BEET. 49 



preserved, and will remain useful to a later period in the 

 spring and summer after its growth, than the mangel wurt- 

 zel. 



Messrs. T. and H. Little observe, as to the value of the 

 roots for feeding stock, " there is a variety of opinions ; 

 but, from a number of years' experience, we think them a 

 valuable addition, and .highly worth cultivating. Compar- 

 ing them with English hay, and we know of no better 

 standard in our opinion, three tons of mangel wurtzel, 

 or potatoes, of the two, we value the mangel wurtzel the 

 highest, are equal to one ton of hay, for feeding stock gen- 

 erally ; but for milch cows, we think two tons of equal 

 value ; for feeding store swine, mangel wurtzel is the 

 only root, that we know of, which we can cultivate and 

 feed to profit. Six bushels of raw mangel wurtzel we 

 think .equal to one bushel of Indian corn." 



Quantity to an acre.- The premium crop of the Messis. 

 Little was 33 tons 10 cwt. and 14 Ibs. on an acre. 

 Col. Powel enclosed certificates to the president of the 

 Penn. Agr. Society, showing that sixteen hundred and 

 thirty-four bushels of mangel wurtzel, weighing seventy- 

 eight thousand four hundred and forty-eight pounds, were 

 produced upon one acre and fourteen perches ; and a part 

 of the same field, containing thirteen contiguous rows, pro- 

 duced at the rate of two thousand and sixty-five bushels 

 per acre, weighing 44 tons, 5 cwt. and 27 Ibs. In Great 

 Britain, it is said that upwards of sixty tons have been 

 raised on an acre. 



Gathering and preserving. In gathering the roots, care 

 should be taken to cut off the leaves about half an inch 

 above the crown, as they will not keep so well, if cut more 

 closely. Messrs. Tristram and Henry Little say, " As to 

 the best mode of preserving them, we have tried divers 

 ways, by pitting them, by putting them into a barn, and 

 co\ ering them with hay, and by putting them into the cel- 

 lar; the last mode we think the best." Col. Powel observes, 

 that one of his crops was " piled in a cellar, in rows, as 

 wood, and covered with sand." A writer in the English 

 Farmer's Journal observes, that he has practised, wilh 

 success, the following mode of preserving this root : " I 

 pack it in long heaps, about seven feet wide at the bottoro. 

 I begin by forming the outsides with the roots, not stripped 

 5 



