Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1841-05-21
From the Vermont Mercury.
RUTA BAGA AND SUGAR BEET CULTURE

Nh. EDITOR Sir. wish through the COL
umns of your paper, to call the attention of my
Brother Farmers to the subject of root culture,
for wintering stock more especially neat cattle
and sheep What man is there among us that
has been short OF hay this trying season, but
wishes he had raised more roots for his stock as
saving of hay. The benefits arising from in.
dicous feeding of roots to sheep, none can fully
appreciate until they have tried it, and they are
Of equal benefit 10 Cows and Oxen any part of
the winter, more particularly in the spring, as
the relaxing qualities of potatoes (uness cooked)
often prove injurious to working Oxen, and FIRE.
quently to Cows in the spring after calvinp.
Having had some s or 10 years experience in
raising and feeding the Ruta Baga and Sugar
Rect TO Cattle and Sheep am more and more
satisfied every year Of the profit of root culture
as saving OF hay in wintering stock. 1t is
we'll known fact, that in those sections of our
country, where farmers have tried the cultivation
most, of roots for stock, they are much in favor
OF them substitute, in part for hay. My
opinion is that the Sugar Beet is better for Cows
with milk for making butter, than the Ruta
Baga {; but is not so easily raised. Therefore
the Ruta Baga is best to depend upon for the
main crop, it is raised and harvested with less
expense they keep through the winter well if
properly cleaned from dirt when harvested.
Any good corn land that will produce 40 or 80
bushels to the acre with the same manure will
raise from to 700 bushels of Ruta Bagas, and
the expense of cutivaing is no more than for
potatoes taking into the account the seed and
planting | pound OF Ruta Bara seed worth
now so cts is sufficient for an acre. and with
proper drill for sowing. man will SOW if in q
hours. I'm the wear IS39 snread about "a com
mon cart loads of green harm yard manure On I
acre of grass land, that did not produce more
than 1900 mounds Of bav the nroyious hov;nn
turned it under with GOOD nlow that Ia T.
smooth. PASSED roller over # mmeJ;atolv-
gave it several lipht BORROWINGS. sowed il ,hn1st
of June, that took me only IL hours. gave il
3 hoenrs and it produced 700 bushels as fine
smooth turnDs as ever was raised anv wbero
{; DAYS labor pulled cleaned the dirt ofI,,e roots
cut the tons. and secured them in the collar In
1910, took the same course, bu, nw;na tn tho
land heinz more sandoy. and very drv so,son
nv crop was but 800 bushels to the ocre Nou,
call this a fair trial if Won nlease. and tho leas,
estimate YOU can put upon it, is eouol 70 : tons
of hav to averaue the wears. II N farmers in
this, or any other town, had raised Jacre each
more Ruta Bara last wear the effect woulJ have
been, no serious scarcity of fodder in such town
and the time that has been spent in anv town
within my knowledge, in browsing and extra
attendance on stock, would have raised more
than 100 acres of roots of any kind Take the
same land as above described, for PRODUCING
Ruta Bara, and add 10 or II common ok r. RI
loads, of rotton yard, or compost manure spreod
on and narrowed in with lirbt fine tooth har.
row, that will not disturb the seed, and it will
increase the crop 2 or 300 bushels to the acre.
The Sugar Beet requires rich deem soil we'll
pulverized by previous cultivation NV practice
has been to SOW the rows of each kind about .
# or 6 inches wide, and let the plants stand
from to II inches apart in the rows. To raise
quality of the seed, it should be raised from sc.
lected roots, set out considerable distance from
other kinds of Turnip or Beets, as they will
mix and degenerate, if suffered to stand near
each other when growngfor seed. Some NAV
object to the raising of roots for stock on accoun,