10 Experiments upon Sivedes. 



If the land is in a poor, unmanured condition, the difference in 

 the weight of roots taken from 2 acres of land one acre con- 

 taining 2000 or 3000 plants less than the other may be hardly 

 appreciable, provided the roots have not been drilled too far 

 apart and not singled out too wide apart ; for on the acre 

 on which a less number of roots is grown, each root has 

 more room, and, as the land is in a poor condition, the plants 

 are less stinted in food than on the second acre. We obtain 

 thus larger but fewer roots on one acre, and smaller but more 

 roots on the other ; and the difference in the produce of both 

 acres may be imperceptible, and even in favour of the acre on 

 which the smaller number of roots were grown. But supposing 

 the land is in a high state of fertility, and each plant can find 

 abundance of ready-prepared food, the result must be quite dif- 

 ferent. If singled out too wide apart, the roots will be found not 

 much larger than on similar land planted moderately close ; and 

 in the latter case the weight per acre will be larger than on the 

 former. 



Here, as in so many other instances, it is impossible to lay 

 down exact rules how far apart the drills should be, and how 

 wide the plants should be singled out. On some land 26 inches 

 by 15 inches is not too wide ; on other land 22 inches is a good 

 width between the drills, and 12 inches a fair distance between 

 the plants. If the soil is shallow and poor, the drills should be 

 at least 26 inches apart, and the plant singled out rather wide ; 

 for the roots in that case will extend their feeding-fibres on the 

 surface, and require a larger space than they do in a deep, well- 

 pulverised, loamy soil.* On the whole, I am inclined to think 

 that in many cases we do not get so heavy a crop of roots when 

 we plant too far apart, as when we plant closer. Farmers do 

 not like to see their neighbours grow bigger roots than they 

 themselves can grow ; but 1 question much whether the objec- 

 tionable custom of giving silver prize-cups to large-sized roots 

 has not done a great deal towards diminishing the quality as 

 well as the quantity of the produce in bulbs per acre. I am 

 inclined to think an acre of roots of moderate size, and grown 

 tolerably near together, is worth more money than an acre of 



* The proposed time and mode of consuming the crop will have nearly as much 

 to do with determining these distances as the soil. Late white turnips, intended 

 to serve as spring food for ewes and lambs, may well be sown with 5 drills, occu- 

 pying the same space as 3 rows of Swedes intended to be partly drawn and stored. 

 Plants not fully developed, and young, resist atmospheric influences far better 

 than those that are ripe and large. It is by no means clear to me that 011 the 

 poorer soil the smaller root is not more eligible, apart from the question of total 

 weight per acre. 



The difference between the power of full grown white mustard, and that which 

 is but a few inches high, in resisting frost is remarkable. For many of man's 

 uses the ideal and fully developed plant is not the most serviceable. P. H. F. 



