THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



415 



manure, in its fresh state, he was of opinion might be ad- 

 vantageously applied to heavy land, and ploughed-in in the 

 autumn (that is if the land is clean), as it would greatly 

 assist its pulverization. In addition to yard manure he had 

 used superphosphate at the rate of 2 cwt. per acre., leaving 

 a portion without any. Where applied the plants grew 

 faster for a time ; but when taken up, there was no percep- 

 tible difference. Mangel he thought to be a very important 

 root, and was grown to a greater e.xtent each succeeding 

 year. He thought, with Mr. Burnett, the best mode of 

 using was to pulp or mince them, and mix with chaff. 



Mr. Thomas was not surprised at Mr. Harrison's not 

 perceiving any difference in his mangel when he applied 

 the superphosphate ; his vale land being of itself so rich 

 would be good manure for the poor soils of the hills. He 

 differed with Mr. Burnett in his mode of planting, as he be- 

 lieved drilling the seed was better than dibbling ; the plants 

 coming up more regular were more easily singled with the 

 hoe. When dibbled the roots of the plants so entwine 

 around each other that it was difficult to separate them with 

 the hoe ; and it was not every one that could obtain children 

 to single them by the hand. He usually planted on the 

 ridge, drilling with one of Garrett's drills, taking three rows 

 at a time, 23 inches apart. He gave a liberal dressing of 

 yard manure, with a little guano applied at the time of 

 planting. Mangel with the same treatment gave a greater 

 weight per acre than either common turnips or swedes, and 

 their keeping properties being so good made them a valuable 

 root; and they were very serviceable for ewes and lambs in 

 the spring of the year. He had also given them through 

 the month of April to fatting sheep, which did very well on 

 them. 



Mr. D. HoLBOROW observed that Mr. Thomas's testi- 

 mony as to feeding sheep with mangold differed from an 

 experiment he had seen stated in Ur. Voelcker's pamphlet 

 " On the Chemistry of Food." It was one tried by that 

 gentleman at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, 

 and it went to show that as food for sheep it was worth- 

 less, as after four months' keep with a fixed and limited 

 quantity of hay and as much sliced mangolds as they would 

 eat, he found they had not increased a single pound. 

 Perhaps some one else present had used them for feeding 

 sheep, and would be kind enough to state the results of his 

 experience. 



Mr. G. RoBisoN said he had used mangel with hay and 

 a small quantity of corn for fattening sheep, for some years. 

 Last year he fed forty on pulped mangel and hay-chaff, and 

 he never had sheep do better at the same expense. He 

 must remark, however, that he did not commence using 

 them till the month of March. He also thought them a 

 good food for ewes and lambs, as they created a supply 

 of milk. He agreed with what had been said on manu- 

 ring heavy land with farm-yard manure in the autumn ; 

 but on thin, light soils he should prefer applying it in the 

 spring. 



Mr. E. Drew agreed with Mr. Harrison, that Mr. Bur- 

 nett's remarks were of great interest. His own mode was 

 to clean the land as soon after harvest as possible, then 

 plough as deep as the soil will admit, cross plough early 

 in spring, harrowing and rolling sufficient to get a fine 

 tilth, which he thought a great requisite for mangel. He 

 planted on the ridge with the drill, generally using arti- 

 ficial manure exclusively; viz., 4 cwt. Proctor's mangel 

 manure, and 2 cwt. 'guano, two-thirds of which ho applied 



(after drawing the boults) with the hand, covering with the 

 plough, drilling the remaindermixed with ashes; frequently 

 horse and hand hoe, beginning as soon as the plants and 

 weather will allow. He thought mangel required room ; 

 27 inches was quite near enough for the rows, singling out 

 to 14 or 15 inches. The year before last the wireworms so 

 thinned the plant on about an acre in one corner of a 10- 

 acre piece, that I thought it would be a total failure. I 

 however let them remain, and on taking them up there 

 was almost as great a weight as the average of the field : 

 many of the roots were 281bs. each, and few of them less 

 than 201bs. There was not a root on 1^ square yards, 

 whilst the remainder of the field averaged over three to 

 the square yard. In the same field I tried a little experi- 

 ment with different kinds of artificial manures ; viz., 

 Proctor's mangel manure, do. and, guano, do. and bones, 

 guano, bones, bones and guano, all at an expense of 64s. an 

 acre. The weight of roots, exclusive of tops, and number, 

 per acre, are as follows : — 



Weight. No. of 



Tons. cwts. qrs. lbs. Roots. 



Proctor's mangel manure 33 17 7 ., 14,976 



Ditto and guano 33 16 1 23 .. 15,084 



(juano .33 13 1 4 .. 15,197 



Proctor's, and bones 33 12 2 17 .. 15,311 



Guano and ditto 33 10 15 .. 15,617 



Bones 33 6 3 11 .. 16,008 



This experiment appears to be in favour of Proctor's manure 

 as it gives the greatest weight, and bones the least. The 

 difference in respective lots is so trifling, ouly lOcwt. 241bs. 

 between the highest and the lowest, that I think if we take 

 into consideration that bones and guano are more lasting in 

 their effects, the opposite conclusion must be arrived at. 

 Mr. Burnett stated an instance of a friend of his having 

 grown 55 tons per acre at a cost of £7 63. an acre, and 

 rather intimated a doubt whether it was wise to expend so 

 large a sum for their production. Now, it is well known 

 you may apply almost any quantity of manure for mangel 

 without risk of injuring the root. It is not the expense per 

 acre that is to be looked at, but the cost per ton of pro- 

 ducing the crop; and I believe, on calculation, Mr. Burnett's 

 35 tons will be found to cost much the same per ton as his 

 friend's 55. 



Col. Nigel Kingscote said he was not to tell the gen- 

 tlemen present what width to plant their mangel; but what 

 he had heard from Mr. Drew confirmed his opinion, the 

 greater the distance (in reason) the more heavy the crop. 

 When shooting in Leicestershire this season, he saw the 

 largest mangel he had ever seen, in a field where the plant 

 had partly failed. Ho did not know the weight per acre, 

 but was convinced it was more than on other fields where 

 there was a much larger number of roots. 



Mr. Burnett was of tho same opinion as Mr. Drew, 

 that mangel can be forced to a great extent with manure 

 without injury to the roots, and also that the crop of 35 

 tons cost as much per acre (for manure) as the 55 ; but the 

 value of the land of the former is 30s., and the latter 50s. 

 per acre ; the soil was also more adapted for the growth of 

 mangel. 



The subject was warmly discussed, in which all the 

 members present took a part. 



A resolution was passed, which approved of autumn cul- 

 tivation and using mangold pulped mixed with chaff. 



The proceedings of the evening were closed with a vote of 

 thanks to Mr. Buruptt. 



