ROOT CROPS. 183 



HAMPDEN. 



Statement of H. J. Chapin. 



Mangold Wurzel. — The mangold wurzels which I offer for 

 premium, were grown upon one-fourth of an acre of land which 

 a few years since was almost worthless, being too low and wet 

 for the purposes of general cultivation. The ground was nearly 

 all trenched with the spade, and raised some three feet by filling 

 in the bottom of the trenches with sand ; the surface was then 

 covered with sand to the depth of about two inches, and the 

 land ploughed late in autumn into ridges, that the winter frosts 

 and winds might expel the acid common to low and wet soils. 

 Since that time it has been cultivated as a vegetable garden. 

 Prior to ploughing the ground last spring, a quantity of manure 

 from the piggery was evenly spread over the surface, and the 

 land then ploughed. The surface of the ground was then 

 rendered smooth by the use of the hoe and hand-rake. The 

 drills were marked by a horse marker, thirty inches apart, and 

 the seed sown by hand. In August, when the lower leaves 

 began to show symptoms of decay, some half a dozen leaves, 

 more or less, were taken from each plant, by gently pressing 

 down with a brisk motion, leaving all the vigorous leaves to 

 grow. About three weeks later a second stripping took place, 

 and six loads with a one horse lumber wagon, with six-inch 

 side boards, was the result — the leaves were fed to the stock — 

 it required a little more than two hours for a lad, nearly man 

 grown, to fill the wagon. 



I would here remark that soils having more sand in their 

 composition, and at a higher elevation from water, make much 

 smaller leaves in proportion to the size of the roots ; on such 

 lands the stripping would not pay for the labor expended. 

 The crop was harvested in the middle of October, by pulling 

 six drills and placing them in a row, the tops all one way, for 

 the better dispatch in topping. 



We estimated the product by filling a cart eleven times 

 as evenly as possible, and then having one load weighed upon 

 the scales, which averaged thirteen hundred and ninety pounds 

 to the load, making the whole amount fifteen thousand two 

 hundred and ninety pounds. 



