ROOTS, TUBERS, BULBS 97 



in the first cultivation. The plants should be thinned until 

 they stand about four to six inches apart in the row. They 

 grow slowly at first and require careful attention. The roots 

 should be gathered before freezing weather, dried in the open 

 air, and then stored in a cool, dry place. Carrots will yield 

 from fifteen to twenty tons per acre. 



Mangel-wurtzels. — These are commonly called mangels. 

 They are more widely used as a root crop for winter feeding 

 than any of the other roots. The varieties differ in shape, color 

 and size. The name of a variety is frequently made up of 

 words indicating all three of these characters, as, for example, 

 the Giant Long Red. The shapes are of three kinds, the 

 globe, ovoid, and long. There is little difference in the value 

 of these sorts. The globe and ovoid sorts are probably 

 better than the long varieties, being more solidly fleshed and 

 better keepers. Mangels grow with part of the root out of 

 the ground. The long varieties have as much as half of 

 the root above ground. This part of the root is not so good 

 for food as the underground part. 



Mangels require a deep surface soil so that the roots can 

 grow downward without being hindered. Subsoiling may be 

 advisable in some cases in order to get a deep seed-bed. Seed 

 is sown in drills twenty-four to thirty inches apart, in May or 

 early June, at the rate of four to six pounds per acre. The 

 seed sprouts slowly and the growth at first is slow, so that a 

 good deal of care in cultivation is necessary to keep the weeds 

 down. The plants should be thinned to eight to twelve inches 

 apart in the row. The roots are harvested before hard freez- 

 ing weather and stored in cellars or bins for winter feeding. 

 A box-stall closed up makes a good place to store them. In 

 gathering the crop the tops should be twisted off by hand 



