ROOT CROPS FOR FARM STOCK. 177 



ROOT CROPS 



FOR 



FARM STOCK. 



BY PKTKR HENDERSON. 

 (From the American Agriculturist of April, 1878.) 



WHILE "Mangels" and other roots for stock feeding 

 have been largely cultivated in Europe for the past fifty 

 years, it is surprising how little it is yet done here, particu- 

 larly when we know how well our soil and climate are, 

 in most sections, adapted to the purpose, and how great 

 are our necessities, particularly in those States where the 

 long, dry summers diminish the crop of hay and other 

 fodder plants. The most important root crop for stock 

 is the Mangel-wurzel, which, I believe, can be grown and 

 matured in any good soil in any state in the Union. As 

 with all root crops, a loose, friable soil, with a sandy or 

 gravelly subsoil, is better adapted to it than a stiff soil 

 with a clayey subsoil. All root crops require deep cul- 

 ture. The soil should always be plowed to the depth of 

 ten inches, and, if it can be done, it will pay well to let 

 the subsoil plow follow in the wake of the other, and stir 

 the subsoil ten inches more, making a loosened depth of 

 twenty inches. 



In many of our deep, rich, new soils an excellent crop 

 of Mangels, or other roots, can be grown without manure; 

 but, when necessary to use it, nothing is better than well- 

 rotted stable manure, composted with as much muck or 



