546 



ROOT CROPS 



ROOT CROPS 



six, eight or ten inches as required, or by running 

 the weeder across the rows. Singling to one plant 

 may be done later. Two plants should not be left 

 close together. The distance asunder varies with 

 the different varieties, globes and tankards requir- 

 ing more space than the long varieties. Shallow 

 cultivation should begin as soon as the rows are 

 discernible and be maintained every seven or ten 

 days until the tops meet in the rows. 



As soon as the plants are thinned they should re- 

 ceive an application Of fifty pounds of nitrate of 

 soda, which may be mixed with 200 pounds of salt 

 or with some acid phosphate to give it bulk. This 

 should be applied near the plants, but not on the 

 leaves, since it may burn them, and should be culti- 

 vated in. A second application may be given two 

 weeks later. 



Mangels do well after clover, or after an inter- 

 tilled crop which has been well manured, as cab- 

 bages or corn, or after a grain crop. Sod land 

 should be plowed one year before growing mangels 

 on it. 



Harvesting and storing. — Mangels are usually 

 pulled by hand, the tops twisted off and the roots 

 stored in root cellars or in piles in the field. They 

 should be harvested when dry and should not be 

 roughly handled. Sugar-beets are generally plowed 

 out, or a beet digger is used. When pitted in 

 the field the piles are covered with straw and 

 soil to a sufficient extent to prevent injury from 

 rain or frost. It is important to keep beets cool in 

 storage and see that they are well ventilated. 

 Freshly harvested mangels tend to produce "scour- 

 ing" in stock, hence it is not advisable to feed them 

 until they have been stored for a few weeks. 



Feeding mangels. 



Mangels are grown for stock-feeding. The valu- 

 able ingredient they contain is dry matter, which 

 is almost entirely digestible and is comparatively 

 easy to digest. The method of feeding them has 

 been to use them as roughage, but owing to their 



Fig. 782. Beet seeder. 



watery nature and the ease with which silage can 

 be produced in many parts of this country, the 

 general opinion is that the latter roughage is the 

 more economical. Recently, certain Danish experi- 

 ments have shown that mangels can be regarded as 

 concentrated feeds with a large amount of water 

 ^present, and in comprehensive trials it was shown 



that for milk-production one pound of dry matter 

 in the form of mangels (equal to about eight pounds 

 of roots) was as good as one pound of corn meal, 

 and that this was true in both cases when mangels 

 were substituted for three pounds and seven pounds 

 of grain in the ration. 



Fig. 783. Beet digger. 



When fed to cattle, mangels are usually "pulped" 

 or grated to irregular-shaped pieces about three- 

 fourths of an inch in size. British feeders frequently 

 mix the pulped roots with chaffed hay or straw and 

 let them stand twelve hours before feeding. For 

 sheep they are cut into finger pieces, or e]se sliced. 



Enemies. 



Mangels have few troubles, and should any occur 

 which cannot be controlled by good tillage and 

 good rotation, it will be better to abandon the crop. 

 The diseases are the same as those of the sugar- 

 beet [which see]. 



Parsnip. Pastinaea sativa, Linn. Umbelliferm. 



This plant is biennial, and is grown for its thick- 

 ened stem and root, which is used for human food 

 and for stock-feeding. 



The parsnip was doubtless known to the Greeks 

 and Romans, and it has figured in most of the herb- 

 als written since the sixteenth century, showing 

 that it was well knov/n and was used as food. It 

 was disseminated in the West Indies by 1564, was 

 cultivated in Virginia as early as 1609, and was 

 grown in other colonies later in the same century. 

 The Indians of western New York cultivated it in the 

 eighteenth century. Wherever it has grown readily 

 it has tended to escape from cultivation and become 

 wild. Seedlings from wild plants will assume the 

 characteristics of the cultivated forms under favor- 

 able conditions. 



The plant is generally considered to be a native 

 of the Old World, but it has been so widely dissemi- 

 nated that it is found wild in many regions. It is 

 grown to some extent in Europe, but is raised only 

 sparingly in this country. Since the root grows 

 entirely below ground, it is difficult to harvest, and 

 being small in comparison with other roots, both 

 in size and in yield, it is not likely to be grown 

 extensively for stock-feeding. 



The average percentage composition usually 

 given is water, 86.3 ; ash, 0.7 ; protein, 1.6 ; crude 

 fiber, 1.0 ; nitrogen-free extract, 10.2 ; ether 

 extract, 0.2, 



