my sound 
and rich looking carrots, he seemed to change his opin¬ 
ions. He told me last spring, that he had a piece of 
ground, about fifty square rods, in a tolerable state of 
fertility, and better adapted than mine for growing 
carrots on account of being free from stones; and that 
if I would furnish seed for the whole, I might have the 
use of half of it. I accepted the offer, and the seed 
was procured and planted. A simple barrow or wheel 
was used for marking the ground. The seed was then 
scattered along in the furrows by hand, at the rate of 
perhaps two and a half pounds per acre. Distance of 
drills apart twelve to fifteen inches. The seed was cov¬ 
ered by reversing a hoe, and shoving it over the drills. 
The ground was around the barn, and it did not fail of 
producing plenty of weeds; but by beginning in time, 
and persevering, they were kept down till the carrots 
got above them and choked them down. In our mode 
of planting, I think two active men might plant half an 
acre in a day. At harvest a scythe was first passed 
over them, cutting the tops as close to the ground as 
could conveniently be done. With a hoe ground sharp, 
the tops were then cut off, one row at a time, and the 
tops were raked off out of the way. The carrots were 
then thrown out, row by row, with a spade. Whether 
our mode was the best, or even a good one, I am not 
prepared to say, not being practically acquainted with 
any other. The yield, though not great, was satisfac¬ 
tory. The quantity obtained was about 270 bushels, 
measured as potatoes - I presume they would not hold 
out by weight. The amount of time spent in plowing 
and harrowing the ground, and in sowing, weeding, 
and harvesting, may be set down at twenty-five days. 
Allowing seventy-five cents per day for labor, and cal¬ 
ling the cost of seed and use of land $3.25, the amount 
is $22, which brings the carrots at a little more than 
eight cents per bushel, and I deem them worth at least 
as much as potatoes for horses, cattle, or sheep. 
A word as to corn fodder. My garden experiment 
did very well, and I concluded to u try again.” I 
planted in drills this year, about three quarters of an 
acre. The growth was tolerable. I endeavored to 
adhere to the directions given in the Cultivator for cur¬ 
ing it, but the weather in autumn was so extremely 
wet, that I could not get it as dry as I wished. I got 
it in as good condition as I knew how to, and put it in 
the barn, but it moulded so much as to lose most of its 
worth. I would like to hear whether others have met 
with similar difficulty, or whether my failure was owing 
to bad management. 
In asking my brother farmers to subscribe for the 
Cultivator, I discover something of an idea prevailing 
that it concerns chiefly the patricians, and that plebei¬ 
ans can derive little benefit from it. But as to the idea 
that the contents of the Cultivator are useful only to 
large farmers, I deem it widely erroneous. In its 
pages every man engaged in agriculture, whether he 
cultivates ten or ten thousand acres, may, in my view, 
find information worth much more than one dollar per 
annum. Sam’l Wilbur. North Easton, N.Y ., 1848. 
Fargo Crop of Indian Corn. 
I send you a statement of my success in cultivating 
corn the past season. As I am indebted to the Culti¬ 
vator for success, I thought I might be the means of 
benefitting others through the same channel. 
Statement of Culture- —The field on which I 
grew 172 bushels of corn to the acre, and two 2-horse 
loads of pumpkins, was on a clover and timothy sod of 
three years standing, and on white-oak upland—part of 
a farm that was considered run down. In the fall and 
winter of 1846, I fattened on it about 30 head of hogs, 
by scattering the corn on the worst parts of the same. 
About the month of March last, I gave it a moderate 
dressing of barn yard manure. The field was plowed 
six or eight inches deep, so that in parts hard yellow 
clay was turned up full 2 inches deep. The corn was 
planted in rows four feet apart, averaging about one 
foot distant in the row. When first the corn came up, 
it had an unfavorable appearance, in consequence of 
the large spaces of hard clay ; it looked very yellow 
in patches, but by degrees, these patches disappeared, 
and as soon as the roots had penetrated below the clay, 
and reached the sod, it showed quite a healthy color, and 
made a rapid growth. I was careful during the whole 
of the cultivation, to disturb as little as possible, the 
