Farmers' gazette, and Cheraw advertiser. (Cheraw, S.C.) 1839-1843, June 16, 1841, Image 1
sjfm nwwu " ' /
VOLUME VI CHERAW, SOUTH-CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 1841. NUMBER 31.
*
By M. MAC LEAX*
Teams;?Published weekly at three dollars
year; with an addition, when not paid withi
Three months, of twenty per cent per annum.
Two new subscribers may take the paper a
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A year's subscription always due in advance
Papers not discontinued to solvent subscriber
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Two weeks cents after the first, and a dot la
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Ordered out.
tT The postage must be paid on letters to th
editor on the business of the otfice.
HINTS TO PLANTERS AN 11 EAR
MERS.
FROM THE BALTIMORE AMERICAN FARMER
The vxint of Rural Amusements.?Th
danger of Intellectual Idleness.
A modern novel writer remarks, tha
uThe mind thai lies fallow hut asingl
^ day sprouts up in follies that are only to h
hilled by const mt and assiduous culture.'
Agreeing with him in opinion, we quot<
the observation, not so much for the nov
elty of the thought it expresses as for th<
appositeness of the simile drawn from a
griculturai life, to illustrate an importan
moral truth, and from the persuasion tha
omething may be said in the way of am
plification which may he useful to ou
agricultural readers.
The passages quoted inculcates, in fam
iliarand forcible language, a lesson whicl
all should bear in mind, and none mor<
than those who reside in the country
where the means of mental and social re
creations are not so various and accessible
M in towns?that we should have always
at hand, under all changes of circumstan
ces and of weather, some attentive and use
fid occupation ; for, however uncultivatec
may be the intellect, state of quiescence
will ever be painful as it is unnatural
This principle of Nature may be seen ir
the action and habits of almost all atiirna
ted beings possessed of the power of loco,
motion. Can we then imagine any case
where utter inactivity must be more un>
endurable than with young people; full of
sensibility, and alive to the influence oi
all the passions that belong to youth and
health ? Under this fixed principle of out
physical constitution, how indispensable
that we should be made, in early life
aufticiently conversant with books, to en
sure a love of reading. But this love car
only become general when society shal
become moreenlightennd?when it shal
not be considered "good" without some
mental refinement. Then shall those
who cannot sustain themselves in com
puny by a fair and reasonable display o
liberal acquirement lose their caste ; anc
to this end, and for this state of things
we should all unite in earnest and con
tint endeavors. Well would it be, too
if all young people destined for agricultur
! life, whatever may be their fortunes
or prospects, could be taught some usefu
handicraft, which might be wrought at ir
all weathers, in-doors and out of doors
It might serve to fill up many wearisome
hours when fatigued with reading ; foi
we are told that even Homer sometime:
nodded.
Above all, let young people never be idh
We have the warrant of Scriptures foi
aying, there is a time for all things * .4
time to weep and a time to laugh, a time
t* mnnm inrl ? time to dance." Indeed
with us, it is very questionable whethei
the banishment, under whatever influenc
as, of all the jovial amusements of the
olden time, such as the manly and exhih
arating pleasures of the chase, with all it.'
comic incidents and occasional mishaps
the no less animating and healthful game:
with the ball, the quoit, and the bowl a
nine-pins; with the lively sleighing parties
^ and the joyous dance to the merry fiddli
of some popular old character?some oh
negro Cato, or Pompey, or Ciesar, or An
thooy, with all the jocund frolics tha
once circled in merry-round, from house
to house, through the winter months : w<
much doubt whether the suppression o
all these diversions has been followed h]
any real increase in the practice of thi
great virtues of truth, honor, temperance
charity, and " true hospitality," whicl
then sat at every man's door to welcoir<
the coming guest.
Who that can remember it doe3 no
look back with a compound feeling o
pleasure and melancholy to the tim<
#'hen
n Dames of ancient days
" Have led their children through the
mirthful maze,
And the gay giandsire, skilled in gostic loro,
Hw fciek'd beneath the burden of threescore.
What recreations, what occupations
for the mind and spirit, have been suhsti
tuted for these refreshing and healthfu
rustic exercises and enjoyment whic!
than filled up our seasons of leisure, an
kept the heart, at least, if not tho mine
from laying 44 fallow ?" Is it better edu
cationl But we are digressing.
The farmer who manages, his ow
estate, as all should do, at least their home
stead, may rest assured thai if his sons ar
fcept idle ut home after having fiaishe
their scholastic education, (for education
is finished only with life,) if they have
a not been imbued with some taste for lit.
11 erature, they will look for some other
x means of flying from the pains of mental
vacuity and the listlessness of bodily in.
* action ; and alas ? where are they so likeQ
ly now to find the relief demanded by the
5 very restlesness of our nature ? Is the
s reader, wherever he may be, at a loss for
the answer ? Is it not at some neighbor^
ing viliage tavern or cross-roads groggery,
where they are sure to meet with vacantr
minded idlers of similar wants and conn
genial temper, that they most easily esr
cape from self-digust to undergo sensations
? i at once exhilarating and destructive ?
The ready bottle, with the charming
e power of the magician's wand, dispels a.
like all remembrance of the past and all
5 care for the future. Sadness and gloomy
anticipations give way to momentary ex.
citement. and life and all its prospects are
* suddenly decked out in all the colors of
the rainbow. Pleased with themselves,
every thing acquires the power of pleasing;
* hence on such occasions the lowest jest,
e from the dullest food in comyany, suffices
to raise a general laugh among his bottle
companions. The most precious period
t _/ i:r_ . i :ji
oi nit; is wius speiu tu iiauius ui tuiciiesa
e and dissipation, only because the mind
f has been suffered to " lie fallow." It occurs
to us as we write to suggest that
s farmers, young and old, should associate
* with their agricultural societies some
3 scheme to promote at the same time the
" culture of the mind as well as of the earth.
* The time and money that are spent in
t lounging idly at country stores and tavern
bars wou'd well pay for useful periodr
iculs and a small select circulating library.
Now that all 41 moneyed securities"
are being impaired by peculation
I and taxation, their holders are more and
i J more disposed to look to terrafrma and to
' agriculture as the safest of all inve9ments
and the most respectable of all employ3
inents; but who will choose to make set3
tlement for his family in a bocetian district,
where moral darkness forever prevails,
J and the very soul is locrusted with ignor|
ance or steeped in sensuality ? In neigh3
j borhoods where the mind is thus permit*
| ted to lie fallow, men rarely come together
II except at public places of resort, and
" there all conversation is stereotyped. It
' usually begins with, 44 Is there much fly
* in your wheat ??many worms in your
1 tobacco?" mingled with partisan jokes
. and gibes, and expressions of anxiety or
i <>f hone, not for the srood of their country
1 or the means of their country's present
disembarrassment and future glory, but
' for the success of their parly ? These
' sage inquiries and profound suggestions
being made, the next motion is to the
[ counter for drink," as the readiest
way to stir and enliven a stagnant mind.
Hut let us turn from a picture so unviting
' to contemplate one no more like it than
5 " Hyperion to a satyr." How many cop*
" iousand perennial springs of delicious en-(
joyments?how many interesting themes
of endless and untiring conversation, are
1 opened for the mind and heart of man by
an early culture of the intellectualfaculties'.
' More to be desired than the fame lamp
of Aladdin, it unlocks to us the infinitely
| diversified stores of political and natural
history. It exposes to the contemplation
1 of the delighted student, not only the geo'
graphical lines, but the varied productions
and peculiar manners, institutions, arts,
and trades of all parts of the world, it be5
gets a fondness for biography, and by that
means enables and leads us to hold, in our
closet, communion approaching to tho
r pleasure of personal intercourse with the
1 most illustrious characters of the remotest
' antiquity?44 the departed great and the
' illustrious wise;" it gives a taste for the
r sciences, and these qualify us to penetrate
and study Nature in all her kingdoms?
' botany, mineralogy, agriculture the history
and cultivation of fruits, flow3
i ers. grains, and grasses. Thus
' i prepared by useful and judicious training,
f 1 having once entered the portals and
1 caught a glimpse of the rich and numerous
J | chambers in the palace of knowledges
" | how certain'will be the distaste of the,
I young farmer and planter ever after for
! all vulgar and vicious associations and
1 habits ! How impossible that he should
not revolt with horror from the thought,
j. of finding recreation in the ruinous chances
of the gaming table, or the yet more
' blasting excitements of the bowl!
I
Beginning with a quotation from one
' novelist let us conclude with one from
1 another: " They, only are justifiable in j
" seclusion who, like thegreat philosophers,
make that very seclusion the means of j
P serving and enlightening their race?who
from their retreats send forth their oracles
" i.Jnm ? M/-I mgL'fl tho which
U1 n IOUUIII (I il\l IIIUUU HIV *.VWW. ?
surrounds them eloquent with the voice
of truth." The farmer may enlighten by
his example, as the philosopher does by
his precopts. Finally, let him remember
that the bow, to retain its'elasticity must ]
; sometimes be unbent. He has for his
- children to choose between?education
d and the love of books, or?dissipation ! j
h for we have no longer any rural amused
ments.
t- From the Essex Agricultural Reports, j
charles f. putnam^ statement.
n Gentlemen* : The cow offered by me
! for premium this day, was raised in Ver-1
e moot, and is six years old. She calved '
d the twenty-fifth day of October, 1839, j
and the calf was taken away November
14th. Her feed from the fifteenth November
to May 15th, has been English
hay and one and a half peck of sugar
beets per day. From May 15th to this
date she has been in a very poor pasture,
and has had two quarts of Indian meal,
or three quarts ground oats, per day, with
hay at night. I have kept an exact account
of the milk taken from her at each
milking since November 15th, and shall
furnish you with a copy; I shall also furnish
the expense of keeping, with the
amount of sale of milk. I should be
pleased to continue the account and complete
the year, if it meets the views of
the committee.
The cow is remarkably gentle, and her
milk is of a very superior quality. Mr.
James Holt, of Danvers, sold me the
cow; she was considered superior for butter,
having made in one week ten lbs.
3 oz., with her second calf. She has had
three calves, and will calve again in
March.
I am very respectfully, youre,
Chas. F. Putnam.
Salem, Sept. 28th, 1840.
! Havin<r kent an nrr.iirntft
account of the milk from my cow, for
which a premium was awarded at Georgetown,
I submit it to be used as you may
think proper.
Qts. Pts. Gills.
From 1839, Nov. If, to De. 14,433 0 1
44 44 De. 15, to Jan 13,1840,425 1 2
44 1830, Jan. 14, to Feb. 12/405 0 0
44 " Feb 13, to Mar. 13, ^ 375 1 0
44 44 Mar. 14, to Apr. 12, 4 370 1 3
44 44 Apr. 13, to May 12, 4 342 I 3
44 44 May 13, to June II, 4368 I I
44 44 June 12, to July II, 4 367 0 0
44 44 July 12, to Aug 10, 4 303 I 0
44 44 Aug. II to Sept. 9, 4 275 0 I
44 44 Sept. 10, to Oct. 9, 4 205 I. 0
44 44 Oct. 10, to Nov. 13, 4 272 0 1
4214 0 I
being nearly an average of twelvo quarts per day
for the year.
This milk I value as follows:
3333 quarts at 6 cents, 199 98
881 44 at 5 cents, 4 44 05
Gross amount of produce, $244 03
Costs of keeping:
2| tons of hay at $15 37 50
684 bushels sugar beets, 13 05
G bushels ground oats, 2 88
8 bushels Indian meal, 6 20
Pasturage and driving, II 50
Consumption of meat?There are few
things in the habits of Americans, which
strike the forsign observer with more force ,
than the extravagant consumptinn of food
?and more especially of meat, Truly we
may be*called a carnivorous people With
nllmir nntrrv nhmit hnrrltimps. the nuanti.
~ _? J _ 1 ?- -J
tyof provisslon consumedin America would
support, in health, treble our population
in Europe. The vast consumption of
meat is not only wasteful, but injurious
to health, and to activity, of body and
mind. The body if made of iron, would
be unable to perform all the f\mctions?mposed
upon it at one time?especially is
it we should suppose, without pretending
to any science on*the subject, deleterious
to eat meat suppers?or to eat a heavy
meal immediately preceding any necessary
action of body and mind?How well
this is proved by the experience of tho
turf?Suppose a race to be made for a
sum, half forfeit, and on going into his
stable the trainer finds that although he
is sure that his nag is the better horse,
the groom has been bribed to give him a
gallon of oats and water at pleasure,
would he not at once withdraw, and pay
forfeit sooner than encounter the certainty
of paying the full amount! Afay it
not be averred that one half of the provission
consumed in the country might be
saved with certainty of avoiding the numerous
diseases that arise from plethora,
impaired digestion and disordered blood?
r -i i i r e I . 1?
Licr ine neaas or any iamuy examine uiu
subject, and they will find that a substitution
of bread and vegetables and milk
for three-fourths of the meat consumed,
would be attended with economy and beti
ter health. American Farmer.
From the American Farmer.
ESSAY ON TIIE CULTIVATION, FEEDING,
&C. OF ROOTS.
[The following Essay presented for the
prize offered by us some time since, for
which there was no competition. It is
dated at Princeton, N. J. but the author
is unknown to us; we should be pleased
to obtain his address, as we desire to
present him with certain volumes of this
journal for his Essay, which, as far as
our judgment extends, contains much
valuable instructions upon a branch of
j husbandry, the importance of which cannot
be too highly estimated, and which is
daily becoming more extensively prac|
tised.]
ESSAY.
Hciving for several years past paid considerable
attention to the culture of roots
for my stock, the experience which I
have thus acquired has enabled mc in
each succeeding year to increase my
crops, while the expense of cultivation has
been considerably lessened. Thellatterr
ing success which has attended my efforts
in this branch of husbandry, has induced
me to become a competitor for the pre.
mium you propose to award for the best
essay on the cultivation, feeding, &c. of
roots; with this view the annexed is
therefore offered for your consideration.
! I shall in the first place treat of the
soil and its preparation. A deep loam is <
most favorable to the successful cultivation
of root crops, as the long tap roots
penetrate more readily to such a depth as
not to bo affected by an ordinary drouth;
and soils of this character, when highly
manured, become so retentive of mots*
tore, that root crops under judicious
cultivation are rarely injured to any extent
by the severest drouths, as was
evinced by my crop during the great
drouth of 1837. But no farmer let his
soil-be of what character it may, should
be deterred from an effort to raise either
the beet or ruta baga for his stock. Deep
ploughing, the soil well pulverized, liberal
manuring and judicious after culture, will
ensure a remunerating crop upon any soil;
and when he has once, had the pleasure
of witnessing the improved condition of
his animals, the increased quantity and
improved quality of his manure, and
heard the flattering statements of his wife
touching the improvements of her dairy,
he will be goaded on to farther efforts.
Experience, however, has convinced
me that entire and uniform success in
root culture depends upon many things?
each small in itself, but of the greatest
importance when taken in the aggregate.
I shall endeavor to treat of each in its
proper place: In regard to the preparation
of the land, much must depend upon
the nature and quality of the soil; a sandy
soil or mellow loam would, with one
ploughing, be put in finer tilth and better
condition for planting, than a stiff
clay, or many other soils ploughed at an
improper time (either too wet or too dry)
with three ploughings and as many
harrowings; let it suffice to say, the soil
| must be completely pulverized, or it is
useless to commit your seed to the ground;
this is a matter very easily accomplished,
if the soil is ploughed when in a proper
state; seize this opportunity whether it
be earlier or later?harrow while the
furrow is yet moist; if not completely
pulverized, apply the roller, and the work
is accomplished, and the first important
step has been taken to secure a crop.
A clover sward or ley is to be prefered ;
first, on account of the great quantity of
vegetable matter, which will all be decomposed
and converted into food for the
crop at the time the bulbs are growing
most rapidly, which is at a late period in
the season, (particularly turnips) as it is
a fact well known to all turnip growers,
that however luxuriant the foliage, the
bulbs do not increase rapidly in size until
the nights have lengthened considerably,
and become cooler; but what is more
important, the roots of the clover are
more evenly distributed throughout the
soil than it is possible to intermix manure
or vegetable matter by any artificial
process: hence that portion of the soil in
the immediate vicinity of the plants, and
which cannot after planting be stirred
with the plough or any other implement
retains its mellowness and is kept in fine
tilth throughout the season, and of course
retains more moisture and furnishes a
finer bed for the plants.
The quantity of manure necessary to
apply will in a great measure depend upon
the richness of the soil. Eight or ten
cords of unfermented manure to the acre
on an ordinary soil is sufficient to ensure
a fair crop. Let this be spread and
turned under with the plough as early in
the spring as the land is in proper condition
for this operation; but the furrow
should not be completely inverted; iet
them be laid one against another; in
this way the manure will be very evenly
distributed from the top to the bottom of
the furrow. A plough, manufactured by
Wiley & Conklin, of Peekskill, N. Y.,
performs this operation better than any I
have seen used. The land should be
rolled and harrowed twice- or thrice before
the season arrives for planting. The
seeds of all weeds will vegetate during
this period, and be destroyed by the harrow,
while the soil will be much benefitted
by having a mellow surface constantly
exposed to the atmosphere. When the
season for Dlantin? has arrived, spread
I "O
upon the land ten or twelve loads (say
30 hushels each) of compost to the acre,
which should be prepared for this pur.
pose early in the spring or fall previous;
harrow once to cover the wagon tracks
and make all smooth and mellow; then
with a plough throw the land in ridges
three feet distant from centre to centre
of each ridge. By this operation, the
compost which has been spread upon the
surface will nearly all be gathered into
the ridge and placed in a situation to
come in contact with the roots of the
plant in the earliest stages of its growth,
and ensure a healthy and vigorous start,
which is a matter of much importance.
If the preparation of the compost should
have been neglected, spread by hand
a small quantity of wood ashes (say 10
bushels per acre) upon the centre of the
ridge immediately after the seed have
been drilled in. The land should be
ridged for two reasons. In the first
place it gives a greater depth of soil?an
advantage to all tap rooted plants;?and
secondly, it saves much labor in the after
culture, as the elevation of the plant ]
upon the ridge will permit the use of the i
plough or cultivator (the latter implement I
I consider the best) between the rows, <
at a very early period of their growth, I
but if planted upon a level surface, the
hoe must be used a considerable time, 1
which is both tedious and expensive. i
SEED, PLANTING, &C. 1
Turnip seed may be planted dry, as <
they vegetate very soon j nut the sugar
beet and mangel wurtzel Med should be
put in a vessel, and water1 (quite warm)
poured upon them, to remain therein for
the space of twelve hours?the water to
be k changed occasionally so as to he
kept warm during the whole time?then
poured off and the seed set in a dark
Dlace: thev will veffetate much sooner
r" ' v w
than if left in the water { let them be
stirred two or three times a day, bringing
those at the bottom uppermost to keep the
moisture equally distributed through the
whole mass. When they begin to vegetate
mix a small quantity of ashes or
plaster with the seed to absorb the super,
fluous moisture, and prevent them from
adhering to each other; the}' may then
be thrown in the drill and planted, which
should if possible be done on the same day
the ridges are formed ; in fact, the sooner
after the ridge is thrown up the better, as
the newly formed ridge will be sufficient,
ly moist to bring up the seed without the
aid of rain. I have frequently had my
plants to appear above ground in less than
three days after the seed was planted,
lnother very important advantage re.
suiting from planting on a fresh ridge or
one newly formed, is, that the plants
attain such size, that the first hoeing and
thinning may be performed before the
weeds interfere in the least with this op.
eration, by which, a saving of 100 per
cent, in the labor will be effected. This
operation is also much facilitated by an
improved hoe which I have used for the
last three years?one man performing as
much labor as three or foyr men with the
ordin iry hoe, and not being in general
used, I shall here attempt to describe it:
There i? first an eye, in which the handie
is to be inserted ; to this eye there is
attached two prongs similar to thoee of a
hay fork, only larger and much more
curved; at the extremity of each of these
prongs a small hole is made for a rivet;
? klmln nf (ka kaat afoul ftt/A Itl.
U ?CI y III IU UIQlli VI HIV ucat aivv 1 inv
ches wide and seven inches long, (which
is the space between the extremities of
the prongs) is secured to said prongs by
rivets; the two prongs are so curved that
the blade when attached sits considers,
bly inclined in a direction parallel with
the handle. With this, any ordinary
hand may, in a few minutes, be taught
to hoe or dress a row of plants with
nearly the same facility that he would
walk from one end to the other, drawing
the implement after him, with the blade
kept just beneath the surface?one corn,
er nearly in contact with tne plants, thus
passing down the one side and up the
other, of each row. This operation
should be performed in the forenoon of a
clear day, whereby the weeds will all be
destroyed before night by the influence
of the sun. Another and more experien.
ced hand should follow with a similar hoe
to thin the plants, which he will per.
form by drawing the hoe across the row
at regular intervals of twelve inches?the
hoe being seven wide, will leave a space
of five inches untouched, in which s|?ace
if a sufficient quantity of seed has been
used, there will remain from two to six
plants; the cultivator may then be used
between the rows, and if this operation
be carefully and skilfully performed,
nothing more will he necessary until the
plants have become firmly fixed in the
soil, when the inferior and superfluous
t nlnnta mav hp thinned hv hand?the most
r* j ? j
healthy and vigorous plants only being
left. If there be any vacancies, it is bet.
ter to leave some extra single plants (the
plants to be left about twelve inches
apart) until they have attained the size
of a man's finger, when they may be taken
up with a sharp stick and transplanted
If this operation is performed when the
plants are very small, in nine cases out
of ten it will prove a failure ; but if delayed
until this stage of their growth,
they w ill scarcely be distinguished at har
vesting from those not transplanted. II
the weeds are entirely eradicated wher
j
the operation of thinning is performed,
one slight hoeing is all the hand laboi
that will be required thereafter. me
? foliage will soon become so dense as to
? prevent any farther growth of weeds in
the immediate vicinity of the roots. The
space between the roots maybe kept in
fine tilth and perfectly clean with a cultivator
drawn by one hdpre. (I use an
implement of this kind with a hinge in
front, by which it may be contracted 01
expanded to any width, and as the roots
increase in size, it is c6ntracted to suit
the space.) In this way it will be perceh
ved a crop of Tooti. may be raised with
very trifling espense., My crop of sugai
beets the last yeat coft four cents per
bushel.?My rata bag* a fraction less
' than five cents. In the estimate of cos!
[ charged fifty cents per load for the malum,'
which I believe quite enough* as
jut little more than half the manure is.
consumed by the root crop. For use of
and I charged the interest of $1 per acre*'
The farmer should always bear in mind
that the old adage?"a stich in time
saves nine/' will in no case apply witji
more force than in the culture of*a root
crop. Let him seize the earliest opportunity,
after the plants have attaued
sufficient size, to perform the first operation,'
Viz : hoeing and thinning. There
may full a heavy rain, or a continuation
df Wet weather may render his land too
wit to'cukivate until the weed* get such
firm and full possession/that he will'find
it almost as tedious and expensive to supplant
them as to get a possession t^rou^h
a writ of ejectment in the Court of Chancery.
The preparation, manuring, fn
- it .1 a. jZ I *
tact, an tne preparatory process ncrvin*.
before recommended, will apply to all
root crops, except, in preparing for the
potafoe, slight furrows should be made
three feet distant from each other?4he
potatoes planted (large tubers should ailways
be cut) about twelve inches asunder
in the furrow, and covered by running a.
furrow on each' side, forming a slight,
ridge over them, which may be rolled
down as soon as the planting is completed.'
The after culture of the potato^ must
in some measure depend upon the variety
cultivated.?For instance, the FoxttV ,, ,
the most esteemed variety among us, requjres
level cultivation fno bills;) the(
bearing roots appear to seek and spread
over the whole surface or space between
the rows; fine tubers will be found grow.'
ing or grown from twelve to eighteen
inches from the hill or place where the
seed were deposited.
Ther^ are some other varieties, via:
The Rohan, the Long Reds or La Piatte,
and Mercer, all grow in a cluster around
the stem; the ground is burst open, and
as they increase in size, the pOtatofc becrmes
exposed to the sun, &c., turns
green,and is rendered worthless: henoa
with such varieties the quantity is increased
and the quality improved by the process
of hilling; but this process should
be performed soon after the tubers have
farmed.
GATHERING AND STORING.
The sugar beet and mangel wurtzel, as
also the ruta baga, are all drawn from the
ground by hand; but in regard to the two
first named roots, the operator should.
while he holds the root in his hand* twist
off the top, as it may be done quite as toon
as cutting?with Jess danger of injury to
the roots, and thereby require once handling
only to complete this operation. The
tops and roots may each be thrown in
separate heaps when they are ready to
be loaded, by boys into carts. The harvesting
of the ruta baga should vary
somewhat from this, as with them, it is
necessary to use a knife; for it is highly
important that the fibrous root or roots
of the turnip he all cut off; animals
should not be permitted to eat them?
they possess an acid quality that invariably
produces scouring, and if persisted in
will reduce the finest animal' to a skeleton.
Several individuals of my acquaintance,
who have recently commenced
the cultivation of ruta baga inform
me that they have produced such laxative
state of the howels, as to produce doubts
in their minds whether they are actually
of any service as food for stock; upon
enquiry, I found in every case the fibrous
t roots had been fed with the bulb. I have
i fed several animals the past winter (for
beef) with 11-2 bushels each per day,
1 ?-'L?- ~ I .?. ? Kair knmla
auu wimuui an c.\tc;|iiivu ?uvn wnVI>
i .have remained in a bealthv state during
i the whole time. A small quantity of
: salt is given with the morning mess each
day. But to return to the gathering:
, the cheapest and most expeditious mode
is to pull and throw four or fire rows
i together; other hands follow with suita>
ble knives?seize the top, and at one
separate the small root or roots from the
| bulb or turnip; and by another stroke
i just below the hand divest it of the topthrowing
the tops in small heaps; a dry sit.
uation should then be selected, and a hole
, dug four feet wide and one foot deep, of
. any length that may be required; fill op
even with the surface, and continue ad~
i ding until it assumes the form of the^
, roof of a building, only steeper; cover.Un?
atrou; and AiraptKiit
Willi IVIIg WMUIT J ??MU Vf VI ? <? w
i quantity of earth to protect the loots <
i from frost; let them remain in this situ,
i ation until the ground* becomes froeeiv
> then with a crow-bar or something simii
lar, make holes on the centre oftheridge
, through the roots, at the distance of four
i feet fi cm each other. If these direction*
t be followed, they will be in as fine coodi
tion on the first of March as wbeir buri,
ed. Burying in the field is certainly pre.
t ferruble to cellars, particularly for the
, turnip, as tbey jfcc much more liable to
i heat than the beet, yhich should by all
means be avoided if possible, ifthey are
intended as food ,fbr milch cows, as the
i young and tender leaves which they
; throw out when the become beatld