In the cultivation of sugar beets, the ground is first manured heavily,
plowed deep, and thoroughly pulverized with the cultivator, then
marked out in rows with a garden plow, two feet apart. Manure from the
poultry-house is scattered in each furrow, which should be lightly
covered with soil, so the seed will not come in contact with it; drop the
seeds about six inches apart, covering lightly with the garden rake. When
the leaves are about four inches long, thin out to one plant in a place,
and fill any vacancies with the plants pulled out. Hoe them thoroughly,
destroying all weeds, which can easily be done by cultivating each
time before hoeing, with an arrow cultivator. Keep the ground mellow,
and cultivate three or four times, after which they will take care of
themselves and soon cover the ground. With ground in good condition,
and a fair season, six hundred to eight hundred bushels per acre can be
easily produced. Let them grow until frost comes, when they should be dug
with a garden fork, the tops cut off, and stored for winter. Those to be
used before the first of March, are stored in the cellar, the others are
buried in a long pit, digging out a shallow place, piling up the roots
about three feet high, and three feet wide, covering well with straw
and sufficient soil to keep them from freezing, putting in a drain-tile
about every four feet in the top of the pile, with one end to project a
little through the covering, for ventilation. If the weather becomes very
cold, lay a turf over the tile, and remove when pleasant. I grow carrots
after the same plan, and store in like manner. I prefer beets, as they
are so much larger, it is less trouble to gather and take care of them,
and the crop is generally larger, still I always grow some carrots for a
change. I plant sweet corn in drills, always put some fertilizer along
the furrow, dropping the kernels about eight inches apart, with the rows
three feet wide, I commence planting soon after May first, and continue
at intervals until about July first, so I can have a fresh supply for
use, and market, all the season. The sweet corn being grown on the plot
sown to winter rye, for soiling, enables us to cut some portions of it
twice, before the ground is needed for corn. When sowing corn for fodder,
which is done as soon as we commence digging the early potatoes, I sow
it in drills two feet apart, and drop the kernels about one inch apart
in the drills, manure from the pigsty is first dropped in the furrow,
and covered with soil at least two inches deep, or the corn will not
come up. This fertilizer is so strong, if properly used it causes a most
extraordinary growth of stalks. While the corn is small, cultivate it
two or three times with a narrow cultivator, when it will take care of
itself, and there will be a surprising growth of stalks; I have them
often six feet high. Just before time for frosts, cut with a scythe, and
set up in small bunches bound around the top, and leave to cure until
cold weather. When it is to be put in the mow, spread alternately a
layer of stalks, and a layer of straw, and it will keep bright and sweet
until wanted. The rye for spring soiling is sown when the sweet corn is
picked, and stalks removed, in drills about ten inches apart. Fine manure
is spread on the ground after plowing, and thoroughly mixed with the
surface soil; one or two hoeings being given to keep the ground mellow;
to destroy any weeds that may make their appearance. By May first, the
early sown rye will cover the ground with a dense growth, at least four
feet high, furnishing a large quantity of most nutritious green food. On
those portions of the plot where the latest corn is to be planted, two or
three cuttings are made; this gives most excellent food for the cow, and
the quantity grown on this fourth of an acre will surprise any one who
has never tried it. There is quite a plot of early peas, and as soon as
the last picking occurs, while the vines are green, they are pulled and
fed to “Spot,” who relishes them very much. Turnips, or corn, are at once
sown on the ground where the peas were.
When our early cabbages are taken up, all the leaves, and much of the
stalks, are turned into milk by taking them to the cow’s manger, and
the ground at once planted, or sown, to something that will make more
food. The beet, carrot, and turnip tops, and late cabbage leaves, make
quite a quantity of feed late in the fall, if care is taken in saving
and preserving them. Possibly there may be some better forage crop than
“evergreen,” or sugar corn; I think another fall I will try the Minnesota
Amber Sugar Cane, in a small way. I tried Pearl Millet, in one row, this
season; it tillered, or spread wonderfully, but did not do so well as
the corn, as the stalks were small, and the millet makes such a feeble
growth, at first, it requires the whole season to produce as much fodder
as I get from corn sowed the fourth of July.