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THE FAHMER'S MAGAZINE. 



season. Part of the field had a dressing of salt, four huudred- 

 weight per acre ; I could see no difference of the crop on that 

 portion of the field ; and although I doubt not but salt may 

 be applied with success on some soils, yet I beUeve it had 

 better be used as sauce or medicine, than as a manure, under 

 the system of cultivation and manuring. I have stated I have 

 grown from twenty-eight tons to thirty-eight per acre, I am 

 well aware that much larger crops can be grown, with a greater 

 amount of outlay for manures ; but whether it is advisable to 

 do 80, 1 am not prepared to give an opinion. I know of fifty- 

 five tons per acre having been grown last year on a heavy 

 clay soil, at an expense of £7 6s. per acre for manure. Much 

 more might be said on the cultivation ; but as the object of 

 our meeting is for discussion by the several members, I will 

 pass on to that very important part of our subject, the use of 

 mangel. It is used for different purposes ; but I will confine 

 myself to its use as food for animals : all animals are greatly 

 fond of it. The time was when it was only considered useful a 

 few weeks in spring ; now differently, it can be and is used all 

 the year. Beginning with the tops in November, we find the 

 dairy cows increase in milk when they have them hauled out 

 on the pasture, which at that season is getting short; they are 

 a month's food for the pigs in the yards ; the ewes do well 

 when folding over the land, and pick up what is left — so all is 

 finished up with little waste. When mangel is given to cattle 

 in the autumn, great care is required not to give too liberal at 

 first, especially to young and weak animals, as the mangels are 

 at that time of a very laxative quality. The new mode of 

 pulping and mixing with chaff is one which every farmer ought 

 to adopt ; by it he can regulate the system of his animals, and 

 they will do better on one-third less roots than when given 

 them alone. I believe all roots ought to be pulped and mixed 

 with chaff if the cattle are meant to continue a part of the 

 straw; but mangels should never be given unless mixed 

 with chaff (or meal, if to calves or fatting cattle). For in- 

 stance, if store cattle are fed on one-third the quantity of 

 mangel they would eat, they will eat but little straw, and be 

 very uneasy, always looking after every one that passes, and 

 appear as if they had not seen food for a long time ; when the 

 mangel and straw cut into chaff are mixed together, they will 

 eat both, do well, and live content. Horses also do well on 

 mangel as a substitute for bran : besides the virtue they derive 

 from the mangel, when mixed with their chaff it makes it 

 moist and sweetens the taste, which induces them to eat more 

 than they otherwise would. I need hardly say that pigs do 

 well on mangel, for moat here know that porkers will soon 

 became bacon on it. What other root is of equal service to 

 the farmer in the months of April and May to give his ewes 

 and lambs ? They add to the condition of the ewe, increase 

 the quantity and enrich the quality of the milk for the lambs. 

 On no other food did I ever see ewes and lambs do so well (at 

 the same expense) as when on [grass with a liberal quantity 

 of mangels given them. As regards its fattening properties in 

 feeding cattle I have had but little experience ; therefore I will 

 give the experiment of the late Earl Spencer, in the Royal 

 Agricultural Society's Journal. He says, "I believe that 

 mangel contains more saccharine matter than Swedish turnips 

 and consequently to be the more nourishing root of the two. 

 I determined to try practically whether an ox fed upou mangel 

 increased in weight more than one fed upon swedes, in propor- 

 tion to the quantity consumed." On the ■24th of December he 

 put No. 1 on swedes, and No. 2 on mangolds, both animals 

 the same weight; on the 23rd of January No. 1 had consumed 

 l,6241bs. of sivedes, and measured 4 ft. 10 in. in length by 

 6 ft. 7 in., making him to weigh 7031bs., and to have increased 

 in weight 351bs., or at the rate of 48ilbs. for every ton of 



swedes consumed. No. 2 had consumed l,8481b8. of mangel, 

 and measured 4 ft. 10 in. by 6 ft. 8 in. girtb, making him weigh 

 7211bs., and to have increased in weight 531bs., or at the rate 

 of 65^1bs. for every ton of mangold consumed. This differ- 

 ence, however, might have arisen from No. 2 having a greater 

 propensity to feed than No. 1 ; I therefore now put No. 1 to 

 mangel, and No. 2 to swedes. On the 20th of February No. 1 

 had consumed l,8841bs. of mangel, and weighing according to 

 measurement 7^41b3., having increased in weight this month 

 Sllbs., or at a rate of 36^1b3. for every ton of mangel con- 

 sumed. No. 2 had consumed l,8801bs. of swedes, and ac- 

 cording to measurement weighed 7341bs., increase 131bs., or at 

 a rate of ISJlbs. for every ton of swedes consumed. I then 

 put both to mangels, and on the 19th of March they had each 

 consumed l,7921bs. of mangel. No. 1 increased 501bs., and 

 No. 2 Sllbs. It would appear the propensity to feed of No. 1 

 was greater than No. 2, in the proportion of 50 to 31 ; but, 

 notwithstanding this, in the first month, when No. 1 was on 

 swedes, and No. 2 on mangel, No. 2 beat No. 1 65^ to 48^. 

 I sold No. 1 to a butcher in the county for £24 Ss., and No. 2 

 in Smithfield for £24. It will be for practical men to decide 

 upon the value of this trial. What appears to me to be the 

 most conclusive part of it is that No. 2, who had during the 

 first month when he was feeding upon mangel increased in 

 girth three inches, in the next, when on swedes, no increase 

 at all ; and when in the three months he was again feeding on 

 mangel, he again began to increase in girth, because it is well 

 known that if an animal is changed from more to less nutri- 

 tious food the probable consequence will be that his growth 

 will be stopped. The result appeared to me so decisive, that 

 I have not tried the experiment with the same accuracy since ; 

 but I did try, the following year, feeding a cow alternately on 

 swedes and mangel, and though I have not by me the details 

 of the trial, I remember that the result confirmed the experi- 

 ment of the previous year. Dr. Voelcker, in his pamphlet on 

 the Chemistry of Food, says, " Practical experience, if I am 

 not mistaken, has shown that the different roots follow each 

 other, as regards their nutritive value, namely — 1st, potatoes ; 

 2nd, parsnips ; 3rd, carrots ; 4th, mangels; 5tb, swedes ; 6th, 

 swedes." After giving the analyses, which will be found in 

 the same work, he says. " Mangels contain on an average as 

 much water and dry matters as carrots, and on the whole are 

 almost as nutritious as carrots, if they are given to fatting 

 stock, after a few months' keeping. When newly taken out of 

 the ground mangel contains a peculiar acrid substance, which 

 has a tendency to scour animals who feed upon the fresh roots: 

 although it has not been shown whether or not this acrid prin- 

 ciple disappears on storing away mangels for some months, it 

 is a well-known fact that after a few months' keeping they 

 have not this tendency to scour, and are much more nutri- 

 tious than in a fresh state. The superior fatting value of 

 stored mangels when compared with the fresh root may be due 

 to the absence of this acrid principle in old roots ; but doubt- 

 less it must be attributed also to the larger amount of sugar 

 which stored mangels contain." I might go on quoting from 

 different writers ; but having given you my opinion as re- 

 quested, I trust what I have said will induce some present to 

 take up the subject, and give a detail of their more lengthened 

 experience for the benefit of us all. 



Mr. Harrison had listened with particular interest to 

 the remarks that had fallen from Mr. Burnett, as he be- 

 lieved him to be a very successful grower of mangel wurzel. 

 He thought the kind or description of soil must in some 

 measure regulate the cultivation ; but that on all soils 

 autumn tillage was necessary, so that the planting might be 

 proceeded with at the proper time in the spring. Yard 



