is described as a black loam with a clay bottom, on a gentle 

 slope to the northeast. The year previous to the crop of man- 

 gel wurtzel, three fourths of the land was planted with pota- 

 toes, with a moderate supply of manure in the hills ; the residue 

 was in mangel wurtzel and grass. Early in May, in the suc- 

 ceeding year, there was spread on said land about eight cords 

 of compost manure, and ploughed to the depth of eight inches 

 and harrowed in the usual way. i\bout the twentieth of May, 

 the seed was sown in rows about twenty-two inches apart, 

 and the plants, when about the size of a goose-quill, were 

 thinned to about eight or twelve inches apart. The thinning 

 would have been done earlier, but the crop was threatened with 

 wire-worms. The soil was kept loose about the roots and the 

 land clear of weeds. The under-leaves were frequently crop- 

 ped, from which much excellent food was obtained for swine 

 and cattle, and the sun and air were freely admitted to the 

 roots. It was desirable to do this by the middle of September, 

 that the crown of the roots might have time to heal. They 

 were harvested in the third week in October. The crop pro- 

 duced 1433 bushels, or 86,961 lbs., or 43 short tons and 961 

 lbs. The actual expense of producing the crop was thirty-five 

 dollars. The cost was not quite two and one half cents per 

 bushel. The quantity of land, one acre. 



9. Beets are often a very profitable crop. They are raised 

 in considerable quantities ; are packed in barrels and shipped 

 to the south. One dollar and a half is a common price for a 

 barrel containing two and a quarter bushels. The farmer giv- 

 ing this statement has often produced 600 bushels to the acre. 

 They are planted on ridges about four feet apart, in double 

 rows; and the intermediate spaces are often sown with turnips. 

 The ridge planting is decidedly preferred here for all vegetables 

 of this kind. In my opinion, and so far as my own experience 

 goes, which has not been small, it would be better to make the 

 ridges about twenty-seven inches apart, plant the beets in single 

 rows, and cultivate them with a plough. A very useful ma- 

 chine for planting beets is a wheel, set like that of a wheel- 



