VEGETABLES. 137 



to a foot apart, a growth of from ten to twelve pounds can be 

 attained, and I have had isolated specimens weigh over twenty- 

 pounds. While the mangel-wurzel afford us but little else than 

 water, the common beet is a saccharine vegetable, and the sugar, 

 besides improving the quality of milk, adds fat to the animal. 

 Let me here make a seedman's suggestion to my brother farm- 

 ers, — when you see sugar beets, or white sugar beets advertised 

 in catalogues, remember it means a variety of mangel-wurzel, 

 used largely in Europe for the manufacture of sugar — preferred 

 to other sorts because it has but little coloring matter in its 

 composition, and utterly worthless for table use. 



As an early short top, the Early Flat is desirable, while for a 

 handsome round beet, excellent for the family, or the market, 

 Dewing's is an acquisition. Simon's Early is a favorite with the 

 Philadelphia marketmen. The half long varieties, such as Hen- 

 derson's Pine Apple, Castelnaudary and Crapaudine, are rather 

 small in size, but of excellent quality. 



In mangel-wurzel, what we want, is size and quality, though as 

 ordinarily grown, we have in view quantity only. If the variety 

 of mangel-wurzel, alluded to above, had no more sweetness in 

 it as grown in Europe, than most of those fed to our milch cows, 

 " the bottom would be knocked out " of their sugar enterprise 

 in a single season. Let the experiment be tried of growing 

 under the same condition, a piece of mangolds, one on high and 

 one on low land. When the crop is gathered, those on the low- 

 land may be larger, but those on the upland will be sweeter. If 

 the farmer is only desirous of increasing the quaniiiy of milk, 

 he will feed mangolds from lowland ; if he has regard also to 

 the condition of his animals, he will feed mangolds grown on 

 upland, and I will add if he aims at producing butter, he will 

 feed carrots rather than mangolds. I know of no more common 

 error in dairy matters, than in the time at which mangolds are 

 fed to cows. Most vegetables undergo a change in their nature, 

 after they are gathered and stored, — some potatoes undergo a 

 ripening process, so that the characteristics of October are not 

 the characteristics of March ; in a few months our turnips be- 

 come " corky " and the seed of our running squashes do not 

 fully mature until from one to four months have elapsed from 

 the time they were gathered ; so of the entire beet family of 

 which mangolds are a class. In the sugar making countries of 

 18* 



