4$ CARROTS, MANGOLDS AXD SUGAR BEETS. 



get them down to a good depth, say an inch and a half deep, 

 and then to pack the fine earth closely over them so that it 

 may hold the moisture. Any machine, therefore, that is used 

 for planting should have a good roller. To facilitate and 

 hasten the vegetation, some cultivators practice soaking the 

 seed, by pouring on water when almost at a scalding temper- 

 ature, and letting the seed remain in it from thirty-six to for- 

 ty-eight hours, being careful to keep it where the water will 

 not fall below blood heat, then rolling plaster or dry soil, 

 until it is sufficiently dry to drop readily from the machine. 

 Some prefer to plant by hand, believing that the greater 

 certainty of getting the seed up and the greater regularity of 

 the plants in the row is more than an off-set to the addition- 

 al labor. In doing this some growers will drop the seed on 

 the surface by the machine, and then follow and push them 

 under to the depth requisite, with the thumb and finger; 

 others use a strip of plank about four inches wide and three 

 feet in length, on the under side of which are inserted wood- 

 en pins, every seven inches, the pins being one and a quar- 

 ter inches in diameter and projecting two inches. The holes 

 having been made, the seed are dropped in, and covered by 

 the hand. In my own experience I rely on Mathew's seed 

 drill, and find but few blank places after the plants are up, 

 provided the weather is not too dry. Where blanks are found 

 they may be profitably filled by transplanting the young Man- 

 golds, care being taken to break off the tops of the larger 

 leaves, and also to loosen the ground a little when planting 

 them. If a time just after a shower is selected, the result 

 will be very satisfactory. The transplanted roots when gath- 

 ered in the Fall will usually be found with several small roots 

 in place of a single tap root. 



) All root crops require prompt and thorough attention in 

 the matter of weeding, and to lessen this costly department 

 of labor they should not be raised on land abounding in the 



