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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, 



colour of the root, a light red, aud not be too many in number, 

 but branching gracefully from the base. There should also be 

 a similarity in all the roots, which in their form ought to be 

 nearly alike, ending below in a single tapering tap-root of 

 small dimensions, without any fangs branching from them, to 

 prevent their being easily drawn from the soil, without the 

 assistance of an implement to eflfect it, but yielding at once 

 easily on the slightest application of force being made. This 

 desideratum cannot be obtained when the seed has been grown 

 from small plants raised in the previous autumn, but only by 

 carefully seleclimj the roots one by one from the field whilst 

 growing, and rejecting those which when pulled have not the 

 requisite qualifications of colour and shape, especially at the 

 crown and root. The difference in the cost of producing seed 

 from roots thus selected, and from plants as before stated, 

 varies from 300 to 400 per cent. Seed from plants is apt to 

 run off with a seed-stem in the first year, whilst that produced 

 from full-grown roots is less likely to do so. Planting very 

 early likewise produces the same tendency, and it is in a 

 general way not advisable to plant before the middle of April 

 uor after the middle of May. The system of cultivation as 

 carried out by myself is to plough up the land intended for 

 this crop immediately after the previous grain-crop has been 

 removed. The laud best adapted for the purpose is that upon 

 which wheat has succeeded clover. The land in the first 

 instance ought not to be ploughed beyond the ordinary depth, 

 until, by repeatedly scarifying and harrowing, the couch and root 

 weeds become extirpated. About the middle of October the 

 soil should be stirred an extra depth, which can be easily 

 effected by the ordinary plough, followed immediately by a 

 skeleton-plough or grubber, furrow by furrow, until the whole 

 is stirred from ten to twelve inches in depth. Kidges should 

 then be formed two feet eight inches wide, in the contrary 

 direction of the field, and a grubber be passed up each of the 

 ftirrows the full depth of the ploughing. If opportunity will 

 allow, the ridges may be re-ploughed, and the operation of 

 grubbing the furrows repeated as before. This process may, 

 however, be thought too expensive, but the improvement of 

 the mangold wurtzel and succeeding grain crops will become 

 too apparent to leave any doubt as to its beneficial application, 

 and it will be found to answer far better than if the dead 

 subsoil had, by an excessively deep ploughing, been brought 

 up by one operation only to the surface. If farmyard manure 

 is to he applied, it should be first moderately decomposed by 

 fermentation, and carted on at any time in the winter or 

 spring, when it can be accomplished with least injury to the 

 tillage of the soil. As soon after it has been spread, the 

 artificial manure should be sown by hand upon it in each 

 farrow, and immediately ploughed in, taking care not to 

 make the attempt unless the weather and state of the soil 

 are both suitable, and never venturing to bestow the arti- 

 ficial manure unless it can be directly ploughed over. The 

 laud should then be suffered to remain until the time of 

 drilling or dibbling in the seed ; by no means, if possible, 

 stirring it near that time, so as to allow the moisture to 

 evaporate. It is by adhering strictly to this principle that a 

 plant can with certainty be secured ; whilst, on the contrary, 

 by continuously stirring the soil until late in the spring up to 

 the time of sowing, it will probably be lost, unless frequent 

 showers happen to fall at that period. Upon the strong clay 

 homogeneous lands of Essex, which can scarcely be exceeded 

 in tenacity, very fine crops of this valuable root are produced. 

 The practice pursued is, soon after the wheat crop is cleared, 

 to plough in deeply, by one ploughing, about 20 cart loads, 

 36 bushels each, of good farmyard manure ; the long dung 

 direct from the yard, being preferred. The land then 



remains untouched until the month of April, when 

 it is scarified and harrowed (not again ploughed), and the 

 seed is drilled in three rows, upon stetches of 6 feet 6 inches 

 each in width ; and under this simple mode as fine crops as I 

 have ever seen are produced. The wheat eddish selected for 

 the purpose is, as before stated, where clover had been taken 

 in the previous year, and the after-cultivation of the land is 

 principally carried on by the horse-hoe. The difl!iculty, how- 

 ever, in carting off the crop in wet seasons is very great 

 upon such soils, and various modes of removing it have been 

 resorted to, sometimes by panniers and horses ; but the cheap- 

 est mode is by carrying it off in baskets, which it is stated 

 can be accomplished for one shilling per ton, when stored at 

 the sided and ends of the field, and sometimes in a conti- 

 nuous row also in the middle, it can he afterwards removed 

 during a frost, or as best can he effected when opportimity 

 offers for employing the teams to advantage. Although it ia 

 at all times necessary to produce a fine tilth at the surface, a 

 considerable degree of firmness is requisite to ensure a full 

 crop. To fully effect this object the land ought to be rolled 

 down with a roller sufficiently heavy to consolidate the soil 

 without kneading it, but this ought not to be attempted imtil 

 it has become sufficiently dry to accomplish the work safely. 

 If, on the other hand, the weather continues moist, the 

 rolling will be best effected by a roller of a lighter description, 

 such an one as is used for turnips being sufficient. Planting is 

 best performed by the drill, taking care that the seed is never 

 deposited more than one inch in depth. If the land is in a 

 very moist state at the time, and the weather showery, it is 

 better to leave it untouched, after depositing the seed by either 

 harrows or drill. A light bush-harrow may, however, under 

 such circumstances, be adopted. If the weather is dry and the 

 surface of the land also, an extra rolling should then be given 

 immediately after the seed is deposited, which by some culti- 

 vators is previously soaked from 24 to 36 hours. This is, not- 

 withstanding, at aU times a hazardous practice ; for if the land 

 is moist, the ;<oaking of the seed will not be of any advantage; 

 and if nearly dry, the moisture remaining not being sufficient 

 to facilitate vegetation the seed will be likely to rot or mould, 

 and fail in vegetating. Again, if the seed be new, which is 

 the main object to secure success, little doubt can exist 

 that success will follow; for although seed will continue to 

 vegetate until three or four years old, it never does so freely, 

 unless a superabundance of moisture is already present, and the 

 weather continues mild and showery. The process of dibbling 

 is so simple as hardly to require description. The dibbler pro- 

 ceeds with a wooden dibble, having a rather blunt point, 

 and turned with a shoulder, to prevent its entering the soil 

 more than one inch. From two to four seeds are deposited in 

 each hole, and afterwards covered in by the dibbler himself, or 

 by a boy following, who with the back of a hoe punches in the 

 soil firmly on the seed. This, however, may be varied, by the 

 man proceeding with the hoe, and removing a little of the 

 soil, by drawing it with the blade of the hoe towards him- 

 self; a boy on the opposite side of the row drops the seeds on 

 the space from which the mould has been withdrawn. The 

 man then immediately pushes the mould back over the seed, 

 and gently presses it down ; and as each capsule contains from 

 two or three seeds, they by this process become more dispersed 

 than when dropped into a small hole, and can be more easily 

 singled out afterwards. From 3 to 4 lbs. of seed per acre is 

 found to be sufficient, provided, as before stated, the whole of 

 the seeds are of the previous year's growth; which is however 

 very rarely the case, unless the seed is purchased of persons 

 upon whom dependence can be placed. It is also frequently 

 spoiled by mice extracting the seeds, with but apparent little 



