131 

 GEO. B. LORING'S STATEMENT. 



MANGEL WURZEL. 



The crop of mangel wurzel which I enter for premium was 

 raised on one acre and one-eighth of land. The soil is a heavy 

 clayey loam, has been many years under cultivation, and is a 

 portion of the field, which was thorough drained five years 

 ago. For three years after drainage, it was devoted to grass 

 crops ; having been laid down to grass the year previous to 

 draining. Last year it was manured on the sod, twenty -five 

 loads, or a little more than eight cords, to the acre ; was 

 plouged with Michigan plough. May 23d harrowed, furrowed 

 and planted to com, with super-phosphate of lime in the hill. 

 Early in November following it was fall-ploughed. 



Early in May of this year it was manured with eight cords 

 of barn-yard manure to the acre, ploughed again, and left until 

 May 20th. It was then ploughed again, harrowed and drilled. 

 Seven cords of manure, a compost of barn-yard manure with 

 sand and muck, were applied in the drills. 



The seed was soaked thirty-six hours in water poured hot 

 upon it. The tops of the drills were carefully raked. An 

 implement made of plank four inches wide and three feet long, 

 from the bottom of which projected pins two inches long and 

 an inch and a quarter in thickness, and seven inches apart, and 

 on the top of which was fastened a frame handle, made by nail- 

 ing narrow stripes of boards, two and one-half feet long, to 

 the ends of the plank, and fastened together at the top by a 

 short strip a foot and a half long — was used for making holes 

 into which the seed was to be dropped. This latter process 

 was also done by hand ; and the seed was covered by the hoe. 

 In this way I secured an even crop, and avoided the necessity 

 of thinning, which attends the use of a seed sowing machine. 

 Six men (two making the holes, two dropping the seed and 

 two covering) sowed the piece in one day. The crop was hoed 

 twice, and, late in the season, was once cleared of weeds by 



