Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-07-31
Correspondence.
For the vEaHoSr FARMER.
ROOT CROPS.


noticed an article in the FARMER of Ju-
ly 10th, and another in previous number,
in reply to one wrote some weeks ago in
relation TO root crops. One writer in COM
mencing says, How discouragiug to those
who are laboring to advance agricultural i'm
provement to read the article from &c. s.
p" Plainield, &c. mistake Of the printer,
it should be Randolph). don't know why
the subject will not bear discussion. If l
in my poor way attempt to show that root
crops are not profitable friend Thorp has
the right to show up the fallacy Of my rea-
Soniug on the subject and perhaps in the end
the root raisers will stand on better footing
than at the start
Now as to the amount of work in raising
roots as compared with raising corn or pota-
toes, would like to say few words. l
don't know but Mr.. T. has system of rais-
ing roots so that he can raise an acre with
as little work as he eau an acre of corn If
so must confess that l am Ignorant of the
science of root culture as il is possible for a
man to be-" as he says. We will take for
instance carrot raising. l have about
square rod Of them in my garden. The
land was well prepared; as we'll as so igno-
rant a man as | could well do it. Now l
should like to see the man that could give
them the first wedding and thinning short of
an hours work, thus to 60 over an acre
would take one man 160 hours, which would
be equal to l6 days. Then he would have
to begin again at the starting point and go
over the field again, which would not take so
long. The same man would hoe an acre of
corn or potatoes in less than two days This
is land Of weeds, (perhaps they don't have
any in Morristown,) and let the land be ever
so well prepared by pulverization the weed
seeds still remain in the soil and are ready
to spring up with Sown seeds and then again
the root raiser must put in more seed than
he wishes to have grow, and if not weed
comes up in the whole field he has yet the
task Of thinning out, which is as bad as
wedding. So he might as we'll creep on all
four from one end of the row to the other
Our seed sewers will not drop one single
seed, and in the case Of beets from to 6
plants will grow from a single seed or rather
cluster Of seeds, SO there is no escape
from the thinning out process as L can see.
Root raising has its ups aud downs in this
section, some who formerly raised them to
great extent raise none now, mainly on account
the hard labor it takes to raise them, the
want Of help, &c.
There might be many more things said.
Boys hate root raising, for they know that
there is job for them every lOwery day in
haying. There is nothing so discouraging
to boy as to be set to hOciug weedy root
field. Nothing will give them such n dis
taste for farming as such Jobs.
The Morristown man winds up by saying
"Sure enough, if he has had all those mis-.
fortunes befall him that he has enumerated
in his article, would go out of the root
business if | were him. &c. would like
to have him point out in my article one item
where complain of misfortuues in root
raising. only attempted to show the labor
side Of the question. | can and have
raised large root crops, and never failed in
that line. All l tried to show iu my arti,
Gle was that could apply my labor to bet
ter advantage. l also attempted to show
that early cut hay was nearly as good as
green grass to promote the health of farm
stock, and l think good deal cheaper to
sideration. esp.
Randolph, Jnly II.