THE CULTIVATOR. 
47 
fed alone. Every farm furnishes corn stalks, straw and other mate¬ 
rials, which can only be fed profitably on the farm, and which are fed 
to advantage with turnips. Nor is it convenient at all times, in this 
latitude, to feed the turnips during the severe cold winter ; but as the 
mild weather of spring advances, they are peculiarly grateful, and 
may be readily fed to all kinds of farm stock. There are va- 
Fig. 1. rious devices in use for cutting or slicing the roots. The tur¬ 
nip nip spade, {fig. 1,) is an instrument with four blades, at right 
! angles to each other. The turnip, or other root, is struck as 
it lies upon the ground, or in the feeding trough, and thus at 
one stroke divided into four parts. A meat chopper, with a 
long handle, termed a snick, is also advantageously employed 
to reduce the roots to a suitable size. A new and excellent 
mode of preparing the roots for feeding, is to grate them, and 
feed with cut straw, stalks or hay. We have heard of some 
ingenious machines for this purpose, which perform the work 
with great facility, and which we hope soon to be able to see 
and describe satisfactorily. We have seen a model of Robins’ 
turnip slicer, of which we cannot yet speak with confidence, 
not having seen it in operation. The price of this machine is $10. 
The British mode of cultivating this crop, which is particularly 
adapted to moist, cold, or tenacious soils, or to farms where manure 
is scarce, is illustrated by the following cuts, which also serve to show, 
with trifling variation, their mode of cultivating the potato, which is 
mostly managed with but little use of the hand hoe. 
Fig. 2, 
shows a transverse section of the ground when prepared for receiving 
the manure, it being gathered in one-bout ridglets. The dung carts 
pass lengthwise, and the dung is dropped, or pulled out into the fur¬ 
rows ; lads or women follow the carts and spread out the dung from 
the little heaps along the hollow of each drill. 
Fig, 3, 
shows a cross section with the dung deposited. It is immediately co¬ 
vered by the plough, which, passing down the middle of each ridgelet, 
splits it into two, so that a new drill is formed, whose top is immedi¬ 
ately above the former hollow of the old drill, thus— 
Fig. 4. 
For this purpose the double mould board plough may be employed, 
but the single plough is preferred, as it does the v, ork better, though it 
requires double the time. In the potato culture, the sets or seeds,-are 
deposited upon the manure before it is covered with earth, at the dis¬ 
tance of 8 or 10 inches. The turnip seed is sown upon the top of the 
ridges, above the manure, with a horse or hand drill, the former of 
which has a roller which precedes the coulters, and flattens the ridges, 
as shown in 
Fig. 5. 
In the potato culture, in 10 or 14 days after the seed has been plant¬ 
ed, the field is harrowed crosswise, which nearly levels the ground. 
In the turnip culture, as soon as the plants have assumed what is term¬ 
ed the rough leaf, and are about two inches in height, the process of 
hoeing commmences. This is done by turning first a light shallow 
furrow from the plants, or by the horse hoe, or cultivator with lateral 
coulters. The field will then assume the appearance indicated in 
Fig. 6. 
The hand hoe follows, and remaining weeds are extirpated, and the 
plants thinned to a proper distance. A transverse section will then 
appear thus: 
Fig. 7. 
Another operation of the horse-lioe, or cultivator, and hand hoeing, 
12 or 14 days after the first dressing, completes the culture ordinarily ; 
though sometimes the horse-hoe is passed through the intervals a third 
time; and the earth is sometimes laid up to the stems of the plants by 
the double mould board plough at the third dressing, chiefly with a 
view of protecting the roots from wet and severe frosts, when they are 
intended to stand out during the winter. 
To revert to the potato culture. When the plants have got above 
ground, and appear distinctly in rows, a light one-horse plough is pass¬ 
ed twice along each interval, throwing a slight furrow from the plants, 
and the hand-hoers follow to complete the cleaning process. The cul¬ 
tivator may be substituted for the plough. After an interval of ten or 
fourteen days, a second cleaning is given with the horse and hand-hoes. 
This is generally sufficient to clean the land in an effectual manner. 
The last operation is raising the earth to the stems of the plants, which 
follows the last cleaning, which is done with either the double or sin¬ 
gle mould board plough. The peculiarities of this culture are, that the 
cleaning and earthing are done principally with the plough and horse- 
hoe, or cultivator, and that the earth is not thrown to the plants till the 
soil has been thoroughly cleaned. 
NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Cheap Paint. —A. Higgins inquires, in relation to Mr. Van Eps’ cheap 
paint, described in our February number, 1. Whether water lime and 
water cement are the same ? They are. 2. Whether the water lime 
is to be mixed with skimmed milk only ? We understand that the lime 
and milk are the only materials employed. And, 3. Whether it will 
not be likely to be washed off by rains before it has thoroughly dried ? 
We think not, if used in fair weather; and if we are wrong, Mr. Van 
Eps will set us right. 
Marl .—We have received samples of marl from the neighborhood 
of Schenectady, and from Cortlandville; and as soon as we can obtain 
an analysis, we will notice the results. The subject of marling has 
become one of deep interest, and every farmer who has this mineral 
should promptly test it upon his soil, leaving, an adjoining section un¬ 
marled. This is the best test of utility. An experiment, or a number 
of experiments, upon different soils, will cost but little labor; and the 
results may lead to very important advantages. The distinguishing 
characteristic of marl is lime in its natural state. Dry a sample, and 
pour upon it strong vinegar. If it contains lime it will effervesceU-the 
vinegar having a stronger affinity for the base than carbonic acid with 
which it is naturally combined, the latter is driven out, which causes 
the ebullition. The richness of the marl depends in a measure on the 
proportion of lime which it contains. The books tell us, that the lime 
should amount to thirty per cent to render it worth applying. But the 
books are wrong: for even sand upon clay, or clay upon sand, are be¬ 
neficial applications to improve the soil; the only question being how 
far the benefits will repay the expense of application. The earthy 
materials of the soil are to plants, what the stomach is to animals— 
the recipient of food, and the laboratory of the main process of nutri¬ 
tion. The presence of clay, lime and sand, are all essential in the soil 
to enable it to perform its healthful functions. Where either of these 
is naturally deficient, it may be artificially supplied with manifest ad¬ 
vantage. The mere earths are no more the food of vegetables, though 
some contend that they are requisite to give firmness to their structure 
than the coats of the stomach, or the gastric juice are food to the ani¬ 
mal—animal and vegetable matters, or their elements, constitutin'” the 
true food of animals and plants. 
In reply to Mr. Loomis’ other inquiries, we remark, that we know 
of no certain preventive of the ravages of the turnip fly. Our prac¬ 
tice is, to make the ground rich, and to sow thick and late. We have 
not lost a crop by the fly in fifteen years. The orange carrot is a field 
carrot. This crop should be sown in drills, at eighteen to twenty-four 
inches-apart, and thinned to six or eight inches in the row. No pre¬ 
paration of the seed is required. The subject of teazles shall receive 
an early and more detailed notice. 
The potency of New-Jersey marl, in imparting fertility and value to 
light or exhausted lands, is fully illustrated in another column. Sam¬ 
ples of this marl may be seen at the Cultivator office. 
Madder .—We have complied with the requests of C. T. Smith and 
S L. Loomis, in publishing, from Radcliff’s Flanders, rules for ma¬ 
naging the madder crop, though the requests did not reach us in time 
for our May number. It is not wholly the Flemish mode. The Fie- 
