Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-04-13
FARM AND GARDEN.
Importanee OF Root Crops.

II AIM AMI UAhDLNs
Importance Of Root Crops
A writer in the Richmond Farmer ur.
ges the cultivation Of root crops as Occu-
plying less extent Of land than other crops
and superseding the necessity of cultiva-
ting extensive fields. The diminution of
labor, he says, renders it the more neces-
sary in the South He quotes from the
report Of the Maine Board Of Agriculture
a statement Of a crop Of eight hundred
bushels of carrots, or over twenty tons,
from an acre, at a cost Of q cents per
bushel, or about $75 per acre, and that
the produce Of this acre Of carrots was
equal to ten acres Ct oats. Mr. Curwen,
an English farmer, says an acre Of car
rots supplies food for working horses
equal 10 sixteen Of oats Mr. Coleman,
an English Agricultural Commissioner,
mentions a farmer who usually obtains
twenty-five tons Of carrots to the acre,
and one farmer at Birkenhead harvested
q hundred tons from three acres. A far
mer near Springfield, Mass raised in
1859, on two and half acres Of land,
3l60 bushels, or ninety five TONS of man
gels, (beets,) at q cents per bushel, equal
TO l94 tons of hay. Mr. Ioring Of Salem,
Mass, raised on one acre and an eighth,
lAnn hsVabala Of 1T. e
cents per bushel, equal to twelve tons of
hay. Doyle and others give the average
turnip crop in England at fifteen tons
per acre Swedish turnips, twenty eight
to thirty tons; beets, forty-five tons. The
crop varies in the different counties Of
England and Scotland These wonderful
results are obtained by deep blowing and
heavy manuring. What crop is there
that from an acre will produce such an
amount Of valuable and nutritious food
at 80 reasonable an outlay p
The Edinburgh Encyclopedia says the
parsnip is the most valuable and nutri-
tious Of these roots. In the SoutherR
States the heat will more fully develop
the saccharine matter Of the beet and
parsnip and other roots, than the climate
Of Great Britain or the more Northern
States Of this continent When the
French trade with the tropics was cut of
by war, BOnaparte introduced into
France the process Of making sugar from
beets, and now three-fourths Of all the |
sugar consumed in that kingdom is made
from the beet IL is manufactured to the |
same extent in Belgium, and largely in
sther European countries. The sugar |
Of France pays tax to the government Of
ak cents to the pound, and is sold to the
consumer at twelve and fourteen cents. |
The New York Tribune states that the
beet sugar crop in an unreined state in
France is worth $5O,OOOOOO per annum,
That journal says From what we
know of the culture in France and Bel
gium, we do not entertain the slightest |
doubt that the beet root sugar manufac-
tured in this county is destined to be |
most profitable interest The only won
der is that it has been so long in being |
developed. 1t can only be accounted for
by the fact that we have had so long a
supply Of cheap cane sugar from Lou-
isiana and the West Indies. But the ex,
perience Of France and Holland shows
that raising sugar from the beet is both
more certain and more profitable than
raising Il from the cane. A company un-
der French auspices are engaged in the
manufacture Of beet sugar in Illinois" 1t
seems that they have succeeded in pre-
serving the beets in large quantities
through winter, and are making an ex-
csllent article Of sugar.
These facts are collated only with the
view Of calling attention to the general
value Of these root crops, in climates less
suited to their production than the South
eTn States.
A correspondent Of one of our ex,
changes furnishes the following sugges-
lions, which are worth repeating in this
connection
While some Of our people are troubling
themselves greatly in regard 10 the cult
walton Of corn and oats, for the limited
number Of horses aud cows kept by them
generally, l would like TO direct their at
tenuon very briefly 10 a much more econo- |
mioal kind Of food for stock ] allude 10
carrots. Il is, perhaps, not as generally
known a. Il should be that carrots may lie
given with perfect safety, and with the
very best results, 10 every species OF stock
more especially during the winter, and in
early spring. When given 20 COWS, they
not only increase the quantity Of the milk,
but give frmness, color and favor 10 the
butter. To horses they may be given raw,
though Cor horses or COWS they are more
nutritious and better relished when boiled
and mixed with a portion Of cut hay or
straw OF bran or ship stuff, Swine fatten
sn them rapidly, and, when boiled, they
are eeten with ayidity by poultry. Horses
will do as much work on carrot feed, mixed
with proportion Of corn, or oats, as thew
will upon corn OF oats alone
A good, bright well-enriched sandy loan
IL the delight Of carrots. They do not
succesd well on heavy, wet soils, and All
such should be avoided. Tia depth Of fifteen
inches Of good open soil can be selected,
and good dressing Of manure given IL
equal 20 that required to produce a fair
crop Of corn, under all ordinary oircum-
stances, the yield will no, be less than from
three 20 four hundred bushels to the acre.
The seed may be sown at almost any
dane from the Isl Of April TO the 10Th Of
nay. For Geld culture, il should be sown
10 drills an inch in depth, fifteen or eighteen
inches apart, the plants being thinned TO
- fnrbpa aaundsr All the cultivation I