12 CARROTS, MANGOLDS AND SUGAR BEETS, 



other rich fertilizers can be procured at so low a figure, in 

 proportion to their value, that root crops can be raised con- 

 siderably cheaper than in farming districts not so favored. 

 Many a man can be found in these favored districts who 

 thinks he is making a good business at farming, yet could he 

 but sell the manure he gathers so cheaply, at its market value, 

 barn manure being the standard, he would make money by 

 doing so and folding his arms the rest of the year. The fact is 

 he is really losing money at farming ; but through his crops 

 he is selling what cost him but a trifle, at a price, indeed, 

 below its real value, but still so far in advance of cost as to 

 leave a profit. Such a man does wisely in the course he 

 pursues though he makes a mistake in the debtor and cred- 

 itor side of the account, for it is most decidedly wiser to be 

 at work than idle, though the result makes no difference in 

 the dollars in a man's pocket. 



PREPARING THE BED. 



The great object here should be to get the soil thorough- 

 ly fine that the small, thread-like fibers, and the roots them- 

 selves, may waste the least possible vital power in permeating 

 the earth in search of food, or in pushing downwards. The 

 vitality wasted in this way is just so much taken from growth, 

 and may make the sole difference between a good crop and 

 a poor one. If it is necessary that the first ploughing should 

 be a very deep one, better apply the manure, (as previously 

 stated, the finer mechanical condition this is in the better) 

 afterwards. Should the manure be to any degree coarse after 

 spreading, run the brush or wheel harrow over it, one or 

 both. This will also break up the clods and fine up the soil 

 and incorporate the manure with it. If still at all lumpy, fol- 

 low with a plank drag. Next plow shallow a few furrows, and 

 Have men, with wooden-toothed hand rakes, rake at right an- 



