THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



323 



iujury to the capsule, and which inexperienced pcrions would 

 not be likely to detect. I am induced to draw particular at- 

 tention to these facts, as I believe that the causes of failure 

 depend mainly upon defective seed beinjf used ; and I do not 

 recollect a single instance iu which I have failed iu obtaining 

 a plant when I knew that the seed was new and had been well 

 preserved, which, if perfectly dry, may be done by keeping it in 

 casks, or suspending it in sacks from the roof of a building. If 

 a quantity of seed, however, is left exposed in granaries in- 

 fested by mice, iu a few weeks they will extract every kerne 

 from its outer case. The distance at which I plant my roots 

 is 15 inches apart in the rows, and 32 irches apart from row 

 to row. As I now use my roots as early as the mouth of Au- 

 gust, I, for that pnrpoee, have them left about ten iuches apart, 

 and by withdrawing each root altenifitely but little loss ensues 

 to the main crop. This is a far better practice than that of 

 removing part of the leaves, which is very injurious to the 

 aftet-growth. By the middle of August iu the last year, I was 

 enabled thus to obtain from 12 to 15 tons per acre of roots and 

 leaves together, witho\it any material loss in the crop. As soon 

 as the young plants appear, which in favourable seasons takes 

 place in a few days, thej' should be inspected ; and if it is ap- 

 parent that they decrease, the land ought to be again rolled. 

 The wireworm is sometimes very destructive, especially when 

 land in the previous autumn was covered with grasses; and if 

 seedling weeds are found to spring up abundantly, the ground 

 ought to be ,at once carefully hoed, and the weeds eradicated 

 from the close vicinity of the plants ; for if they become once 

 choked by weeds at this season of their growth, they rarely 

 recover the check thus received. As soon as the plant arrives 

 t J three or four inches in height, they should be singled out by 

 hand, taking care to secure the best plant first iu the left hand, 

 and then to pull out the superfluous ones with the right ; but, 

 if drilled, the plants should be set out first with the hoe, and 

 afterwards singled by the hand, as in the former instance. After 

 the p'ants have been singled out and the tops of the ridges care- 

 fully hoed, a horse-hoeing should follow, which, from the land 

 having been previously subsoiled, will be easily effected ; but, if 

 the land has again become consolidated in the furrows, another 

 process of grubbing, or subsoiling, should take place, to enable 

 thehorae-hoetoenterthesoilreadily. Subsequent hand and horse 

 hoeings will also become necessary, and should be frequently 

 applied ; and, as the plants advance in growth, the hand- 

 hoeing should be so managed as to draw the soil /)-ow the roots 

 towards the furrow, so that at the expiration of the season the 

 land will have become nearly level. Great care should be taken 

 to have every plant standing singly, and at alt times kept per- 

 fectly clear from weeds. All plants that run up with a seed- 

 item ought to be instantly pulled up and conveyed to the live 

 stock, as they never afterwards form a good root, but greatly 

 impede thegrowthofthose that stand nearestthem. The manure 

 best adapted is guano and superphosphate of lime combined ; 

 an admixture is invariably found to answer best. This root 

 is a gross feeder, and can hardly be supplied too abundantly 

 with manure ; so that, after the land has been properly pre- 

 pared, it becomes a matter of calculation to what extent 

 manure can be applied, to afford the greatest return of profit 

 in the ensuing crop. As this plant is of marine origin, salt is 

 necessary to its full development. I have generally applied the 

 lalt at the time of subsoiling, between the ploughing that pre- 

 cedes and the second ploughing that follows, so as always to 

 bring the subsoil into immediate contact with it; from two to 

 four cwt. per acre is auflicient. I have used the latter, but have 

 lately found that a repetition of that quautity within two or 

 three years is too much, two cwt. being afterwgrds quite suffi- 

 cient for the succeeding dressings. I usually apply from 8 



to 10 tons of good, partially decomposed farm-yard manure, 

 upon which, \\hen deposited in the rills, I broadc»at four cwt. 

 per acre of rapecake, pulverised and mixed with two cwt. of 

 guano and one of siiperphosphate. If the land is not very 

 good, I add another cwt. of guano or artiQcial manure. At the 

 time of drilliug-in the seed I drill-in one cwt. of superphosphate 

 of lime with it, to force a quick growth of the plants in the 

 first instance. By this mode I usually obtain a good crop, and 

 in using any substit\ite for the rapecake or farniyard-manure 

 adopt some sort of artificial manure containing a large amount 

 of animal matter. By increasing any of these substauce. 

 I feel convinced, from practice, that a larger quantity than 

 three cwt. of guauo cannot be applied with advantage; equal 

 to adding, in point of expense, an equal value of some other 

 description of auimalized manure. Fish and blood manure 

 are both well adapted, and near the sea-coast, wherever 

 fish can be procured, it may be applied in preference to any 

 other description. Thousands of bushels of star-fish and sprats 

 are annually used for this purpose, which are purchased at 

 about 6d. per bushel, and, in point of cheapness, surpass moat 

 descriptions of artificial manure. It is usual to plough them 

 in preceding the winter, merely scarifying the surface after- 

 wards at the time of sowing. During its growth it is 

 seldom interfered with by iusects. Slugs and wireworms 

 attack it iu its early stages of growth, as well as the com- 

 mon turnip-fly; bat the latter only injures it to a certain 

 extent. By sowing early, however, it sometimes becomes 

 greatly inj\ired by frost, and is sometimes l(illed if the frost 

 13 more than usually severe. Besides, as before mentioned, 

 it has a disposition to run to seed, which induces me to sug- 

 gest that about the middle of April is the proper time for sow- 

 ing the main crop. Much, however, of a successful result de- 

 pends upon the weather that follows, and a due preparation 

 of the land previously. Hot and dry summers especially pro- 

 mote its growth. It rarely suffers from drought ; whilst ou 

 the other hand excess of moisture and a low temperature com- 

 bined retards it greatly, and the quality becomes also depre- 

 ciated in like proportion. After the crop has arrived at ma- 

 turity it is carted from the field to the homestead, or is stored 

 near to the spot on which it has grown, as the farm-horses are 

 in greater request at this season than at any other portion of 

 the year. It is usual to secure it as near the field as possible, 

 keeping in view the contiguity of a good road, as necessary 

 for its after-conveyance to the homestead. Having deter- 

 mined this point, it is usual about the middle of October to 

 commence pulling and storing it. The roots are pulled up, 

 and the leaves merely twisted off. The former are thrown at 

 once into carts, and removed to their destination. The usual 

 price is 8s. per acre, inclusive of unloading the roots and pack- 

 ing them. The drivers are found by the owner. This amounts 

 to about 4d. per ton, but the price paid depends in some mea- 

 sure upoa the state of the weather, the weight of the crop, 

 and the quality of the roots ; for if of a bad sort, they will 

 require to be grubbed up by some implement, in which case the 

 cost might be doubled or even more. It is advisable to com- 

 mence stacking the roots upon a base not exceeding three yards 

 in width, but from 6 to 7 feet is better. The roots should be 

 packed with the crowns outward, in the form of a roof, di- 

 minishing upwards until they arrive at a narrow ridge at top, 

 rising from the base from 6 ta 8 feet in height. If a wider 

 base is selected it will be necessary to introduce a fagot up- 

 right in the middle of the heap at about every 6 feet apart, so 

 as to carry off the heat ; for should fermentation set in, which 

 in some seasons it is apt to do, unless due precaution is taken 

 to prevent it, the result would be to spoil the roots. When 

 the clamp or row is completed, it should be well covered over 



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