1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



53 



culture of this crop, to deep and thorough plough- 

 ing; to the use of cultivators, which complete the 

 production of fine tilth; lo the destruction of 

 weeds on their first appearance; to leaving the 

 smallest space upon which a horse can walk be- 

 tween the rows; and above all, to planting the 

 seeds of a proper kind upon a surface which is kepi 

 perfectly flat. Gideon B. Smith of Baltimore, in 

 1832, planted one-sixth of an acre which had 

 been intended ibr early corn, and had been ma- 

 nured the previous year. The seed were sown in 

 drills two feet asunder, and eight inches apart in 

 the drills, and covered as corn. When the plants 

 were up, a weeding hoe was passed over the field, 

 and afterwards a small plough run through it 

 twice, clearing out the weeds with a hoe. This 

 was all the cultivation it had; and the whole labor, 

 including the original preparation of the ground, 

 did not exceed two full days' work for one man. 

 The crop was upwards of seventy-five bushels; 

 and might have been much larger, as there were 

 many vacant places of six or eight feet length in 

 the rows; and other places where the roots were 

 injured by being crowded. The soil was a fair me- 

 dium mould, a mixture of clay, sand, and vegeta- 

 ble matter.* 



The produce per acre, 



Under ordinary culture, may be estimated at 

 from six hundred to a thousand bushels. Where 

 however the ground is ploughed very deep, well 

 manured, and well cultivated, much larger crops 

 have been obtained, of which a few instances are 

 here given. 



Gideon Foster, of Charleston, Middlesex coun- 

 ty, Massachusetts, raised forty-three tons to the 

 acre. 



The premium crop of Tristram and Henry 

 Little of Newbury, Mass., was 33 tons, 10 cwt. 

 and 14 lbs. to an acre, or more than fourteen hun- 

 dred bushels. 



Col. Powel enclosed certificates to the president 

 of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, show- 

 ing that sixteen hundred, and thirty-four bushels of 

 mangel wurtzel, weighing seventy-eight thousand 

 four hundred and forty-eight pounds, were produced 

 upon an acre and fourteen perches; and a part of 

 the same field containing thirteen contiguous rows, 

 produced at the rate of two thousand and sixty-five 

 bushels per acre, weighing 44 tons, five cwt. and 

 27 lbs. 



Henry Thompson of Baltimore, raised in 1833, 

 on less than one-eleventh of an acre, five tons, 14 

 cwt. and three qrs., or at the rate of about sixty 

 tons to the acre. 



In good land, single roots of the mangel wurt- 

 zel oflen weigh nine or ten pounds, and some- 

 times evenfourteen or fifteen pounds each; and J. 

 A. Kenrick of Newtown, Mass., raised in 1833, a 

 single root weighing no less than thirty-six 

 pounds. j 



These products are enough to show what may 

 yet be done in the cultivation of this crop, and pre- 

 sent strong encouragement for the enterprize and 

 experiment of farmers of western New York, 

 where it has hitherto received comparatively but 

 little attention. 



* Amer. Far. vol. XV. p. 25. 

 f New England Fanner. 



Cses. 



This root is admirably adapted for feeding near- 

 ly all domestic animals. It is the best of known 

 food for store swine; and swine fatten upon it, 

 yielding firm pork of gcod flavor, when fed to 

 them raw, equally well as upon boiled potatoes, 

 by which the fuel and labor of boiling is saved. 

 Col. Powel says, "my neat cattle prefer mangel 

 wurtzel to any other root which I have offered to 

 them. I have found its effects in producing large 

 secretions of good milk, very great. * * * Its 

 application as food for sheep is not the least im- 

 portant of its uses. Ewes yean usually at the 

 season when grass cannot be supplied. The 

 health of themselves and the thrift of their lambs, 

 essentially depend upon succulent food being had. 

 I am inclined to think that no small portion of the 

 success which English breeders have met, is to be 

 ascribed to the large stores of roots, which they 

 always have at command." 



In autumn, when the quantity of milk from 

 cows often diminishes greatly, it may be restored 

 by cutting the leaves of this plant and feeding 

 them. In some instances the quantity has been 

 doubled by this means. The leaves soon grow 

 again, and may be cut every fortnight.* Cows 

 fed twice a day in winter, upon 20 pounds of the 

 roots at a time, together with four or five pounds 

 of hay or chopped straw, will, it is asserted, give 

 as much milk as in summer. 



In some instances when fed to cattle and sheep, 

 this root is said to have produced scouring. This 

 may be owing either to the soil adhering to the 

 roots when eaten, or to the sudden commence- 

 ment of feeding on them exclusively, instead of 

 their being mixed with a proper proportion of dry 

 food, such as hay, meal, or chopped straw. 



This crop has several important advantages in 

 its cultivation. It is little affected by changes of 

 the weather; suffers little from drought; thrives in 

 most soils; is not attacked by any insect; and pre- 

 pares the ground well for succeeding crops. The 

 roots may be kept sound and fresh for eight or 

 ten months. 



Farmers who value their land, would find it 

 greatly to their interest to direct their attention 

 more to the cultivation of this crop. It has been 

 found that two tons of mangel wurtzel are equal 

 lo one ton of hay for feeding milch cows; and that 

 three tons are equal to one of hay for feeding cat- 

 tle in general. Any one may readily calculate 

 from this, how much greater a number of cattle 

 may be supported by this means, from a given 

 quantity of land, than by the usual mode of feed- 

 ing them exclusively on grass and hay. Sup- 

 posing for instance that thirty tons of mangel 

 wurtzel are the average product, per acre, then we 

 shall have an amount from one acre alone equal to 

 from ten to fifteen tons of hay. Now if a method 

 should be devised for raising this amount of hay 

 from an acre, it would excite universal attention 

 and inquiry; but this crop, although possessing ad- 

 vantages not less important, is almost entirely ne- 

 glected. 



* It is probable however that, this production of 

 new leaves is in a greater or less degree atthe expense 

 of the root, although very large crops have been raised 

 where this course has been pursued. 



