RL'TA BAOA AND MANGEL WURTZEL. 89 



RUTA BAG A AND MANGEL WURTZEL. 



There is one kind of crop, which the generality of Farmers in 

 the rtorthern parts of New-England, do not sufficiently appreciate, 

 viz : Root crops. Almost the only vegetable of this kind, grown 

 among them, is the Potato, and not so many of these as there 

 ought to he. They are more cheaply produced than any other 

 kind, but they are not so valuable for cattle, (all things considered,) 

 as the Ruta Baga, or Mangel Wurtzel, or, as it is sometimes call- 

 ed, '' Scarcity." Cobbet has written a very interesting treatise on 

 the culture and use of the former, (Ruta Baga,) which he extols 

 above every other esculent root on earth. But next to Potatoes, 

 the Mangel Wurtzel has been with us, most easily raised. They 

 are full as hardy, and have but very (ew enemies to encounter, 

 while the Ruta Baga is continually harassed, and not unfrequently 

 destroyed by insects. Cobbet says, in his work, that the turnip 

 fly does not exist in America. Perhaps the scourge which deso- 

 lates the turnip fields in England does not, (not having seen a speci- 

 men, nor a description of them we cannot tell,) but there are flies 

 enough, (or, as the Yankess call them, f'ugs.) that do. In the May 

 of 1826, we planted a piece of ground with Ruta Baga ; Mangel 

 Wurtzel was also planted with them, alternaling with the Ruta 

 Baga. Every one remembers the intense drought which took 

 place, and tlie myriads of Grasshoppers and he voracious insects 

 w^hich thronged the fields and gardens during that summer. In the 

 hottest and dryest part of the season, when the " rain upon the land 

 was powder and dust," and the grasshoppers — rivalling the 'clouds' 

 of Egypt in numbers, devoured almost every thing that stood in 

 their way, not even sparing the " Board-fences'''' — this plant (the 

 Scarcity) flourished unhurt and almost untouched. At first it was 

 thought the Ruta Baga saved them by affording the marauders a 

 more agreeable meal. But they finally demolished the whole crop 

 of them and still the Mangel remained uninjured. Those who 

 cultivate those crops, can use their own judgment, as it regards the 

 manner of procedure. There are two methods, however, which 

 we shall notice, and which are most generally practised. One of 

 them was introduced and practised by Cobbet while he resided on 

 Long Island, N. Y., and the other is recommended by John Hare 

 Powel, Esq. of Powclton, near Philadelphia. Cobbet's method 

 is briefly as follows : After (he ground is ploughed and well-har- 

 rowed, a trench or finrow is made by the plough, filled with ma- 

 T2 Vol. 1. 



