270 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[March 18, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1825^ 



*' * Several valuable communications and other articles 

 are deferred this week ; among them remarks on the 

 cultivation of Pastel or VVoad, by Gen. Dearborn 

 _" Etanes"— " P"— "L.W.B." &c. 



He says, "among the various practices into , certainty of vegetation complained of. The 



iFarmcr's CalcuUar. 



ON THE CULTIVATION AND USES OF MANGEL WURTZEL. 



We have frequently been requested by friends 

 and correspondents to give some account of the 

 culture and uses of this valuable root, which has 

 not so generally been introduced as an article of 

 field husbandry as the interests of the husband- 

 man require. We will, therefore, state such 

 particulars relating to this subject as we think 

 will prove most useful, and are derived either 

 from personal observation, or what we esteem 

 to be good authority. 



The soil for this root sliould be in good tilth, 

 well manured, and made fine with the plough 

 and harrow, or scarifier to a good depth. John 

 Hare Powel, Esq. Corresponding Secretary to 

 the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society, whose 

 zeal and science in agriculture are aliUe hon- 

 ourable to himself and beneficial to the commu- 

 nity, in giving an account of his mode of culti- 

 vating this crop, [see N. E. Farmer, vol. 1, p. 

 276]says, "the soil had been very deeply idough- 

 ed, and stirred by Beatson's scarifier; the ma- 

 nure was after ploughed nine inches under the 

 surface ; the scarifier having been again appli- 

 ed, the roller and harrow were used to produce 

 the tilth." The " land had not received more 

 manure than is usually given to polatoe crops in 

 this country." The soil on which Messrs 

 Tristram & Henry Little raised their premium 

 crop for 1824 [see N. E. Farmer, vol. iii. page 

 212] is a clay loam. In 182?, about three 

 fourths of the same was sowed with onions, and 

 manured with about 8 cords of compost ma- 

 nure to the acre. The other quarter was sow- 

 ed with wheat without manure, (n the fall of 

 1823 there were about 10 cords of compost ma- 

 nure drawn on the lot, and put in a heap. Most 

 of the said compost was drawn from the salt 

 marshes, when ditchingr the same ; the other 

 part was from the barn yard. 



A writer in the Farmer's Jonrnal, an Eng- 

 lish agricultural paper, in a communication on 

 the subject of Mangel Wurlzel, dated Chelms- 

 ford, Essex, Nov. 22, 1824, observes, that 

 " whenever the land is too heavy either to per- 

 mit the turnip to flourish, or to be carted off 

 when produced, or to bear the tread of cattle, 

 there this root delights, and may with advan- 

 tage be cultivated. The benefit which might 

 result to farms, entirely composed of good hea- 

 vy land, by the cultivation of this root, is obvi- 

 ous to every one who has made the trial." An- 

 other English writer says these roots are best 

 cultivated on strong land, or that in which " (he 

 surface soil is loamy, and from four to twelve 

 inches deep, u[)on a bed of strong clay, mixed 

 with gra*el." 



Agriculturists have not agreed whether it is 

 most expedient to plant the seed of this root on 

 ridges or on a level. Col. Powel condemns 

 planting on ridges in this country, as a practice 

 not adapted to our soil and climate, in which 

 Tegelables are very liable to suffer by drought. 



which we have been seduced by the plausible 

 theories of the advocates of European husband- 

 ry, there is none which appears to me more 

 absurd than that which has led us to drill or 

 dibble our crops on ridges. The English far- 

 mer wisely contends with the evils produced 

 by too much rain— the American husbandman 

 should as anxiously guard against his most for- 

 midable enemy, drought. I am inclined to think 

 that there is no crop cultivated in this Slate, 

 which ought not to be put on a flat surface."— 

 In the northern parts of the United States, ridge 

 planting is generally adopted. Perhaps the na- 

 ture of the soil should decide the question. If 

 dry, level planting— if wet, ridge planting 

 should be adopted. Furrows are drawn from 

 two to three feet apart. Mr Prince's (of Roxbu- 

 ry) practice is 27 inches— Col. PowePs, 24 inch- 

 es. The manure (which for this, as well as all 

 other tap rooted plants, should be fine and well 

 rotted dung, or a good rich compost) should 

 then he put into the furrows, and covered with 

 the plough. A harrow is then drawn length- 

 wise of the ridges to smooth the l.md ; and it 

 is well to pass a light roller along the ridges. 



capsule or husk, which contains the seeds of 

 this plant, is dry, nnd it requires a long time 

 tor the moisture which it may derive from the 

 ground to penetrate this integument so as to 

 cause the seed to sprout. Warm water for 

 soaking the seed would doubtless be better than 

 cold, and less time would be required to produce 

 the elTect desired with warm, than with cold 

 water. The seed may be sown some time in 

 the month of May, earlier or later, according 

 to the state of the soil. 



The following is Col. Powel's mode oftitiing 

 this plant. " A small Cultivator, which 1 had 

 contrived for the purpose, was drawn belwee* 

 the rows soon alter the weeds appeared ; a 

 three inch triangular hoe removed the alternate 

 plants, leaving the others at distances, varying 

 from eight to twelve inches asunder. Tlie cul- 

 tivator was twice used before the 20tb of July. 

 My cultivator, by its jieculiar form, enabled me 

 to cut off the weeds when the ()lants were sor 

 young, that if I had applied the plough, their 

 crowns must have been covered in.fliany instan- 

 ces by earth, occasionally falling from its land 

 side. The failure, which attends the cultiva- 



hefore the seed is sown. The seed should then j tion of most crops in drill, proceeds from the 

 be set in the rows. It may be either dilibled or neglect of weeds in their early stages. Four 



set with the finger, or put in by Col. Powel's 

 method, which is as follows. " The holes for 

 the seed were made by a wheel containing pegs 

 in its circumference, which penetrated ' the 

 ground about an inch, leaving intervals of four 

 inches; the rows were ma<le two feet asunder; 

 two capsules were dropped in each hole ; the 

 wheel of a common barrow was jassed over 

 them, thus compressing the earth and leaving 

 a slight rut, for the retention of moisture. "-- 

 Most American cultivators place the seeds about 



or five days of delay, frequently make the dif- 

 ference of fifteen days in the labour of making 

 clear an acre of ground. The same weeds 

 which a boy with a sharp shingle would re- 

 move at the commencement of one wepk, may, 

 before the end ol'lhe next, reqturethe applica- 

 tion of an implement drawn by a horse." 



It appears that the object of Col. Powel ia 

 setting his rows but two feet apart, and leaving 

 them, when properly dressed and thinned out, 

 Vom eight to twelve inches apart in the rows, 



three inches apart in the rows, and English kv- [ ^as to procure "smaller roots, which might 

 mers from four to six inches. It is recommend- • crj.^^^ g,, closely, as by their leaves to protect 

 ed not to set the seeds more than one inch ,he soil as much as possible from the rays of 

 deep, lest they either remain long without com- ;|,e sun." If you wish to raise gigantic roots, 

 ing up or rot in the ground vi'ithout germinating. ' (o astonish your neighbours, or to" publish an 

 The quantity of seed, according to English wri- 1 account of in the newspapers, you will of 

 ters, is four pounds to an acre. Mr David Lit-|(^om.ge cause them to grow at a greater distance 

 tie in obtaining one of his premium crops sow-' 



ed four pounds, but otiserved that he thought 

 half that quantity would have been sufficient 

 We h ' 



from each other. 



Much has been written and said on the sub- 



, , , . ,. . ■ ject of stripping these plants of their leaves for 



.ve heard complamis from American (.^^jj J;; ,^^, ^^^^^r^^^^^^j^^, ^^^^3_ 



firmers that the seed of this root is slow and An English writer observes that " sis or more 

 uncertain in coming up. Perhaps they m-^y ^,^ ^^^^,^^ and slocks may be taken off dur- 



have mad.) use of old seed not o the growth .'„,g ^^^^^,j,^ ^,. ^j^^ ^^^, ^-^^^^ or children 

 of the preceding year, or the seed, or the soil, J^ ,^,,.^- ,^^ ,^^ ^^,^^, ,^,,.^^ .^ ^^^^ ^^ f„,. 



or both, may have been too dry. A writer in 

 the English Farmer's Journal, of Nov. 29, 1824, 

 says, " I have of late years steeped my seed 

 for at least forty-eight hours. 1 made an ex- 

 periment with twenty sound seeds not steeped, 

 twenty steeped twenty-four hours, and the same 

 number steeped forty-eight hours ; every seed 

 of the latter produced plants, which came up 

 two or three days sooner than either of the 

 others, and some of those not steeped did not 

 come up at all." Mr Cobhett, in treating of 

 the culture of the common garden beet, [Amer 

 ican Gardener, paragraph 198] directs to soak 

 the seeds four days and nights in rain water be- 

 fore you sow it, and observes that the mangel 

 wurtzel should be cultivated in the same man- 

 ner. American writers, so far as we have ex- 

 amined, give no directions for soaking the seed, 

 and it is possible that the omission of this part 

 of the process may cause the slowcess and un- 



lows : — They should place their hands on each 

 side of the root, at the foot stalk of the leaves, 

 leaving about six of the smallest central leaves 

 between the fore finger and thumb of both 

 hands, (the small leaves are to be left on the 

 root to grow to make a fresh top) then spread- 

 ing the hands fl;il, with their face downwards, 

 push them both at the same time towards the 

 ground, and thus by one motion will the whole 

 of the top of each root, except the small leaves 

 to be left to form a fresh head, be removed 

 without unsetling the root or its fibres, which 

 would check its growth." Some say that strip- 

 ping the plant of its leaves is no injury to the 

 root, and others are of opinion that the root is 

 injured by this means. We have doubts whether 

 in field cultivation, it will often be found expe- 

 dient to expend time and labour in this manner. 

 The trimmings or superfluous plants, howerer, 



