THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



525 



THE GETTING UP AND STORING OF MANGOLD WURZEL. 



Writing directions for farm management, solely for 

 the use of those lucky occupiers whose land is all 

 drained, whose roads are perfect, and whose premises 

 are built with every convenience recommended in the 

 " Cyclopaedia," may prove of considerable help to the 

 few. The great body of farmers, however, are still 

 left to take short cuts and make-shifts of their own — 

 contrived to suit less favourable circumstances, though 

 burdening them with extra expense and delay, just be- 

 cause the landowner has neglected to provide accom- 

 modation for his tenant. 



Getting up mangolds is all very well and expeditious 

 until your root-houses are packed full, and a tedious 

 labour and anxious operation with those innumerable 

 cultivators who are compelled to store on the bare 

 ground in yard or open field — unless, indeed, on a 

 nice dry soil, where the roots are to be eaten by sheep 

 on the spot where they grew, in which case you may 

 throw them into heaps by hand, as you do swedes, and 

 earth them up. Most people, however, store their man- 

 golds in large quantities together, either at the home- 

 stead or in the field ; and there are various ways of 

 doing it. 



If you please, you may pull up the roots before they 

 are topped ; in which case they have not only to be 

 lifted in the hand twice over, but the cutting off the 

 top with the knife runs great risk of injuring the root 

 altogether. The best plan is to twist off the tops while 

 the roots are still standing; and then let the carts 

 follow, the fillers throwing the mangolds into the carts 

 as they pull them up. We have just secured a crop o1 

 15 acres, having 30 tons weight per acre, ascertained 

 by weighing the produce of 4 perches fairly chosen in 

 an average part of the field. We piled the roots in a 

 ''pit," "grave," or " clamp," on the level ground; 

 the heap having a triangular section of 7 or 8 feet 

 wide at bottom, with an altitude of some 5 feet. This 

 embankment of " long reds" and " yellows" is more 

 than 300 yards long, extending two-thirds the length 

 of the field, and for a considerable distance along the 

 headland nearest the homestead, the long mound being 

 placed as nearly as possible down the middle of the 

 field. By this arrangement the least average distance 

 for carting was obtained — horses being busily engaged 

 at the time in wheat-sowing ; and three horses, with 

 suitable carts, have carried all our 450 tons of mangold 

 in nine days, excluding two days' delay by wet 

 weather. Women and boys did the topping, men 



and women filled, one lad drove the carts to and 

 for a nd two men packed the heap ; and the ex- 

 pense, at the rate of 2s. a day fof a man, Is. for a 

 woman, and ■2s. Gd. for a horse's day's work, amounted 

 to 17s. per acre, or about G^d. per ton. It so happens 

 that we have plenty of soil to dig down into for cover- 

 ing the heap, and therefore we have simply thatched 

 every night with six or eight inches' thickness of straw 

 the portion of root piled during each day; and afler 

 leaving the completed heap for a few days to dry itself 

 from the fall of rain which soused down upon it last 

 week, we are now earthing-up. Not quite to the apex, 

 however, as the roots will begin to ferment and sweat 

 themselves into a dangerous heat if totally closed up 

 from the air. We sod up a thickness of two feet of 

 earth above the straw at the base, lessening to a foot 

 thickness near the top, where a shoulder is left to hold 

 up the soil that in ten days' time will finally close up 

 the ridge. The cost of this operation (when the top is 

 closed up) comes to about 5s. for each chain length^ 

 that is, 70s. altogether ; or 4s. 8d. per acre, or Ijd. 

 per ton. The total expense of topping, carting, and 

 storing the mangold wurzel has thus been about a 

 guinea an acre, or 8^d. per ton. Of course, when 

 merely flung into small heaps, and earthed up ready 

 to be eaten by sheep folded for the purpose, the secur- 

 ing of the crop from frost is a far cheaper matter. But 

 even spending a guinea an acre in harvesting the crop, 

 we like our 30 tons an acre of mangolds better than 

 our 15 tons an acre of swedes, which have had similar 

 cultivation. 



Where there may be a difficulty in this manner of 

 storing, the roots may be secured in the fashion 

 described in the Cyclopsedia : Set up rows of 

 hurdles nine feet apart, and backing the loaded carts 

 between them, tilt the roots out, pile them up to the 

 height of the hurdles, and in a roof- like form above 

 that height. Another row may be made within a yard 

 of this one ; and any width and height of ground that 

 may be desired may be covered with rows in this way. 

 A vei-y little straw is to be placed between the hurdles 

 and the roots ; and a good thickness, say twelve inches, 

 of straw is to be placed and roughly thatched over 

 them : the bushy eaves of this thatch interlocking over 

 the intervals between the rows furnish ample protection 

 against frost. The three great requisites to safety- 

 sufficient ventilation, with protection against rain and 

 frost — are thus cheaply and efficiently secured. 



