J94 AGRICULTURAL TEXT-BOOK. 



hoeing, and the seed sown at the rate of 3 J to 4 Ibs. per acre 

 in drills, 12 to 14 inches apart. The plants will not appear for 

 a month or six weeks, and during this period care must be taken 

 to keep down the weeds with the cultivator. The plants, if too 

 thick, should be thinned to 5 or 6 inches. The subsequent cul 

 tivation consists in careful hand-hoeing. Late in October the 

 roots are dug with a three-pronged fork. The leaves may be 

 previously removed and fed to sheep. When taken up the 

 roots are topped and tailed, then washed, and cut into slices like 

 turnips, only in lengths as equal as possible. They must be 

 dried, either by exposure to the sun, or in kilns, when they are 

 ready for market. The usual yield is from 12 to 15 tons of 

 the wet roots per acre, the latter diminishing when dried to 

 about 1-J- tons. The price in England varies from $50 to $150 

 per ton. When used, the slices are roasted and ground like 

 coffee. The principal objection to this crop is the great difficul 

 ty with which it is afterwards eradicated, the smallest fibre left 

 in the ground forming a plant. Still this may be accomplished, 

 or nearly so, by hoeing. Sheep, in common with all stock, are 

 very fond of the leaves, and prosper well upon them ; and a 

 few acres devoted to this esculent would prove valuable for early 

 and late sheep-feed, and for horses and cattle in summer. If 

 sown broadcast 12 to 14 Ibs. of seed to the acre are required. 



431. WIIITK MUSTARD, (Sinapis alba,) has of late years 

 been cultivated in England as a forage plant, but from experi 

 ments we have made with it, it does not appear to be suitable to 

 this climate. The heat dwarfs it, and it is seriously injured by 

 a minute black beetle, which attacks it early in spring. In 

 light soils, however, it might succeed better. 



These constitute all the forage plants that ean bo of interest 

 in the Northern States; except Rape which will bo described 

 in the next chapter. 



