Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1870-02-02
Vermont Dairymen's Association
CULTIVATION OF THE scoAR prEr.

st. Adams, on the 10th inst Mr. Lane
said
"The first and most important question for
dairymcn TO decide is the selection of his
cows In making this selection, reference
should be bad to the proper kind and quality
Of food required by them in order to ensure
the best results. The object Of Vernon,
dairymen being ofa two-iold character name
ly, butter and cheese, the selection Of COWS Of
the soundest constitutions and organs ofdges-
ton are of especial importance, and good
feeding and management are Of the highest
Importance. A COW should be fed unit sat
is6ed, with food that is sufficiently nutritious,
and all that is not needed to sustain life will
20 towards the production Of milk. The
great secret Of the darymans success is to
keep cows well fed Cows will give more
milk on fresh grass than on any other kind
Of feed The rich grasses in our pastures
begin TO fail early, and some kind Of auxili-
airy food must be substituted in their stead.
A supply of good pasture feed can only be
given for five months at the longest, and a
good variety Of succulent food is required
for the remainder Of the year. Corn will
only supply this desideratum for one or two
months 10 autumn.
Darymen should turn their attention to
the cultivation Of root crops. Cows require
a change Of food in order to assist the diges-
tive process and thereby will keep in better
health and eat coarse fodder cleaner. The
question is, what is the best root crop ? Ia
raising roots the labor required is to be con-
sidered. The market value Of potatoes is toe
great TO make their use for feeding stock at
all profitable. The turnip and carrot, and
particularly the latter, are perhaps best for
young stock, but they cannot be raised at the
present time with profit. The culture Of the
carrot has been almost abandoned in Addison
County, aud the sugar beet has taken its
place
Mr. Lane said he could attest from ex-
perience that 10 root will produce so much
milk and so rich in quality as the sugar beet.
Several kinds have been tried, but he regarded
the " American Improved Sugar beet, in re-.
spect to shape, size and quality, far superior
to any other sort for the purpose required.
II is the only variety now raised in Cornwall
and vicinity. 1t is without forks or lateral
roots, and yields with great certainty. Tho
reason that it is excellent for young stock
and better for milk than any other, is why it
is so rapidly growing in favor.
This crop should not be grown on stagnant
soil, without the same be first thoroughly
drained, us the root on reaching stagnant
water would be divided, aud the crop mate.
rally injured. The best crop he had ever
seen was grown on clay soil, containing 20
per cent. of sand. The land intended for beet
culture should be kept in good condition
Twenty-Five loads Of barnyard manure should
be applied to each acre, and the land should
be plowed in the fall. Fresh or coarse man.
ures should be avoided. Rotation of this CROP
is not necessary. Beets have been grown on
the same land for thrty-six years in success.
sion, and the last crop was quite as produc.
tive as the first. Early sowing was the best
as difference of ten days in the time Of
planting might make difference of ten tom
in the product
Mr.. Lane gave some general rules for tn,
cultivation OF this crop, together with the fol
lowing important statements, viz; That tn,
cost Of raising the sugar beet is about s cent
per bushel that the product of an acre viii
feed 20 cows eight weeks that the curren
opinion that feeding this root to cows as sool
as harvested, is apt to lower the condition o
the animals, is not confirmed by his expert
ence and that four pounds of seed to tn,
acre is required, which he recommends SHOULD
be sowed with drills in rows q feet apart
leaving the plants Is inches apart in tn
rows.
In the discussion which followed, Mr.. Ian
said that good seed could be procured ie
Sl,25 per pound; that the beet is not 81
good for fattening purposes as potatoes o
corn and that he never knew good cro|
of roots to be grown on turf land.
Mr.. o. s. Bliss said he had observed tina
the farmers of Cornwall used the sugar bee
for feeding nearly every kind of stock /; an
he tried the effect of feeding them to a p
that was prone to squeal necessarily. So Ion
as he was able to furnish the saccharine roo
it ceased to squeal, but as soon as the suppl
was exhausted it resumed its squealiug witt
undiminished vigor. Laughter aud az
plause.
Col. j. b. Mead of Randolph, said he ha
nearly settled on the Swedish rutabaga
turnip as the best root grown for stock bu
he had never seen such specimens rs thos
exhibited by Mr.. Lane, two, weighing re
spectiyely six and ten pounds.) He was con
WINGED that the farmers of this State wer
raising more corn than is for their profit, AM
should produce more roots
The President, Mr. Mason, thought beet
were excellent for hogs and better still 70
cows. A bushel a day and one ton of ha
for the wintcrsdre better for cow than tw
tons Of hay without the roots They are a
easily cultivated as corn if proper care b
taken in the outset. He usually sowed ther
about the first Of June. They are more pre-
iitable for mich COW than any other Gro
unless it be green corn in August, In answc
to an inquiry he said he fed them raw, t
both hogs and cows
Mr.. Lane remarked that the labor has bee
the great bug-bear in root culture, but ther
was no need of deyoting so much. If the
are rightly sown the principal labor is i
thinning The cultiyator will do the rest, an
it should be used often, in order to keep tn
ground light In his opinion the seed shoul
be sown earlier than Mr.. Mason's habi
Next to the onion, which is always the earl
est sown, the beet should be put in and an il
creased product will be the result Speakin
of onions, he said they had become quite
crop in his vicinity, his own town having raise
about 1000 bushels last year
In answer to an inquiry he stated that tn
fattening quality of beets did not equal tha
of potatoes, having less of starch. but ia h
vicinity many store hogs were wintcred we
almost exclusively upon them.
Col. Mead doubted if the soil on the eai
side of the mountain would produce so goo
beets as shown by Mr. Lane But he W,
glad Of the instruction how to raise them, an
believed that in all parts of the State the
would be found profitable crop,
, BoussINGAULT gives a table of the nutritiy