22 
On the Culture of Mangold- Wurzel. 
nearly meeting : the subsolling; in the intervenin<j furrow then 
heaves up the ridges on which they <are growing, and they seem to 
float upon tlie soil ; directly afterwards, I suppose, they dive down 
in quest of further nourishment. The plants grow so rapidly as 
to take entire possession of the soil, and the shade of the leaves 
prevents the growth of weeds ; consequently no hoeing is re- 
quisite after they have been once thinned out to their proper 
distance. They are taken up in November, and have been kept 
till June or even July with care. The leaves are allowed to rot 
and dress the ground as a preparation for the wheat crop which 
follows. In France they are regularly yiulled while the crop is 
growing for cattle ; but probably the bulk of the root is lessened 
by this, as the absorbent surface of the leaf is important in sup- 
plying nourishment to the plant. The rotations are of the follow- 
ing cast : — 
1. Wheat, followed by rye and tares. 
2. Turnips. 
3. Barley. 
4. Clover. 
5. Beans sown in February at 3 feet apart, followed in the same year 
by cabbages planted in the intervals in May or June. 
6. Mangold-wurzel, and wheat again. 
Or this. 
1. Wheat, followed by stubble turnips. 
2. Barley. 
3. Clover. ,3. Mangold wurzel. 
4. Beans and cabbages. 4. Wheat. 
5. Mangold wurzel. 5. Beans and cabbages. 
6. Wheat. 6. Barley. 
7. Peas, followed by stubble turnips. 7. Clover. 
8. Carrots, and wheat again. 8. Rye and tares, after- 
wards turnips. 
9. Carrots, and then wheal . 
It will be observed th,"t the wheat follows the deep-rooted 
plants (wurzel and carrots) for which they are an excellent pre- 
paration ; both the field and the quality of the wheat suggest the 
frequency of its variance in the rotations. Oats are excluded, the 
produce of barley being equal, and commanding a better price. 
Turnips and clover occur more rarely than in most rotations on 
light land, but the ground appears to require a longer interval 
than is admitted in the usual four-course system. Many dislike 
stubble-turnips; their produce is certainly inferior, but for a 
breedmg flock such as is kept here they are eminently useful, and 
better for the ewes and lambs than a greater bulk of swedes- 
Ockham Park, Ajjril 5lh, 1813. 
