Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1875-01-15
For the vERMoNr FARMER.
Root Culture.

In your paper Of Nov 20, appears a part
of paper which was read before the Geor-
gia grange upon the subject of " Beet Cul.
ture."
find so much in your paper that most
heartily approve, that feel somewhat re-
luctant in writing few lines to dissent from
the views Of my brother Wait. As to the
question whether it pays to raise beets for
feeding stock, must most emphatlcally
say yes; 1t pays me-" In order to make
fair and candid statement of my expert.
ence in raising roots for feeding stock, | will
say that | have not raised them on large
scale raising only from 300 to 800 bush.
els year. 1 do not 6ud it quite SO much
Of task az my brother represents. find
no difficulty in raising beets at the rate of %
to 30 tons per acre, and | do not find it nee.
essary to manure the land excessively; neil
ther do l have any trouble about their ex.
hausting all the virtue on the soil. | raised
them on one piece Of land for three years in
succession, manuring at the rate Of 25 to 80
loads (of % bushels each) per acre, the yield
Of beets being at the rate of about ~ tons
per acre. The piece of land has now been
in grass three years, yielding two good crops
each year, showing plainly that the beets
did not take all the goodness out Of the soil.
~
The labor in raising them is but little more
than in raising potatoes,-the planting aud
harvesting much less, but the thinning and
hoeing little more. Nov let us see how
the account will stand when compared with
hay. By analysis it is found for feeding
purposes $50 pounds of beets are equal to
100 pounds of good hay, and my experience
is that when fed in connection with dry and
coarse fodder their value is even greater.
But taking their value as established and
what can easily be raised upon an acre, say
30 tons, their value for feeding stock is
equal to over eight and three-fourths tons Of
good hay. Now if my friend Wait can
raise, cure, aud store that amount Of hay for
less expense and labor than he could raise
and store the beets from an acre Of land, be
will do what caunot. l can raise beets or
turaips at an expeasc Of not over six to
eight cents per bushel, including pay for
manure and all labor.
One word about the water they contain,
and the labor, &c, in feeding. BY aualyis
they contain about the same amount Of nu-
triment as does the green fodder on which
our stock feed in summer The proportion
Of water they contain is just what our cows
need to take with their food to keep them in
a good, thriving, and healthy condition. If
our brother could secure % or 80 tons Of
good green grass and keep it fresh and green
as well as he could the beets with which to
feed his COWS a little every day during our
long winter, we should find his barns well
filed with that kind of feed. not withstanding
it contained 50 per cent water. He would
find his cattle we're in favor Of that kind OF
oqueduct business.
As to what he says about carrying them
10 the barn from the house cellar, he might
have easily increased his travel by taking o
less quantity at each time, but l suppose il
farmer has 500 or 1000 bushels of roots
to feed to his stock he will use some common
sense in moving and cutting them up. His
argument about that part of the labor in
feeding them is about as sensible as it would
be to condemn the cutting and curing of nay
by saying it would cause too much labor "a
get it to the barn by carrying it all in with q
fork. feed from two to four bushels pei
day, and it never takes me over twenty
minutes to take them from my cellar to the
barn aud cut and feed them, but l would
recommend where possible cellar under the
barn for storing them.
Both my experience and observation leads
me to fully believe that it pays me and pays
me well TO raise roots for feeding dairy
stock. ID. B. WHERLoCK.
Barre, Dec. %.
L. s., Jan. l.-Since writing the above
have seen in the FARMER a reply TO Mr.
Waits article, but send this and you can dc
as you think best about publishing all or any
part oft. d. b. w.
ReDortsd for tho VERMONT FARMER