GENERAL FARM MANAGEMENT. 
319 
plants slioulcl be whole or cut, is an undecided point, and in 
my opinion, of as much importance, as whether fence posts 
should be upright or inverted. They must be dug about the 
middle of October, that they may be housed without being in¬ 
jured by frost, of which we often have smart touches near the 
end of this month. It is almost superfluous to say that pota¬ 
toes, like corn, must be thoroughly hoed. Which are the best 
varieties, which best to yield, which best for the table, are 
points which the farmers can determine for themselves, for the 
same variety often has different names, and the one that will 
suit one locality the best, may not suit another at all. 
Carrots and Ruta Bagas. —I think that in Wisconsin, 
ruta-bagas or swedes will do better than turnips, and that 
carrots will do better than either ; indeed, some enormous pre¬ 
mium crops of carrots have been produced, which sufficiently 
prove their adaptability to our soil and climate, and the profit 
that would accrue to our agriculture from their more general 
cultivation. Ruta-bagas may be produced on any land that is 
rich enough, while carrots prefer that which is of a sandy text¬ 
ure, but rich withal ; both crops may be cultivated in drills, 
the former about two feet apart, and the latter little over half 
that distance. When the plants are big enough, they should 
be properly thinned. The growth of these roots mainly de¬ 
pends upon deep-tillage, good seed, and proper subsequent 
management. 
ROTATION OF CROPS. 
Land must have periodical seasons of rest. Like man, it 
must have its Sabbaths, and these it obtains by the adoption of 
a judicious system of rotation. But the advantages of rotation 
are manifold ; by it the farmer is enabled to carry on his ope¬ 
rations in an orderly manner ; to determine beforehand, ac¬ 
cording to a general law, the future products of each field ; to 
increase his crops without diminishing the fertility of his land, 
and to vary them so as to increase his hopes of success, by 
lessening the chances of failure. Under any system of rotation, 
