136 



Bulletin 244. 



best suited to succeed them will be oats or corn. If oats follow, the 

 mangel tops should be spread uniformly over the land and plowed under 

 in the fall. Failure to spread them uniformly will cause an uneven grain 

 crop, as the tops are a valuable manure. 



Preparation of soil for mangels: 



Deep fall plowing is advisable, with a cross plowing or a deep disk- 

 harrowing in the spring. No crop responds more readily to good tillage 

 than the mangel and no crop will be more discouraging to the man who 

 but half prepares the land. Ten to twelve tons per acre of barn manure 

 should be applied to the land in the fall, previous to plowing ; this may be 

 supplemented with fertilizers in spring if desired. Before the seed is 

 sown the land should be well fitted with the disk and spiked-toothed har- 

 rows. The successful grower will give five or six harrowings if neces- 

 sary to make the seed-bed fine. Previous to the last two harrowings, 

 apply 240 to 280 pounds of acid phosphate and 100-120 pounds of nitrate 

 of soda per acre, and 100-120 pounds muriate of potash; these should be 

 mixed together just before application ; the mixture should be ap- 

 plied early in spring. 

 The fertilizers will 

 stimulate the young 

 plants. In some cases, 

 400 to 500 pounds Of 

 salt per acre are a])- 

 plied. If the land has 

 not been recently limed, 

 an application of 

 1,500-2,000 pounds 

 per acre will often be 

 profitable. 



Seeds and seeding for 

 mangels: 



What is sold in 

 commerce as mangel 

 seed is really the fruit. 

 It is sometimes called capsule or " bolt." If opened it will be found to 

 contain one to five small seeds, two to three being most common. (Page 

 119.) One hundred capsules should produce 150 to 175 plants and as 

 two or three plants sometimes grow close together from one capsule 

 it requires hand labor to thin the plants. An attempt to remedy this has 

 been made by cracking the capsules into pieces, so that but one seed would 



Fig. 47. — Carton Monarch rutabagas. The roots are 

 generally uniform in size and shape and are solid. 

 It is somewhat affected by clubroot disease. 



