THE CULTIVATOR. 
59 
1 day spreading manure and drilling seed. 0 75 
3 dressings with cultivator, man and horse one day.... 1 25 
2 dressings with hoe, six days, 6s. 4 50 
5 days harvesting and pulling, 6s.. .. 3 75 
#28 75 
which divided by 600, the number of bushels, would bring the cost of 
the roots below five cents the bushel. But if we abate half the cost 
of the manure for the after crops, and allow a fair consideration for 
the tops, say $5, it will reduce the cost of the roots to less than three 
cents a bushel. Now a cow or bullock will do well and thrive upon 
two bushels a day; hence an acre will afford 300 daily rations, or 
maintain five cows 60 days, at the actual cost of #16.25, or #3.25 
for each the two months. Let us contrast this expense with that 
of feeding hay. We believe a ration of hay is 28 lbs. Let us sup¬ 
pose it to be 25 lbs. Then to keep the five cows 60 days would re¬ 
quire 7,500 lbs., or 3 tons 15 cwt. hay, which, at a fair medium price 
of #10 a ton, would amount to #37.50—making a difference in favor 
of the turnips of #21.25, or nearly three-fifths. Let us test the relative 
profits in another way. The average product of our grass lands is 
about two tons the acre—say the product of two acres would be 7,500 
pounds, then the product of an acre in ruta baga would go about as 
far in feeding stock as the product of two acres in meadow; with the 
further advantage, where the turnips are sown upon a young clover 
lay, that one-half the hay may also be cut from the acre which pro¬ 
duces the 600 bushels of turnips, the latter being raised as a second 
crop. But ruta baga is seldom fed alone. Every farm furnishes 
corn stalks, straw and other materials, which can only be fed profita¬ 
bly 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 dur¬ 
ing the severe cold of winter ; but as the mild weather of spring ad¬ 
vances, they are peculiarly grateful, and may be readily 
Fig. 20. fed to all kinds of farm stock. There are various devices 
ep in use for cutting or slicing the roots. The turnip spade, 
{Jig. 20) 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 em¬ 
ployed to reduce the roots to a suitable size. A new and 
excellent mode of preparing the roots for feeding, is to 
L grate them, and feed with cut straw, stalks or hay. We 
flflflll have heard of some ingenious machines for this purpose, 
F™ 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 model may be seen at Bement’s hotel. 
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. 21, 
shows a transverse section of the ground when prepared for re¬ 
ceiving the manure, it being gathered in one bout ridglets. The 
dung carts pass lengthwise, and the dung is dropped, or pulled out, 
into the furrows ; lads or women follow the carts and spread out the 
dung from the httle heaps along the hallow of each drill. 
shows a cross section with the dung deposited. It is immediately 
covered by the plough, which, passing down the middle of each ridge- 
let, splits it into two, so that a new drill is formed, whose top is im¬ 
mediately above the former hollow of the old drill, thus— 
Fig. 23. 
For this purpose the double mould board plough may be employed, 
but the single plough is preferred, as it does the work 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 
distance of 8 to 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 rid¬ 
ges, as shown in 
Fig. 24. 
In the potato culture, in 10 or 14 days after the seed has been 
planted, the field is harrowed crosswise, which nearly levels the 
ground. In the turnip culture, as soon as the plants have assumed 
what is termed the rough leaf, and are about two inches in height, 
the process of hoeing commences. This is done by turning first a 
light shallow furrow from the plants, or by the horse hoe, or cultiva¬ 
tor with lateral coulters. The field will then assume the appearance 
indicated in 
• Fig. 25. 
The hand-hoes follow, and the remaining weeds are extirpated, and 
the plants thinned to a proper distance. A transverse section will 
then appear thus: 
Fig. 26. 
Another operation of the horse-hoe, or cultivator, and hand hoe¬ 
ing, 12 or 14 days after the first dressing, completes the culture or¬ 
dinarily ; though sometimes the horse-hoe is passed through the in¬ 
tervals 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 
passed twice along each interval, throwing a slight furrow from the 
plants, and the hand-hoers follow to complete the cleaning process. 
The cultivator may be substituted for the plough. After an inter¬ 
val 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 single mould board plough. The peculia¬ 
rities of this culture are, that the cleaning and earthing are done prin¬ 
cipally 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 wa¬ 
ter lime and water cement are the same 1 They are. 2. Whether 
the water lime is to be mixed with skimmed milk only ? We under¬ 
stand 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 1 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 scon as we can ob- 
