On the improved beet root, as winter food for cattle

by Pinder Simpson

CHAP. IV.

For the information and guidance of those occupiers of land, who may be desirous of cultivating the improved Beet Root upon strong land, the next Chapter will contain a particular account of the method used in cultivating that root upon strong land at Bedfords. The method there stated, is that which has been found, on three years’ trial, to be least expensive in the beginning, and most profitable in the end.—The cultivation of this root is earnestly recommended to the attention of all persons farming strong lands with a view to profit. It should never be forgotten, that 48 tons, the produce of only a single acre, of this root, will make 10 bullocks fat enough for the butcher; and that 6 acres, of equal produce, will fatten 60 bullocks; that the profit on each bullock will be considerable; and that when the business of feeding is over, the yard will be full of rich dung: neither should it be forgotten, that the tenant who sells his straw, cannot partake of any of these advantages.

In proof of this assertion, the following facts are submitted for consideration:

Mr. Heaton bought two lean Welch bullocks, at Harlow Bush Fair, on the 9th of September. They cost together £34. They were pastured on the Rowens till the 20th of November following, when they were tied up, and fed with Beet Root and oat straw till the 9th of February following, when they were sold together, in Romford market, for the sum of £50; yielding in twenty-two weeks, a profit of £16, which is equal to 7s. 3d. per week, for each bullock.

These two bullocks were tied up twelve weeks each, in which time they ate eight tons 2 cwt. of Beet Root, the produce of only one-sixth part of an acre of land, cultivated according to the method recommended in the following chapter.

CHAP. V.
THE METHOD USED IN THE CULTIVATION OF THE IMPROVED BEET ROOT UPON STRONG LAND AT BEDFORDS.

It may be proper, in the first place, to state what is meant by strong land. The surface soil is loamy, and from 4 to 12 inches deep, upon a bed of strong clay mixed with gravel. It is too heavy, and generally too wet, in the winter, even for sheep to eat a crop of turnips on the ground; and although good turnips are grown upon it, it is always necessary to draw them for the sheep, stall-fed cattle, or for cattle in the yards. The ground is prepared to receive the seed, and cleaned in the same way as it would have been for Swedish turnips. As that part of the business is so well known to all farmers, it is not necessary to enter into detail upon it.

In the middle, or latter end of the month of April, the furrows are set out with the plough, 2 feet apart, and double ploughed; that is, the plough returns on the furrow to the point whence it set out, forming a ridge between each furrow.

Double ploughing with a common plough is preferred to single ploughing with a double mould board plough, because it affords a greater depth of loose earth than the double mould board plough would produce.

In these furrows, the manure, which should be in a rotten state, is deposited, after the rate of six cubic yards to an acre.

The ridges are then split by the plough going and returning the same way as before mentioned, leaving the manure immediately under the middle of the new ridges, A light roller is then passed along the ridges, in the middle of which the seed is dibbled, so that the plants may receive all the benefit which can be derived from the manure.

The seed is deposited about an inch deep whilst the moisture is fresh in the earth, and covered by drawing a garden rake along the rows.

After this, the light roller is again passed along the ridges, and the work is finished.

When the plants are about the size of a radish, they are hoed with a turnip hoe, leaving the plants in the rows about 12 inches apart. If any of the seeds fail, and there happen not to be an even crop, the roots, where they are too thick, are drawn out before the hoeing takes place, and transplanted, to fill up the vacant places, and insure a full crop, which is always certain, inasmuch as 99 plants out of 100, thrive and do well. In transplanting, care is necessary to prevent the point of the root from turning upwards.

The weeds, whilst the plants are young, are kept hoed, but after the head of the plant has once spread, no weed can live underneath its shade, and the expence of hoeing afterwards is very trifling indeed.

The whole of the crop is taken up in the month of November, in dry weather. The tops are cut off near the crown of the plants, and the plants, when perfectly dry, are piled up in a shed, and covered with straw sufficiently thick to preserve them from the frost. They kept last year till the latter end of March, and they would have kept much longer.

The seed may be had of Cochran, seedsman, in Duke Street, Grosvenor Square; of Messrs. Gibbs and Co. Half Moon Street, Piccadilly; and of Mr. Mason, Fleet Street. From 3 to 4 pounds of the seed will be sufficient for an acre of ground, prepared and dibbled according to the method here stated. The price last year was 7s. per pound, but it may probably be less hereafter, as the growers of the root, so long as that high price continues, will of course save their own seed, and thereby lessen the demand from the seedsman.