ON ROOT CROPS. 107 



tlie wheel, there should be either iron or hard wood points, eighteen 

 inches apart, about two and a half inches long, and tapering from 

 the base to the point. This is to be wheeled along upon the top of 

 the ridge, and thus holes will be formed, will remain open, and will 

 be of uniform depth. Then follow and drop the seed by hand, and 

 it may be covered at the same time, by drawing the foot at right 

 angles with the ridge. Follow with a hand roller, row by row, or a 

 light horse roller, pressing several rows at a time. The trouble 

 consists in having two or more plants grow from the same seed. 

 Every capsule contains several seeds, and thinning must be attended 

 to while the plant is very small. 



Wurtzel may be raised upon a stiSer soil than the turnip, but as 

 it grows much out of ground, it will not bear the cold so well. 

 The tops, though not so abundant, are a rich food for milch cows, 

 and impart no taste to the milk or beef. 



In harvesting the Mangel Wurtzel, care should be taken not to 

 wound the roots. There is something in the old idea that they will 

 bleed if cut. The fibrous roots had better be left on, and some of 

 the top too, than wound the beet by trimming too close. Care 

 should be taken in feeding out to the cattle, as by using too many, 

 especially in the first part of winter, they are apt to scour. 



It is said by a French writer, the Abbe Rosier, that the leaves of 

 the Mangel Wurtzel may be taken o3 every fifteen days after about 

 the first of July, and fed to the cattle. There can be no question 

 but milch cows would do well on them, but it is subversive of all 

 our ideas of vegetable physiology, that the root should grow without 

 the leaves. The root must stop and wait for the leaf, because that 

 alone forms the communication with the oxygen of the atmosphere. 

 Leaves are the lungs ; and the experiment of taking them off once 

 in fifteen days, must be a dangei-ous ono. 



When milch covv'S are fed chief y upon this root, they give more 

 milk, and a richer and thicker cream for about a fortnight, after 

 which they grow too fat, and the milk lessens. Hogs do about as 

 well on the raw beet as they will on boiled potatoes. 



As to the quantity to be given, it is said that thirty-six pounds of 

 these roots and eight pounds of English hay a day, given at two 

 feedings, half at each time, will make a cow give as much milk as in 

 the flow of summer feed. 



