On the Improved Beet Root, As Winter Food for Cattle

Part 1

ON THE

IMPROVED BEET ROOT,

MANGEL WURZEL.

ON THE IMPROVED BEET ROOT, AS WINTER FOOD FOR CATTLE.

BY PINDER SIMPSON.

THE FOURTH EDITION.

LONDON:

Printed by J. Swan, Fleet Street,

AND SOLD BY TAYLOR AND HESSEY, NO. 93, FLEET STREET. 1815.

JOHN HEATON, ESQ.

BEDFORDS,

IN THE COUNTY OF ESSEX.

AS A TESTIMONY OF GRATITUDE

TO HIM,

FOR THE LONG AND FAITHFUL FRIENDSHIP

WITH WHICH

THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN HONOURED,

THIS TRACT IS INSCRIBED,

BY HIS AFFECTIONATE

AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,

PINDER SIMPSON.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The following observations, experiments, and calculations have been made upon the crops of Improved Beet Root, grown upon a farm at Bedfords, in the county of Essex, containing 600 acres, belonging to John Heaton, Esq. and in his own occupation. The best mode of cultivating this valuable root, with the greatest prospect of success, is a subject well worth the attention of farmers in general, and to those in particular who have strong soils to cultivate, and feel the want of green food for their cattle and sheep in the winter and spring months of the year.

Since the first edition of this little work was published, the Author has obtained many new lights upon the subject, which he has either embodied in the present edition, or published in an Appendix. The contents show sufficiently to whom his principal obligation is due, and he is restrained only by motives of delicacy from saying more. The circulation of the work was intended to have been chiefly confined to a few of the inland counties, but the encouragement the Author has received, and which he respectfully acknowledges, has induced him to publish a fourth edition, for more general circulation.

Cheese Cross, Romford. Jan. 1, 1815.

THE FOLLOWING

NOBLEMEN, GENTLEMEN,

AND

Part 2

FARMERS,

HAVE ENCOURAGED THIS PUBLICATION.

The Most Hon. the Marquis of Bath, Longleat, Wilts.

The Right Hon. Lord William Bentinck, North Lynn, Norfolk.

The Right Hon. Lord Bradford, Weston Hall, Staffordshire.

George Bainbridge, Esq. Gobions, Essex.

Henry Bowman, Esq. Knockin Hall, Shropshire.

Mr. John Bailey, Chillingham, Northumberland.

Mr. William Blake, Rilston, Yorkshire.

The Right Hon. Lord G. H. Cavendish, Holker Hall, Lancashire.

The Right Hon. R. P. Carew, M.P. Antony, Cornwall.

Charles Cavendish, Esq. Savile Row, London.

John Cotes, Esq. M.P. Woodcote, Shropshire.

The Rev. William Carr, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire.

The Rev. Wm. Crofts, North Grimston, Yorkshire.

John Carr, Esq. Skipton, Yorkshire.

Charles Cole, Esq. Paston, Northamptonshire.

James Campbell, Esq. Whitton Dean, Middlesex.

Charles Campbell, Esq. Edmonton, Middlesex.

Mr. T. Clarke, Kirkby Hardwick, Nottinghamshire.

Mr. John Charlton, Bolton, Lancashire.

His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire.

John Denison, Esq. Ossington, Nottinghamshire.

A. P. Driver, Esq. Kent Road, Surrey.

Edward Driver, Esq. ditto.

John Elsee, Esq. Chigwell Row, Essex.

The Right Hon. Earl Fitzwilliam, Wentworth, Yorkshire.

Ralph Fletcher, Esq. Hollins, Lancashire.

Part 3

The Right Honourable Lord Grantham, Newby Hall, Yorkshire.

E. S. Godfrey, Esq. Newark, Nottinghamshire.

The Right Hon. the Earl of Hardwicke, Wimpole, Cambridgeshire.

Sir Windsor Hunloke, Bart. Wingerworth, Derbys.

John Heaton, Esq. Bedfords, Essex.

Charles Heaton, Esq. Burlington Street, London.

William Hewson, Esq. Havering Grange, Essex.

C. N. Hastie, Esq. East Grinstead, Sussex.

Philip Heacock, Esq. Buxton, Derbyshire.

Samuel Hicks, Esq. Wyddial, Hertfordshire.

Mr. Richard Hudson, Plaistowe, Essex.

Charles Jervis, Esq. Hinckley, Leicestershire.

William Jacobs, Esq. Havering, Essex.

The Rev. J. Kendal, Barrowby, Lincolnshire.

Thomas Knowlton, Esq. Edensor, Derbyshire.

Sir H. T. Liddell, Bart. Ravensworth Castle, Durham.

William J. Lockett, Esq. Derby.

The Right Honourable Viscount Milton, Milton, Northamptonshire.

Sir Thomas Mostyn, Bart. Mostyn, Flintshire,

A. L. Maynard, Esq. Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

John Machell, Esq. Low Plains, Cumberland.

William Morris, Esq. Havering, Essex.

Mr. William Masterman, Havering, Essex.

Sir Richard Neave, Bart. Dagnam Park, Essex.

Dudley North, Esq. M.P. Glenham Hall, Suffolk.

His Grace the Duke of Portland, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire.

The Hon. C. A. Pelham, M.P. Appuldurcombe, Isle of Wight.

J. D. Paul, Esq. Temple Bar, London.

Part 4

Thomas Partington, Esq. Offham, Sussex.

Mr. Peter Potter, Kentish Town, Middlesex.

Mr. James Pope, Latimer, Buckinghamshire.

Mr. Thomas Padmore, Lincroft, Staffordshire.

Mr. Thomas Pinder, Eakring, Nottinghamshire.

Thomas Roberts, Jun. Esq. Hampstead, Middlesex.

Edward Russell, Esq. Holland House, Surrey.

John Renshaw, Esq. Nottingham.

Mr. Robert Robinson, Havering, Essex.

Mr. John Rowell, Holbeck, Lancashire.

The Honourable John Simpson, M.P. Babworth, Nottinghamshire.

S. E. Sawbridge, Esq. Olantigh, Kent.

Robert Snow, Esq. Temple Bar, London.

John Shaw, Esq. Wheston Hall, Derbyshire.

William Sandby, Esq. Rochlin, Herefordshire.

John Stephens, Esq. Reading.

Thomas Sewell, Esq. Newport, Isle of Wight.

William Stone, Esq. Englefield, Berkshire.

Benjamin Severn, Esq. Hare Hall, Essex.

Mr. John Sutton, Sawtry, Huntingdonshire.

Mr. William Speechly, King’s Newton Hall, Derbyshire.

Mr. Robert Swift, Wyddial, Hertfordshire.

The Right Hon. Lord John Townshend, Balls Park, Hertfordshire.

The Rev. Robert Thomson, LL.D. Long Stowe Hall, Cambridgeshire.

H. B. Thornhill, Esq. Langwith Lodge, Notts.

C. T. Tower, Esq. Weald Hall, Essex.

George Tuson, Esq. Ilchester, Somersetshire.

Mr. William Trumper, Dorney, Buckinghamshire.

Part 5

Mr. Reynier Tiler, Windsor, Berkshire.

Mr. Robert Tomlin, Stoke, Derbyshire.

Mr. John Trumper, Harefield, Middlesex.

C. C. Western, Esq. M.P. Felix Hall, Essex.

The Rev. E. Williamson, Campton, Bedfordshire.

C. H. Ware, Esq. Gray’s Inn, Middlesex.

John Willock, Esq. Golden Square, London.

Thomas Willan, Esq. Marybone Park, Middlesex.

Mr. Charles Waistell, Holborn, Middlesex.

Mr. William Weller, Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

Mr. William Ward, Durham.

Mr. Thomas Wolton, Pirgo Park, Essex.

Mr. Joseph Watson, Shimpling, Norfolk.

Mr. William Weedon, Wilsden Green, Middlesex.

ON THE

IMPROVED BEET ROOT,

WINTER FOOD FOR CATTLE.

CHAP. I.

The garden at Cheese Cross produced a fine crop of the Improved Beet Root. The roots, when about the size of a radish, were thinned out with a turnip hoe, leaving the plants nearly 15 inches apart each way. I selected 60 square yards, 6 by 10, and found the produce to be 360 roots, equal to 29,040 roots upon an acre. They weighed from 1 pound to 12 pounds each, and 10 of them, taken up indiscriminately, weighed 40 pounds. Supposing them, therefore, to average 4 pounds each, the weight upon an acre would be something more than 50 tons. One hundred weight, cut into small pieces for the cattle, measured 2 bushels. The quantity per acre may therefore be estimated at 2000 bushels, 2 bushels are given to each bullock daily: 196 bushels, the produce of only about a tenth part of an acre of garden ground, planted in this way, would keep a bullock 14 weeks.

In Mason’s field, on the road from Bedfords to Havering, another fine crop was obtained. The roots, when about the size of a radish, were taken out of the seed bed, and planted in rows, 3 feet asunder, and the plants were about 18 inches apart in each row. I selected 60 square yards, 6 by 10, and found the produce to be 126 roots, equal to 10,164 roots upon an acre. These roots weighed, on an average, 5 pounds each, so that the weight upon an acre would be something more than 22 tons. Each bullock eats 1 cwt. per day. The produce of 1 acre of ground, planted in this way, would keep 4 bullocks feeding for 110 days.

In another part of the same field, on the road from Bedfords to Havering, the seed was dibbled in rows, 2 feet apart, and the plants were left 12 inches apart in each row. I selected 60 square yards, 6 by 10, and found the produce to be 270 roots; equal to 21,780 roots upon an acre. These roots average a little more than 5 pounds each. The weight upon an acre would therefore be something more than 48 tons. Each bullock eats 1 cwt. per day. The produce of 1 acre of land, planted in this way, would keep 10 bullocks feeding for 97 days.

CHAP. II.

This is the third year that Mr. Heaton has cultivated the improved Beet Root with great success, in three different ways; namely, broadcast on ground under garden culture; and, in the field, by dibbling in the seed, and transplanting the roots. The result fully justifies a preference in favour of dibbling in rows 2 feet apart, as will be seen by the following short statement of the produce obtained under each mode of culture.

│ PRODUCE. Broadcast, on strong land, spade-trenched, 10 inches deep, │ 50 tons leaving the plants after hoeing nearly 15 inches apart each │per acre. way, │

Transplanted in rows 3 feet apart, and the plants about 18 │ 22 tons inches apart in each row, │per acre.

Dibbling the seed in rows 2 feet apart, and the plants left │ 48 tons 12 inches apart in each row, │per acre.

A good crop may be obtained by the broadcast method upon deep, loose soils, or upon strong soils spade-trenched, 10 or 12 inches deep; but by that mode much seed is wasted, and much extra expence incurred in labour, hoeing, and transplanting, before the plants are placed 5 inches apart each way, which is very material to insure a good crop, under that mode of culture.

CHAP. III

Part 6

To those who may have been in the habit of cultivating the Swedish turnip, it may be desirable to point out the advantages which the improved Beet Root has over that turnip. Mr. Heaton had last year, in his Havering Green field, the best crop of Swedish turnips that I have ever seen, upon his farm, during twelve years’ attention to the management of it; and his intelligent agent and farmer, Mr. Henry Gibbons, assures me, that he did not see a better crop between London and Derby, from which latter place he returned in December last.

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