o. 10"5.] 327 



STATEMENTS OF MANGEL WURTZEL CROPS. 



C. B. MEEK. 



The condition of the field where the mangel wurtzel grew was 

 good, having been pastured five years previous to the fall of 1843. 

 At that time it was plowed, and in the spring of 1844, sowed with 

 oats on the old furrow, no manure used. In the fall of 1844, the 

 greater part of the field was manured with unfermented barnyard 

 manure, at the rate of 40 loads per acre, and immediately plowed. 

 Having used up all the manure, a small part of the lot was not plowed 

 until the 25th of February 1845, having been previously dressed 

 with manure from the hog pens and hen house, and «ome fresh ma- 

 nure from the barnyard. The hen house and hog pens produced the 

 greatest crop. On the fifteenth of April the field was well harrowed, 

 and again on the twenty-ninth of the same month. On the 2nd 

 of May, plowed, harrowed and spread, on half acre, two wagon loads 

 of unleached wood ashes. On the 10th of May drawn up into rid- 

 'ges 27 inches apart, and planted with two kinds of seed, the long 

 red and the long yellow, both procured from Mr. Skervine, of Liver- 

 pool. The quantity of seed planted on the half acre two pounds. 

 The sowing was performed by three hands, the first making a bed 

 "for the seed with a hoe at intervals of twelve inches, the second 

 dropping the seed six or eight in a place, and the third cov- 

 ering the seed with a hoe or rake, taking care to cover with fine 

 earth. The seed was not soaked, not considering it all necessary 

 where the land is properly prepared for the reception of the seed^ 

 As soon as the plants were up, all the ground along the centre of the 

 ridges, and close round the clump of plants was hand hoed, leaving 

 the rest of the ground for the cultivator. The first hand hoeing 

 "was on the 2nd of June, and on the 23rd of June, went through 

 with the cultivator. On the 26th of June thinned out the plants, 

 selecting the strongest plant in each clump, and cutting out 

 the remainder. On the 10th of July, and once afterwards, ex- 

 cept where the long yellow grew, went through with cultivator. 

 The reason why the long yellow were omitted, was, that they grow 

 in such a form, reaching over from ridge to ridge, so that the culti- 

 vator cannot pass without breaking off a number of plants, on this 

 'account I intend to discard them, and substitute the red globe. The 

 crop was harvested on the 24th and 25th of October, and the produce 

 was, of the quarter of an acre, of the long red 336 and half bushels, 

 equal to 1346 bushels per acre, of the long yellow 277 and one-fifth 

 bushels, equal to 1108 and half bushels per acre, making the yield 

 of the half of an acre 613 and three-fifths bushels, equal to 1227 

 and two-fifths bushels, or 30 tons, 13 hundred and 10 pounds, per 

 acre. 



