On the Cultivation of Mangold and Carrots. 581 



to make each row, as it were, an outer one, by sowing carrots on 

 every alternate ridge. This happy idea of Mr. Thompson's was 

 so successful that he obtained one quarter more mangold from 

 the land so cropped than from other land adjoining it where 

 every row was planted in the usual manner with mangold. Mr. 

 Thompson described his experiment in the following letter : — 



Dear Sir, Badminton, April 5, 1851. 



I have much pleasure in replying to your inquiries regardina^ our 

 system of growing the roots you saw on the Duke of Beaufort's farm at 

 Dunkii k, especially as to the alternate rows of roots. 



From having noticed, that in every case where roots were grown in the 

 usual manner, the outer row was much better than the others, I was induced 

 to try several experiments, which resulted in my adopting that system 

 which you saw last autumn, and I believe the same result would follow if 

 tried with swedes or other roots. 



The land in October was cleaned and ridged up about twenty-four inches 

 wide, a light dressing of yard manure was placed in the ridges, which was 

 afterwards covered in by turning the ridges back upon it — and in this state 

 it lay till seed time. From the 20th to the end of April the seed was 

 drilled in on the stale ridge, with about one hundred and a half of guano 

 and twenty bushels of ashes to the acre. First a row of mangold, then a 

 row of white Belgium carrots ; and so on alternately throughout the piece. 



The crops were deeply horsehoed both before and after thinning, which 

 I consider very essential to both crops, but particularly to the carrots on 

 this brashy land. 



You will observe that the land w^as ridged up only tw^enty-four inches 

 wide, with the intention of putting every alternate row to carrots ; but, on 

 about four acres in the same field (cultivated in exactly the same manner), 

 mangold only was grown where the ridges were thirty inches apart. 



On these four acres the crop was about one-third less in weight than 

 upon an equal quantity oi" land put to mangold with carrots betw-een ; and 

 I should say, that the crop of carrots was the best ever grown here, both 

 as regards quality and weight. 



I might add, that I have tried the autumn cultivation for swedes on a 

 stale ridge with invariable success on this brashy soil. 



Hoping these few remarks may be serviceable to you, 



I remain, dear Sir, yours truly, 

 Mr. Thomas Proctor. John Thompson. 



After seeing this statement I determined to give the experi- 

 ment a fair trial, and here also the mangold gave a greater yield 

 on the alternate than on the continuous rows, while the yield of 

 carrots was nearly 8 tons per acre. Mr. Thompson informs me 

 that his plan has been equally successful this year also on the 

 Duke of Beaufort's farm at Badminton. It is certalnlv a most 

 ingenious contrivance thus to intermix two plants, one with broad 

 leaves that draw, it would seem, much nourishment from the air, 

 the other burrowing deep in the soil for its food. 



It realizes curiously the singular Greek proverb that the half 

 is more than the whole," and may be described shortlv as a method 

 of not only improving the mangold crop, but of getting 8 tons of 

 carrots for nothing. 



Pusey, November 30, 1851. 



