1851 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
147 
should not always calculate that his labors will be in¬ 
variably rewarded with a bountiful harvest. 
The Cultivator, from the first to the present volume, 
has come to me with the monthly contributions of its 
editors and correspondents, affording a rich entertain¬ 
ment to the mind—furnishing fresh stimulus to effort 
and improvement, and, I was about to say, I should as 
soon think of dispensing with the plow as The Cultiva¬ 
tor. Why, they go v as naturally together as the man 
with the plow ; and as the plow needs his guidance and 
skill, so the man needs others’ experience and wisdom 
to guide him. 
Roots, Deep Plowing, &c.— I have always calculated 
to have a good supply of roots for winter—viz: ruta¬ 
baga, or else flat turneps ; and have found them of great 
value. Six to eight hundred bushels of the latter to 
the acre can be raised with a little pains. I always take 
land that has been plowed the previous year, (say in 
corn or potatoes,) plow it twice at least the same season, 
before sowing. After last plowing, dress the land with 
18 or 20 waggon-box loads of fine manure to the acre; 
drag it in thoroughly; with a light plow turn the sur¬ 
face into ridges two feet apart—make the top of the 
ridge flat and smooth, which even boys can do with ex¬ 
pedition, when the land is in right condition, i. e., mel¬ 
low. I sow about 25th July; not allowing the plants to 
be very near together—say from 4 to 8 inches, according 
to richness of soil. Two thorough dressings with cul¬ 
tivator and hoe will give the crop a good start of the 
weeds. The longer they remain in the ground without 
freezing solid, the sweeter the turnep and the longer it 
will keep; and the faster they grow, the fairer they are 
and the less wormy and less liable to be pithy. Manure 
makes the turnep crop. I have had them so large that 
the fourth turnep could not be got into the half-bushel—■ 
have had them weigh 7 lbs. and sound and sweet. The 
flat turnep is better for cows than the ruta-baga, because 
it does not give so strong a flavor to the milk, and it 
gives out no odor in the cellar. 
Last season I was determined to try carrots in a small 
way. The ground was a moist loam, fertile, and with a 
slope to the south. A part I had cultivated with ruta¬ 
bagas two years in succession, (bad husbandry you may 
say,) because the first crop had not realized my expecta¬ 
tions ; but the second was from fair to inferior. After 
the middle of May, it was dressed with long manure 
(say 20 loads to the acre) and plowed once with Moore’s 
plow—largest size— driving the plow almost to the beam; 
one man bearing his whole weight on it. Of course the 
horses had to do their part by the hardest. In order to 
destroy the weeds, the ground should have been plowed 
twice; but a backward, wet season, an unprecedented 
amount of work in repairs and building, and my un¬ 
avoidable absence, prevented. So the weeds, having 
grown to such a height, could not be effectually buried 
with the plow. The ground was then thoroughly raked, 
smoothed, and cleared of every weed that we could find, 
and marked for the rows, one foot apart, calculating to 
have plants as near as one inch, and thin them to three 
or four inches apart; but was afterwards advised to let 
them all grow, and did, except as some were unavoida¬ 
bly pulled up in weeding—which -was done by hand twice , 
using only the hoe. There was a third weeding; but 
the work was chiefly done at intervals. About the mid¬ 
dle of November, the roots were dug. After trying 
successively the spade, dung-fork and pick, I resorted 
to the crow-bar; taking two rows at a time. One of us 
plunged the bar under the roots at one end of the row, 
prying them out, while the other grasped by the tops 
all that were loosened, drew them out and threw them 
on the ground in ranks. 
This embraces substantially the whole process of cul¬ 
ture. I enjoined upon the young man who assisted me, 
to keep an account of the bushels—having measured the 
capacity of both baskets with the half-hushel. The crop 
was 87 bushels, on ground (as measured with the ten 
foot pole) 44 ft. by 88 ft, allowing six inches outside the 
rows on the 4 sides of the piece—making 14$ rods 
(within a fraction) and yielding at the rate of about 976 
bushels per acre. This I call a good crop; but do not 
always expect as good, and intend to try again. 
The question may be asked what are carrots good for? 
Cows when fed with them and corn fodder, well cured, 
(I always cut mine early and close to the ground,) give 
the sweetest milk and butter; rivaling in color, rich¬ 
ness and flavor, that made on the sweetest grass. For 
horses, nothing is better—one of mine will eat them 
sooner than oats, grow fat on them and work too. 
Last summer, in an effort to drain a wet piece of 
ground, I dug a ditch through a piece that was dry 
barren gravel; underneath which was a hard-pan. When 
the drain was finished,the land was plowed and sowed with 
buckwheat. Over the drain no manure was put; but 
the buckwheat was there as u heavy as it could stand,” 
both in wet and dry ground, while on each side it was 
hardly a foot high. The season was very wet. Francis 
Whiting. Great Barrington, Mass. 
The Cayuga Lake. 
BY DAVID THOMAS. 
The vapors that rise from large bodies of water, have 
great influence on the temperature, imparting a portion 
of their warmth to the cold winds that blow over them, 
and thus lessen the severity of winter. A correspond¬ 
ent suggests that from this cause, the mercury is some¬ 
times 10 or 15 degrees lower in Wisconsin than on the 
opposite shore of Lake Michigan ; and this difference 
may often account for the preservation or loss of the 
peach crop, when the blossom buds have been started 
untimely. I remember in 1816, when I traveled in the 
Western States, that the trees were in bearing on the 
southeastern shore of the Ohio, where the cold north¬ 
westers had been tempered by the vapors of that river, 
but none bore on the opposite side; and the same view 
explains why the district south of Lake Ontario, is so 
favorable to this fruit, while none succeed on its northern 
shore. 
Another curious circumstance connected with the 
history of our lakes, is the effect of deep water in re¬ 
sisting the formation of ice. It has been said that the 
water which is chilled at the surface, descends and dis¬ 
places the warmer portion below, till the temperature 
of the whole mass is greatly reduced, and then freezing 
commences. Certain it is however, that the shallow parts 
of our lake are the first to freeze. 
