ROOT CROPS. 215 



evenly spread in the bottom of the drills, and at once covered 

 in, and the seed sown. No more drills should be opened at a 

 time than can be manured, covered in, and sown on the same 

 day ; for, by an adherence to this principle, a great portion of 

 the fertilizing ingredients of the manure is preserved from loss 

 by exposure to the atmosphere, and the seed being sown in the 

 fresh earth, germination is materially assisted, circumstances on 

 which the secret of successful cultivation in a great measure 

 depends. 



Manure. — Of all tlie manures employed in the production of 

 any crop, farmyard manure may be considered the staple, but 

 particularly so for the Mangold, of which large crops are raised 

 by its aid alone ; good crops have been also grown, where the 

 soil is naturally rich, by the application of guano, vitriolized 

 bones, and other artificial or special manures, or, where a 

 sufficiency of farmyard manure is not to be had, the deficiency 

 may be made up by the use of extraneous manures, and in such 

 proportion as circumstances may require.* 



The farmyard manure, whether alone or in conjunction, 

 should be very well decomposed, and well mixed by turning, 

 before its application in spring. The quantity applied should 

 be commensurate with the requirements of the soil ; but to land 

 of average fertility, 25 tons per statute acre, when applied alone, 

 would be sufficient. If extraneous manures be used alone, 

 5 cwt. of guano, or 7 cwt. of vitriolized bones, would be a fair 

 application ; it is not advisable, however, to raise Mangolds with 

 these manures alone, where farmyard manure can conveniently 

 be obtained, unless the soil be very rich. A dressing of common 

 salt, is highly beneficial to this crop ; whether it produces its 

 effects by acting directly on the crop, or indirectly by rendering 

 available some constituents of the manure or soil, or whether they 

 may be attributed to both, is not well known, but it has been 

 ascertained, by chemical analysis, that the ash of both tops and 

 bulbs contains a large amount of common salt. The quantity 

 of common salt contained in the Mangold is so large as to be 

 quite perceptible to the taste in the growing plant, especially 



* On light chalky soils, a mixture of guano, nitrate of soda, and common 

 salt, at the rate of 2 cwt. each per acre, has been found very efficacious in the 

 growth of Mangold Wurzel. — NeshiCs Agricultural Chemislry^ p. 100. 



