ROOT CROPS. 35 



face of the trround with an ax. thrown into piles, and loaded on a 

 wagon with a pitchfork without serious inconvenience to the worker. 

 Kale irrows a {jreat deal durinir the fall and winter, and nuich is 

 lost by feeding the whole i)lant in the early part of the feeding sea- 

 son. By using only the lower leaves it is possible to begin feeding 

 quite early without stopping the growth of the plants. AVith the 

 thunil) and fingers of the hand extended, one can break otf all of the 

 lower leaves of a large plant with three or four downwaid strokes 

 of the hand. This is not practicable, however, during damp weather, 

 for the leaves would be too wet to handle in this manner. 



TIIK SKKI) CROP. 



An exc<>llent quality of kale seed is produced in the Willamette 

 Valley. Like rape, it is a biennial and does not produce seed until 

 the second year. Kichard Scott, a dairynum of the Willamette 

 Valley, has grown kale for twenty-seven years. He produces seed 

 about as follows: There is considerable variation in the types of 

 individual plants. During the first year plants with many rather 

 narrow leaves that begin spreading from near the surface of the 

 ground are selected. This type of plant yields more and stands freez- 

 ing better than a plant the stem of which is bare for some distance 

 above the ground. These selected plants are transplanted in Febru- 

 ary in some isolated place to j)revent cross-fertili/ation by undesirable 

 kale plants, rape, cauliflower, and other closely related plants. It is 

 believed that kale crosses with wild mustard and wild turni}) ; hence 

 none of these plants should be allowed to grow^ near kale that is 

 intended for seed. The seed crop is cut when the first seeds are turn- 

 ing brown. If the crop is small, it is usually thrashed by hand. A 

 large crop may be handled the same as a seed crop of rape. Birds 

 are fond of the seed, and for this reason it should remain in the field 

 only until dry. 



ROOT CROPS. 



Since the soil requirements and the methods of culture of mangel- 

 wurzels {Beta vulgaris var. maerorhiza), carrots {Daucns carota)^ 

 and rnta-bagas {Brassica campestris) are very similar, they will be 

 treated collectively. Like rape and thousand-headed kale, they suc- 

 ceed best where the;^veather is moist and cool. Hence their eminent 

 adaptation to western Oregon and Washington. In this region the 

 yield of these crops is enormous, the cu'dinary yield being from 20 to 

 35 tons per acre, while reports of 45 or 50 tons are not infrequent. 



Koot crops usually succeed best on deep, moist, friable loam soils. 

 On clay land they grow too slowly, and the soil is also difficult to w^ork. 

 Ordinarily, land for roots is heavily manured in the fall and then 

 plowed considerably deeper than for other crops. If the soil runs 



94 



