AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 259 



spreading the hand flat with their face downwards, push 

 them both at the same time towards the ground, and thus, 

 by one motion, will the whole of the top of each root, ex- 

 cept the small leaves to be left to form a fresh head, be re- 

 moved without unsettling the root or its fibres, which would 

 check its growth. Some affirm, that stripping the plant of 

 its leaves is no injury to the root, and others are of opinion 

 that the root is injured by this means. We have doubts, 

 whether, in field cultivation, it will often be deemed expe- 

 dient to expend time and labor in this manner. The thin- 

 nings, or superfluous plants, however, should be preserved, 

 as they make excellent food for milch cows or store swine. 



' Some cultivators affirm, that it is never worth the trouble 

 to transplant these roots to fill vacancies. " I have sten," 

 says an English writer, much labor and expense employed in 

 transplanting into vacant spots, when the seed has not been 

 dibbled thick enough, but have never seen the transplanted 

 roots worth half the trouble ; the tap-root being broken in the 

 drawing, nothing but the top and useless rough roots and 

 fangs are produced. It has been remarked by other writers, 

 that the most common cause of failure in transplanting this 

 root is the taking them up when too small, before the plants 

 have obtained strength and size sufficient to bear the opera- 

 tion of transplanting. 



' Use. The following remarks are from a paper communi- 

 cated to the trustees of the Massachusetts Agricultural so- 

 ciety, by J. Lowell, Esq., president of said society. They 

 are derived, principally, from a French publication, by the 

 Abbe Rosier. 



' " This root is very little aflected by changes of weather. 

 It is attacked by no insect ; drought affects but little its 

 vegetation. It prepares the land extremely well for other 

 crops. It may be sown and treated precisely like the com- 

 mon beet, except that it ought to stand eighteen inches 

 asunder. 



' " In good land, they often weigh nine or ten pounds, and 

 are stripped eight or nine times. In a light, sandy, but well 

 manured soil, they sometimes weigh fourteen and even six- 

 teen pounds each ! 



' " The first crop of leaves in France is taken off' in the 

 latter end of June, or the beginning of July. In this coun- 

 try, probably, the latter period would be preferable. The 

 lower leaves, those which incline towards the ground, are 

 those which are taken away, and care must be taken to pre- 



