ROOT CROPS FOR FARM STOCK. 183 



required. The rows should be two feet distant, and the 

 plants thinned out to five or six inches apart. An average 

 crop is fifteen tons, of the " Long Orange " variety, to 

 the acre, and the present price averages $15 per ton in 

 the New York market. The " White " or " Yellow Bel- 

 gian " Carrots would give one-third more weight, but the 

 quality is inferior and the price correspondingly lower. 



KEEPING ROOTS IN WINTER. 



One of the seeming obstacles to raising root crops on 

 a large scale is the lack of a proper place for keeping 

 them in winter. A general impression prevails that they 

 must be kept in cellars or in a root house specially built 

 for the purpose. There is really no necessity for a special 

 root house, as the simple and cheap method of preserving 

 them in pits in the open ground is far better. I will 

 briefly describe my plan, which I have practised with all 

 kinds of market garden roots for twenty-five years. Man- 

 gels, in this section of the country, are dug up towards 

 the end of October, or just after our first slight frost. 

 They are then temporarily secured from severe frosts by 

 placing- them in convenient oblong heaps, say three feet 

 high by six feet wide, and are covered with three or 

 four inches of soil, which will be sufficient protection for 

 three or four weeks after lifting; by that time, say the 

 end of November, they may be stowed away in their per- 

 manent winter quarters. For Turnips and Carrots, there 

 is less necessity for the temporary pitting, as they are 

 much hardier roots, and may be left in the ground until 

 the time necessary for permanent pitting, if time will not 

 permit of securing them temporarily. 



The advantage of this temporary pitting is, that it en- 

 ables them to be quickly secured at a season when work is 



