194 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



MANGEL WURZELS. 



To manure, (15 cords at 15,) . 

 hauling manure, . 

 ploughing twice, . 

 harrowing, .... 

 sowing the seed, . 

 two hoeings, 



clearing, .... 

 harvesting, .... 



Cr. by 1,800 bushels of roots at 9| cents per bushel. 



$135 00 



The cost of these roots, 9|- cents per bushel, is certainly not 

 extravagant, considering their value as food, and the usual 

 market price. They usually sell for seven dollars per ton, of 

 sixty pounds to the bushel, or about thirty-four bushels to the 

 ton ; and at this rate bring twenty cents and a fraction per 

 bushel. The market for them is not large, it is true ; but they 

 give ample remuneration for the expense and trouble of raising, 

 in their benefit to milch cows. 



According to analysis and experiment, fonr hundred pounds 

 of mangel wurzel are equivalent to one hundred pounds of 

 English hay. At sixty pounds to the bushel, the crop weighed 

 ninety-six thousand pounds, or forty-eight tons, equivalent to 

 twelve tons of hay, taking the estimate that four tons of man- 

 gels are equal to one ton of hay. For the production of milk, 

 I have no doubt that the forty-eight tons of mangels are worth 

 more than the thirteen and one-half tons of hay. 



Ruta-Bagas. — I enter also a crop of ruta-bagas, raised on 

 two and one-half acres of land, for premium. 



The land was an elevated knoll, rising out of a bed of clay, 

 and bounded on one side by salt marsh. The top of the knoll 

 is somewhat gravelly and light ; but as it inclines toward the 

 low land surrounding it, is a warm loam. 



The piece has been in grass for many years, and yielded last 

 year a poor crop — less than half a ton of hay to the acre. It 

 was ploughed June 20th with a Michigan plough, and manure 

 at the rate of fifteen ox-cart loads to the acre was spread upon 



