On the Fai-ming of Essex. 
23 
keep them clear of annual and other weeds ; and as soon as they 
have reached from 2 to 3 inches in height, they should be singled 
out, leaving the largest plants at each place at distances of at least 
1 foot apart. The ridges should then be well hoed, and the fur- 
rows horse-hoed, and at each repeated hoeing the earth should be 
drawn by the hoe from the roots, until, by the end of the summer, 
the ridges will have become level. Early in November the roots 
should be pulled and the leaves twisted off, care being taken not 
to leave them exposed to frost after pulling, as the portion ex- 
tracted from the ground would, in the event of a single night's frost 
occurring, be so much injured as to rot after being collected. 
The roots are either stored in outhouses or in buildings having 
thick external clay or brick walls, and thatched, or put into a row 
or clump about 8 feet in width, and brought up to a point, placing 
the crowns outwards (when finished similar to the roof of a house), 
about 5 feet high, and then covered with straw and earth, leaving 
the top open for some time to allow the heat arising from fer- 
mentation to escape. 
I have been the more particular in describing the culture of 
this root as practised, from its importance as an article of food for 
cattle and sheep in the later spring months ; for, unlike every 
other vegetable at that period, it continues to improve in quality 
during the whole time it is kept, and is most in perfection in the 
months of April and May; nor should it, if possible, be used 
before February, after vegetation has commenced, as, from that 
period, the root has a more beneficial effect upon the animals to 
whose use it is applied. The quantity grown is from 20 to 30 
tons per acre ; the cost of cultivation may be estimated as fol- 
lows : — 
Labour, 8fc. 
£. 
s. 
d. 
3 deep Ploughings, 
1 
7 
0 
3 Harrowings, 
Making ridges, 
0 
3 
0 
0 
6 
0 
Carting and labour to manure, 
1 
0 
0 
Manure, 
2 
14 
0 
Ploughing ridges, 
0 
6 
0 
Rolling, .... 
0 
1 
0 
Drilling, . . . .' 
0 
3 
0 
Seed, .... 
0 
4 
0 
Singling, 2s. 6d. and 4 hoeings, 15?., 
0 
17 
6 
Pulling, carting, and stacking, 
0 
15 
0 
£1 
16 
6 
The rent and other charges bringing it very little under 10/. per 
acre. 
The process pursued to obtain this root upon the heavy clay 
lands of best quality is not nearly so expensive. Upon a clean 
