426 THE MANGOLD- WURZEL CROP. 



Koechlin states that it saves two months in the ground, 

 and that in ordinary seasons it gives an increased return 

 in the proportion of eight to five. In Belgium the farmers 

 avail themselves of the same practice, and manage to 

 obtain a crop of mangold or beet after having harvested 

 a crop of rye or of flax. Either of these is ready at the 

 end of June or beginning of July ; the stocks are shifted 

 in the field to make way for the ploughs, which are sent 

 in as soon as the crop is down ; the liquid manure carts, 

 conveying the fertilizing compound (rape-cakes dissolved 

 in "purin"), accompany the planters, and give a certain 

 dose of their valuable contents to each plant as it is dibbled 

 in the field. 



In France this method of transplanting has en- 

 abled M. Auguste de Gasparin to obtain extraordinary 

 results in the cultivation of his mangold crop. In the 

 Transactions of the Agricultural Society of Rochelle for 

 1855, an account is given of the enormous produce ob- 

 tained by M. de Gasparin the preceding year, and of the 

 mode of cultivation adopted by him. The committee 

 appointed by the society to examine the crop, mode of 

 cultivation, &c., reported that on carefully measuring off 

 a certain portion of the field, 1 000 square metres, equal to 

 39 rods 16 yards English, and weighing the produce, it 

 was found to amount to 27,800 kilogrammes, or equal to 

 27 tons 7 cwts. This gave a total produce of 275,000 

 kilogrammes to the hectare, or about 109 tons per Eng- 

 lish acre. The principal conditions of cultivation neces- 

 sary to obtain such results were stated to be 



That the soil should be deeply trenched, tilled, and 

 well manured. 



That the seed be sown (in a suitable seed-bed) in Janu- 

 ary, and the plants be moved out into the field in April. 



That sufficient moisture be furnished to the plants by 

 irrigation during their growth. 



