13 



to express a decided opinion on the best mode of cultivating tlift 

 Manuel Wurtzel ; and will therefore lay before you the suc- 

 cessful practice, on strong land, in the county of Essex, in En* 

 gland, as it is stated, from a recent English publication, by the 

 Philadelphia Society of Agriculture.* 



The Mangel Wurtzel is sometimes called the Great, or Im- 

 proved Beet, and Root of Scarcity ; but now, more generally, 

 Mangel Wurtzel, its German name. The following is the ac- 

 count of its culture, at Bedfords, in Essex. 



" It may be proper, in the first place, to state what is meant 

 by strong land. The surface soil is loamy, and from four to 

 twelve inches deep, upon a bed of strong clay mixed with grav- 

 el. It is too heavy, and generally too wet, in the winter, even 

 for sheep to eat a crop of turnips on the ground ; and although 

 good turnips are raised upon it, it is always necessary to draw 

 them for the sheep, stall-fed cattle, or cattle in the yards." 



" In the middle, or latter end of the month of April, the fur- 

 rows are set out with the plough, two feet apart, and double 

 ploughed ; that is, the plough returns on the [same] furrow to 

 the point whence it set out, forming a ridge between each two 

 furrows." 



" Double ploughing with a common plough is preferable to 

 single ploughing with a double mould board plough, because it 

 affords a greater depth of loose earth than the double mould 

 board plough would produce." 



'' In these furrows, the manure, which should be in a rotten 

 state, is deposited, after the rate of six cubic yards to an acre."t 



" The ridges are then split by the plough, going and return- 

 ing the same way as before' mentioned ; leaving the manure im- 

 mediately under the middle ef the new ridges. A light roller is 



* Memoirs of the Society, Vol. III. Appendix. 



+ Six cubic yards contain 162 cubic feet, or three cartloads for a pair of 

 oxen. A cart body, 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet high, in the clear^ 

 contains 56 cubic feet; and three times 56 are 168. — I doubt the necessi- 

 ty of manure being " in a rotten state," seeing it is to be so deeply buried, 

 for this or any other root crop intended for the food of domestic animals ; 

 especially for Mangel Wurtzel, which, to obtain a full crop, should be 

 sown very early, as soon as the ground is dry enough to be ploughed. The 

 powerful fermentation of fresh dung raiglit impart to the soil a salutary 

 warmth in the cool spring season. At least it may be worth while to try it/ 



