180 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Statement of William Birnie. 

 Mangolds. — My crop of mangold wiirzel was grown on two 

 and a lialf acres of land, which in 1859 produced only two 

 thousand six hundred pounds of tobacco. The soil is a heavy 

 loam with blue clay subsoil. Thirteen cords of stable manure 

 were hauled on to the ground, spread evenly, and ploughed in 

 about seven inches deep from the 23d to the 26th of April. It 

 was again ploughed from the 4th to the Ttli of May crosswise 

 of the previous furrow, thus thoroughly mingling the manure 

 with the soil, and turning it up near the surface. After being 

 harrowed and rolled, the ground was marked out into drills 

 two feet apart, by a machine drawn by a horse, marking five 

 rows at once about two inches deep. Fifteen hundred pounds 

 of crushed bone, dissolved in sulphuric acid, and sixteen bush- 

 els of common salt were sown by hand into the drills. The 

 roller was again passed over the ground, partly filling the 

 drills, but leaving them sufficiently marked to be followed by 

 the sowing machine. The seed, the long red variety, six pounds 

 to the acre, was sown between the 8th and the 12th of May. As 

 soon as the plants were fairly up, from the 1st to 3d of June, 

 they were hoed the first time, and June 10th, cultivated tlior- 

 oughly with the horse hoe, followed by hand, and thinned by 

 drawing the hoe through the rows, leaving the plants in bunches 

 of three or four, and about eight inches apart, taking especial 

 care to fill all the vacancies, (occasioned by failure of seed or 

 otherwise,) by transplanting. This was done by taking up a 

 bunch of the surplus plants, and the earth surrounding them, 

 with the hoe, and placing them carefully in a hole previously 

 made, in the vacant place; and scarcely a plant thus treated 

 failed. The first week in July the horse hoe was again used, 

 jand followed by hand, thinning thoroughly to one plant in a 

 place, and leaving them from eight to twelve inches apart in a 

 row. On the 16th of July, the horse hoe was used tlioroughly? 

 which was the last cultivation the crop received, as tlie leaves 

 had now nearly covered the ground. All the vacancies that 

 now remained were filled with cabbage plants. On the 15th 

 of September we began to strip the outside leaves, and feed to 

 our milch cows. Eighteen two-horse wagon loads were taken 

 from the piece before harvesting, and twelve at the time of 

 harvesting. On the 9th of October we began to gather the crop 



