26 



Manuring the Mangold Crop. [april, 



MANURING THE MANGOLD CROP. 



In the latter half of April and during the early part of May 

 the attention of farmers in many districts is mainly directed to- 

 wards the cultivation and manuring of the land for the mangold 

 crop. This crop under favourable conditions of soil and climate 

 is one of the most valuable that a farmer can grow, and, per- 

 haps, no crop can be so much influenced in yield by the 

 character of the manuring. 



As in the case of most crops so in this : the manuring may be 

 conducted along three main lines! One may depend on farmyard 

 manure alone, or on artificials alone, or on a combination of these 

 two classes. The selection of the particular system of manuring 

 will depend on the particular circumstances of the farm. If farm- 

 yard manure is abundant and of good quality, it may be most 

 profitable to rely on it alone. On a farm where much straw is 

 sold, or where the dung is chiefly used on the wheat or meadows, 

 the mangold crop must be chiefly treated with artificials. But 

 in the majority of cases the natural fertilizer is not so abun- 

 dant, or of such high quality, as to be alone depended on, nor, 

 on the other hand, is it so scarce as to be altogether ignored, the 

 result being that plant-food is conveyed to the mangold crop by 

 means of dung supplemented by various quantities and kinds of 

 artificials. During the past fifteen years or so a very large 

 number of manurial experiments, or field demonstrations, have 

 been conducted on the manuring of this crop by agricultural 

 colleges and societies, and from the results thus obtained it is 

 possible to draw conclusions that one can apply with confidence 

 to general or average conditions. It is, in fact, in this way that 

 rules are framed for general guidance, and it is on such general 

 rules that the bulk of the manuring is performed. But a study 

 of the figures obtained from experiments and demonstrations 

 shows conclusively that the acceptance of general principles will 

 often lead to most unsatisfactory results, and no farmer can be 

 sure that he is getting the most out of his land who has not 

 determined its manurial requirements by means of some simple 

 and well-conceived field experiments. The Board of Agricul- 

 ture have prepared and issued some simple schemes that can be 

 practised without much trouble and expense, and a copy of the 



