Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1871-07-20
From American Stock Journal.
Talks with Farmers.

VIZ. ~ "'iT'
\ few days since l met with q
GarairaXa man; he was n Scotchman
and OF course more advanced III az
riculturc than the generality OF Cana
dams. He had just been paying tol
his land; and as | knew the progress
Of the man, | rather wondered at 1T
How do you manage to get SO
mucl money together these hard
timcs:' | said.
The answer was-'my cattle turned
ont we'll
How many did you fltten"
The reply was-'six good ones
what lad you for them?'
Oh, just turnips and grain
How many acres OF turnips.
Seven, and all were good
Bnt seven acres were n great many
TO house,
'-Ah, but pitted most of them, and
only took in my root house full at
time.
What is your root-house made Of:
Mine is made OF logs, but most O.
my neighbors have stone root
houses
How many cattle do you gener-
ally reckon an acre OF turnips will
falten@
just about one, besides keeping
all the rest TO my stock, and have
a good many; but do not feed all
turnips; that would be too cold fol
them. | give, besides, peas and oats
feed all the peas and oats | grow
to the cattle, and also all the hay
and that gives me good manure: but
with all, II does not give me enough.
DO you grow wheat
Yes, but not much; little tall
wheat and little spring, but 10
more than l can help, as it does not
pay
DO you grow barley
No; peas and oats pay better, as !
feed all to the cattle, and get the
manure; if grew barley, l should
be forced to sell it off the place, and
then the farm would suffer-
Seven acres is good deal for one
man to do. How do yen manage
about hoelng and manuring:'
well, | manure the Fall previous,
and plough it in; then it is we'll rot
ton in the ground next year when !
SOW my tnrn,ps, and besides that,
the ground is so MOST that | never
have any trouble in getting them mp.
If l MANFRED in the Spring, | should
be Obliged to manure in the drill,
and then the ground is too light and
spongy, and dries up, and the young
plant either misses, or when it does
come up, withers away; whereas
when the manure has been in the
ground all the Winter, the whole Of
the soil feels it, and the plants grow
right away. l SOW the turnips in
drills. CT course. l sow with the
hand barrow. with two rollers-one
before the seed and one after it-sc
that the ground is always fine and
well pressed down; I make the rows
from thirty inches to three feet apart
and | calculate to leave the turnips
eighteen inches apart i'll the drills.
hoe them with the horseshoe between
the rows, and then single them Will
the hand hoe. If the season IS DIR,
the horse hoe kills everything that i
not in the row with two hoings; bu
if it is wet, we have to so over i
again several times, as it Is required
Our horseshoe widcns as necessary
and the knives overlap, so that
makes clean work; and as we can d
with horse from two to three acre
day we do mt spare the hoein
when it is wanted
What about hand hoelng:'
We 60 over the rows twice; ono
to cut out generally, and the secon'
time to single the plants. We.a
ways calculate to cut close round, $
as to make the plant fall down. |
the old country we always mad
every turnip plant fall over, one wa
or the other, and thought they cam
on all the better
How Go you harvest them?'
we go along the rows with tn
hoe, and nick off all the green, the
turn them out with the plough, an
SO get them out OF the ground.
| When you pit them in tue tiele
how much earth do you put Q
them?'
Not more than four inches III tn
solid, and we never make the hea
large; we are always afraid OF heal
ing and rottlng.'
| well, but the turnlps must freez
in Winter
They do mt freeze much, and
do they are better to freeze than t
heat. If they are cold for the cattle
the grain warns them
How do you manage the turnip
in the root-house?'
We pile them SO that there is
good draught all round and throug
them, and take care to make tn
floor of rails and poles, SO as to hav'
a good ventilation Then We kee
the house well aired and open, excep
IN the very hardest weather, whel