VOt,. XVI. NO. 13. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



lor 



MANGBIi WURTZEI., 



BV MARTIN BOYLE. 



Mangel Wiiitzel is a kiml oCrcd beet, not lial)le 

 to be injured liy disease or insects, and proof 

 against the change of seasons. It requires loatny 

 loose soil, and almndance of short and rich ma- 

 nure, it give.' no unpleasant taste to milk or but- 

 ter, (an objection which maybe niged against tur- 

 nips, and most kinds of cabbage) — quite the re- 

 verse. Pigs, as well as milch cows, are fond both 

 of its leaves and roots. Sixteen or twenty perch- 

 es under it, will support a cow, allowing her sixty 

 pounds weight per day, for the five winter months ; 

 and a half a pound of seed, which will cost about 

 Is Qd, will sow these twenty perches. From the 

 20th to the end of April, is the best time for sow- 

 ing the seed ; and those of you who are not like- 

 ly to have your ground at thi\t time ready, should 

 sow in a seedling bed, in order to transplant when 

 the ground is ju-epared ; and in this case you 

 should not put out the plants until they are about 

 an inch in diameter, else tlxiy will not arrive at 

 full size. The best way, however, is to sow the 

 seed where it is to remain, and the process is as 

 follows: — 



Prepare jour land as if for drilling potatoes — 

 open the drills eighteen inches or two feet distant, 

 the deeper the better, unless there is yellow clay 

 at the bottom — till them with short manure — 

 cover them with four or five inches of earth — roll 

 them lengthways, and then on the smooth and 

 level top make hills with the dibbling slick, two 

 inches in depth ami about twelve inches apart, 

 and into every hole drop tw* seeds, which are to 

 be covered as the work proceeds. When the 

 plants are about two inches high, you are to draw 

 out from each hole the extra plant or [)lants leav- 

 ing of course the strongest and healthiest plant lie- 

 hind. Keep them clean from weeds, but do not 

 earth them. If any of the plants appear to run to 

 seed, pull them out and transplant into their loom, 

 after stirring up the earth, and applying a little 

 fresh manure, (and to the want of attention to this 

 point the comparative failure of transplanted crops 

 is to be attributed) other plants of mangel wurt- 

 zel, rape, cabbages, or Sweedish turnips, which 

 should always be in a reserved seedling bed, in 

 case of failure in any crop. In September pull 

 the leaves — [cutting them close to the crown will 

 cause the root to rot if left in the field fluring win- 

 ter] — and give them to your cows, sheep, and 

 pigs. You will also find that they make a good 

 substitute for greens or spinach. 



The following is Mr Meadow's calculation of 



produce : — 



Drills 2 ft. distant. 

 Plants 2 ft. <listant. 

 Drills 2 f(. distant, 

 Plants IS in. distant. 

 Drills IS in. distant. 

 Plants 1 ft. distant. 

 Drills IS in. distant, 

 Plants 11 in. distant. 

 Drills IS in. distant. 

 Plants 18 in. distant, 



220 plants per perch — 



23,2S0 per acre. 

 147 ]ilants per perch — 



23,580 per acre. 

 294 plan's per perch — 



47,040 per acre. 

 252 plants per perch — 



40,320 per acre. 

 195 plants per perch — 



31,360 per acre. 



You may safely calculate on 30,000 plants per 

 acre. If you average the plants at 3 lbs. each, 

 which is much too low, you will have 90,000'lbs 

 or about 40 tons, not of a watery substance like 

 turDi|is. but a firm nutritious food. — Farmer's 

 Magazine. 



MANAGEMENT OP CJLAY FARMS. 



BF.ATSOn's STSTK-BI. 



Knowie Farm, in the neighborhood of Tiin- 

 hridge Wells, which was a few years ago, in the 

 occupation of the late Gen. Beatson, contains 

 about 300 acres of land, of which 112 are arable, 

 and is described as abounding with clay, and re- 

 tentive of surface moisture, but when dried by the 

 summer heat, it becomes as hard as a brick, and 

 impervious to the plough, unless with a great 

 power of animal exertion, particularly as the gen- 

 eral mode is to pUmgli deep. The established ro- 

 tation in that part of Kent, and the neighboring 

 portion of Sutsex, is fallow, wheat and oats, with 

 occasionally clover and rye-grass ; and the hus- 

 bandry appears to have remained unaltered for 

 many ages, with the single e.xception of substitu- 

 ting lime for manure instead of marl. Upon this 

 system the farm was managed during the Gener- 

 al's absence, while governor of the Island of St. 

 Helena; and, finding on his return, in the year 

 1813, "that he hail no cause to boast of his profit, 

 he resolved to trace the whole progress of the op- 

 erations, from I he commencement of the fallow 

 to the close of the rotation;" the result of which 

 was, that "having made a series of experiments, 

 to which he devoted his attention during 5 years, 

 he determined upon the total abolition of fal- 

 lows." 



In order to effect this, he adopted several new 

 im|)lements, chiefly of his own invention, for a 

 description of which we must refer to his " new 

 system of cultivation," as we have only seen the 

 scarifier in use. This is of a light construction, 

 and certainly performs well ; though upon land 

 such as that described by the general, it is worked 

 by a pair of horses, and sometimes more, instead 

 of one. 



He conceived that the grand source of all the 

 heavy ex|ienses of the old method might he traced 

 to the fallow itself, and to the mode of preparing 

 it, — "by bringing up immense slags with the 

 plough, by reversing the soil, and thus burying 

 the seeds of weeds that had fallen on the surface, 

 by which a foundation is laid for all the subse- 

 quent laborious and expensive operations. To 

 avoid these, he therefore thought it necessarj' to 

 proceed in a different manner — " to only break 

 and crumble the surface soil, to the depth that 

 may be required ; to burn and destroy the weeds; 

 after which he would have the land in a fine and 

 clean state of pulverization, and in readiness for 

 receiving the seed, without losing a year's rent 

 and taxes ; and all this at a mere trifle of exjieusc, 

 when compared with that which is incurred by a 

 fallow." 



In pursuance of this, he reduced the ploughing 

 to a single operation, at the depth of four inches. 

 The chief use, indeed, which he made of the 

 plough, was to open furrows at twentyseven inch- 

 es apart, which was iierforined by a couple of hor- 

 ses at tiie rate of three acres per day, and was 

 merely intended to jirepare the land for the scari- 

 fiers, " which, by passing twice across these fur- 

 rows loosen all the stubble and roots of weeds, 

 which are aftervi^ards, with a small portion of the 

 [soil, placed in lieaps and burned." By these 

 I means, together with the more frequent repitilion 

 of the horse-hoeing, and the introduction of the 

 row-culture, the General assures us " that his 

 lands were rendered much cleaner, and yielded 

 better crops than they did formerly, after all the 

 heavy expenses of lime and fallows." 



lie indeed states that those operationsproduced 

 the effect of pulverization to the depth of six or 

 seven inches, and their expense was — 



s. d. 

 Five scnrifyings, with a single horse 



implement, at 1,?. 8d. per acre, 8 4 



Two harrowings, at lOji/., 1 g 



10 1 

 that the whole charge of cultivation, under a four- 

 course system upon this i/lan, including rent 

 was — 



Tares, beans, peas, &c. per acre, 

 Wheat, " 



Oats and barley, " 



Clover and rye-grass, " 



£16 8 6 

 thus only iuiiounling to a trifle more than that of 

 the fallow upon the former plan ; that land cul- 

 tivated upon his farm in this manner, has yielded 

 460 sheaves of wheat per acre, whilst the average 

 produce of the other fields did not exceed 36U ; 

 and that the difference in favor of the new meth- 

 od amounts, upon an average — when wheat is at 

 10s. the bushel — to if350 per annum upon the 

 cultivation of 100 acres. — British Husbandry. 



.Attentio.v, Farmers. — None need be told our 

 corn stands in jeopardy every night ; a slight frost 

 would injure some of it, a hard one, ruin iiuich 

 of it. This is to inform the best way to save it, 

 if unfortunately smitten by that monster. Cut it 

 immediately, even while the frost is on — sickles 

 are the best instruments known to the writer for 

 this purpose — lay a few hills together, sufficient 

 for E small sheaf, when sufficiently wilted to bind, 

 which requires but a few hours, follow the fol- 

 lowing directions, and save more than half the 

 time in binding, any other way. Place one foot 

 each side the sheaf, facing the tops, take by the 

 top, two stalks in each hand, (lying on the top) 

 cross them, pass them under the sheaf, shift them 

 into the other hand, bring them hack to the top 

 again, after uniting them, give them a twist, raise 

 four or more stalks so as to tuck into the hand, 

 that's all. Stack them until cured, so as not to 

 heat the mow — to do which, after picking off the 

 corn, begin with a layer of stalks ; sprinkle ihem 

 with salt, say 8 or 10 quarts per ton, next a layer 

 of straWj so alternately until your mow is finish- 

 ed, this makes good fodder ; I have kept working 

 oxen, milch cows, &c., upon it, through the win- 

 ter months, for more than twenty year.s past 



Corn may be cut with safety after the kernel is 

 glaced. I have sold corn managed in this way 

 for ten shillings per bushel, while that left stand- 

 ing to the mercy of the frost, was entirely ruined. 



Windsor, Sept. 12, 1S37. 



Oly^The inhabitants of Middlesex County will 

 hold their annual Cattle Show on Wednesday, 

 October 4th. 



O^The fi\rmers of Berkshire County will hold 

 their annual Exhibition and Show on Wednes- 

 day and Thursday, 4tli and 5th of October. 



[CT'The farmers of Haidwick will hold their 

 animal Cattle Show on Wednesday, the 4th of 

 October. 



