258 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



American husbandman should as anxiously guard against 

 his most formidable enemy, drought. I am inclined to think 

 that there is no crop cultivated in this state (Pennsylvania) 

 which ought not to be put on a flat surface." The climate 

 of New England, especially its northern part, is not so warm 

 and dry as that of Pennsylvania, and in that part of the 

 United States, perhaps, the nature of the soil should decide 

 the question; if dry, level planting, or if moist, ridge planting 

 should be adopted. 



We have heard complaints from American farmers, that 

 the seed of this root is slow and uncertain in coming up. 

 Perhaps the seed or soil, or both, may sometimes be too dry 

 at the time of sowing. A writer in the English Farmer's 

 Journal says, " I have of late years steeped my seed for at 

 least. forty-eight hours. I made an experiment with twenty 

 sound seeds not steeped, twenty steeped twenty-four hours, 

 and the same number steeped forty-eight hours ; every seed 

 of the latter produced plants, which came up two or three 

 days sooner than either of the others, and some of those not 

 steeped did not come up at all." Mr. Cobbett, in treating 

 of the culture of the common garden beets, {American Gar- 

 dener^ par. 198,) directs to soak the seed four days and nights 

 in rain-water before it is sowed; and observes, that the 

 mangel-wurtzel should be cultivated in the same manner as 

 the other kinds of beets. American writers, so far as we 

 have observed, give no directions for soaking the seeds of 

 this vegetable before planting ; and it is possible that the 

 omission of this part of the process may cause the slowness 

 and uncertainty of vegetation complained of. The capsule, 

 or husk, which contains the seeds, is dry, and it requires a 

 long time for the moisture which it may derive from the 

 earth to penetrate this integument, so as to cause tlie seed 

 to sprout. But if the soil be very moist at the time of sow- 

 ing, soaking the seed had better be omitted. 



' Much has been written and said on the subject of strip- 

 ping these plants of their leaves for feeding cows and other 

 economical purposes. An English writer observes, that six 

 or seven crops of leaves and stocks may be taken off during 

 the growth of the root. Women and children can take off the 

 leaves, which is done as follows : they should place their 

 hands on each side of the root, at the foot stalks of the leaves, 

 leaving about six of the smallest central leaves between the 

 fore-finger and thumb of each hand ; (the small leaves are to 

 be left on the root to grow, to make a fresh top ;) then, 



