THE CULTIVATOR. 
35 
harrow should therefore be efficiently used before 
the seed is deposited in the soil. 
The manner of planting the beet, of whatever kind, 
is in drills, which may be done either by the drill-bar¬ 
row, or from the hand. Mangold wurzel should be 
in rows twenty-seven to thirty inches apart, and the 
plants, when out of the reach of insects, thinned to 
twelve or fifteen inches in the row, as the object is 
to obtain large size. The table and sugar beet may 
be grown in rows from twelve to twenty-four inches 
apart, and may be left to grow at six to ten inches in 
the rows—the object being not great size, but good 
quality—and it being found that the quality of medi¬ 
um or small sized roots, is better both in regaid to 
flavor and saccharine matter, than that of very large 
roots. Some prefer soaking the seed, and some even 
sproutino- it, before it is sown ; as it is husky, and in 
case of (Try weather, frequently does not germinate. 
But if the seed is put into fresh ploughed ground, 
planted early in the season, ana a roller passed over 
the surface after it is covered, or the ground pressed 
with the hoe or foot, the seed seldom fails to grow. 
The seed should be covered three-fourths to an inch 
deep; and as the young plants are liable to be de¬ 
stroyed by the grub, and even turnip fly, it is advisa¬ 
ble to sow thick, say from three to four pounds of 
seed to the acre. 
In the after culture the objects are to keep the 
crop clean, and the soil mellow. The first dressing 
may be light, with a cultivator, where the breadth be¬ 
tween the rows will admit; but when the plants are 
well established, the cultivator, or small plough, should 
be run deeper, and this operation may afterwards be 
repeated to advantage. The crop should be harvest¬ 
ed as soon as it has ceased growing, which is known 
by the under leaves turning yellow ; as if left in the 
ground longer, the roots deteriorate in value. 
Mangold wurzel is the German name; mangold a 
beet;— wurzel, a root. Their culture was introduc¬ 
ed into England, from Germany, about 1820, and 
more recently they have attracted considerable atten¬ 
tion in this country. In 1830, the Doncaster Agri¬ 
cultural Association, an institution which has ren¬ 
dered vast service to the farming interest, sent abroad 
a circular, among the best English farmers, with a 
view of collecting all the information upon the cul¬ 
ture and use of this vegetable, which was likely to be 
useful. Nineteen answers were received, from large 
growers of the root, and the society published, in a 
condensed form, their purport. The report states, 
that 
“ The answers are from every description of soil, the 
greatest number (nine) from sand, not, it appears be¬ 
cause that kind of soil is most favorable to it, but be¬ 
cause on sands, fallow crops, of all sorts, are more ge¬ 
nerally grown than any other: six are from peat, four 
from clay, four from chalk or lime-stone. 
“The method of sowing appears to be drilling or dib¬ 
bling on ridges, from twenty-seven to thirty inches 
apart, and afterwards singling out the plants in the 
rows,’ at about sixteen or eighteen inches from each 
other : the period of sowing, anytime between the mid¬ 
dle of April and end of May; on cold soils earlier than 
on warm. 
“The tops and leaves should be ploughed into the 
land immediately.* In comparing the quantity of ma¬ 
nure used for Swedish turnips and mangold wurzel, it 
appears from the answers of those farmers who have 
tried mangold wurzel longest, that both require nearly 
an equal quantity, ten or twelve two horse cart loads 
per acre. With respect to the comparative product of 
the two crops, it appears to be in favor of mangold wur¬ 
zel in the proportion of about one-fifth. The greatest 
■weight obtained is by Mr. Simpson, of Babworth,—54 
tons. Of our correspondents, ten decidedly prefer man¬ 
gold wurzel, two give a partial preference to Swedes, 
and the rest have not expressed an opinion. 
“The feeding properties of mangold wurzel and 
Swedes are an important part of our investigation. 
Lord Althorp alone has tried their comparative me¬ 
rits ; and he gives them a decided preference over the 
Swede. In this opinion his lordship is supported by Mr. 
Kelk; but seven of our correspondents are of the opi¬ 
nion that the Swedish turnips will feed quicker. Five 
of our correspondents say it is beneficial to milch cows, 
and two of the Norfolk farmers say it is apt to injure 
the butter. 
“To sum up—the advantages of mangold wurzel are 
these— 
It is more sure to plant, being very little liable to 
the fly or grub. 
It will pioduce more weight. 
It is off the land earlier. 
It is useful as a change of fallow crop when the 
land is tired ol turnips. 
It will grow on land where turnips cannot be rais¬ 
ed. 
It is better spring food. 
“ On the other hand, in favor of the Swedish turnips 
it may be said— 
That the weeding and singling out are less expen¬ 
sive. 
There is more time for fallowing in the spring. 
* After the roots are harvested. 
The succeeding crop is better than after mangold 
wurzel. 
Perhaps cattle feed best on Swedish turnips when 
they are fed alone.” 
Mangold wurzel is relished by every description of 
stock ; though in feeding it to neat cattle, it is re¬ 
commended to commence with small feeds, and when 
it produces bad effects, to change the animal’s food 
for a few days. Charles Poppy, an enthusiast in this 
culture, and whose pamphlet is before us, particulari¬ 
zes twenty-six uses to which this root may be profita¬ 
bly applied. 
The British farmers speak highly of this root as a 
food for young calves. It is cut small, and fed to 
them after they are a fortnight old, with wonderful 
benefit. 
The value of this crop is certainly great in the 
economy of the farm. Estimating the product at 
twenty tons an acre, it will give 746 bushels of sixty 
pounds each ; which, at the rate of two bushels a day, 
would keep a cow, with the addition of a little straw 
or chaff, 373 days, or somewhat more than a year. 
Two tons of hay, the average product of an acre, 
would keep the same animal, allowing a quarter of a 
hundred per diem, but 160 days, or about one-third of 
the time that the wurzel from an acre would keep her 
—and the animal would be better, in flesh and milk, 
on the roots than she would be kept on the hay. 
In storing and keeping the mangold wurzel in win¬ 
ter, the same precautions must be taken, and the same 
means must be adopted, as are required for securing 
potatoes and ruta baga. If deposited in pits, these 
should be narrow, and ventilating holes made in the 
crown of the pits. They are more liable to be injur¬ 
ed by frosts than the ruta baga. 
Ill—THE CARROT. 
Col. Meacham has anticipated us in giving the cul¬ 
ture and profits of this root, in his communication 
published in our last. Nevertheless we will throw all 
the new light upon the subject which our experi¬ 
ence and our reading afford. 
The soil best adapted to the growth of the carrot is 
a deep sand loam. The preparation ofthe ground con¬ 
sists in ploughing to the depth of a foot, the applica¬ 
tion of rotten manure, to be well incorporated with 
the soil—except long manure has been applied to the 
previous crop—and complete pulverization. Plough¬ 
ing the fall previous for the crop is recommended. 
The kind of carrot best adapted to field culture is 
the long red. The seed should be of the preceding 
year’s growth. The mode of culture is best in drills, 
though in Suffolk, England, sowing broadcast is pre¬ 
ferred. We have modern drill-barrows adapted to 
the sowing of this seed, though the sowing it by hand 
is not a tedious process—as a man may go ahead in 
sowing in this way as fast as another drives a barrow. 
The difference consists in making the drill with the 
hoe and covering the seed. As the seed is of peculi¬ 
ar lightness, it is apt not to vegetate well if the sur¬ 
face is light; and the practice has obtained, with large 
growers, of preparing it before hand, by mixing five 
pounds of seed with a bushel of sand or fine mould, a 
week or two before hand, and of moistening and turn¬ 
ing the mass frequently; by this means not only do 
all the seeds grow, but the plants come up quickly, 
and get the start of weeds. Two pounds of seed is 
enough for an acre when sown in drills, though five 
pounds are often sown on an acre broadcast. Von 
Thaer uses poudrette, instead of mould, in the prepa¬ 
ration of his seed. The drills should be eighteen 
inches apart, and the plants thinned to six or eight 
inches. The seed should be sown early in or by the 
middle of May. 
The after culture of carrots consists in keeping 
them free from weeds, and the surface of the soil 
open ; and as the rows are too near to admit of the 
plough or cultivator, the hand hoe must be depended 
on. 
The best mode of harvesting the crop is that adopt¬ 
ed by Col. Meacham—turning the earth from the row 
with the plough, and then drawing them with the 
hand. 
The ordinary yield of the carrots is less than that 
of ruta baga or mangold wurzel—the average may 
be stated at 400 to 500 bushels the acre, though the 
product has exceeded 1000. They are so hardy, 
that in the south of England they are permitted to 
stand out in the winter ; but with us they should be 
gathered and secured like other roots, in October. 
The carrot is eaten by all sorts of farm stock, but 
is particularly useful for horses and milch cows, serv¬ 
ing as a substitute for grain with the former, and in¬ 
creasing and improving milk when fed to the latter: 
Mr. Burrows, one of the greatest growers of this root, 
has fed ten cart horses with them, during the winter 
months, and up to June, with hay, and without the 
addition of grain. Such does he consider their eco¬ 
nomy in horse feeding, that he states, as demon¬ 
strated by his experience, that with the assistance of 
lucerne for soiling in summer, a workhorse may be kept 
the entire year round upon the produce of only one acre 
of land. Mr. Burrows feeds seventy pounds a day to a 
horse, cut or whole, and mixed with chopped hay— 
reducing the quantity somewhat in the short days of 
winter, and increasing it a little in the spring months. 
Other growers feed only forty or fifty pounds a day. 
An acre of carrots, yielding 600 bushels, fed fifty-six 
pounds a day, would therefore be equivalent to 300 
bushels of oats, fed half a bushela day, to a working 
horse. 
To save seed, save select roots, and keep them in 
sand in the cellar till spring, plant them out early, and 
the seed will be ripe in August. Preserve it on the 
seed stalks till wanted. 
IV.—THE PARSNIP, 
Is generally believed to be more nutritive than any 
of the roots we have treated of; the product to be 
greater than that of the carrot or potato, with the ad¬ 
vantage over them both, that the parsnip is not injur¬ 
ed by frosts. Yet its culture as a field crop has hi¬ 
therto been very limited. 
The parsnip may be grown on stifferland than the 
other roots we have named, provided it has a rich 
deep tilth. It requires the same treatment as the 
carrot, though we would prefer intervals of eighteen 
inches between the rows, as in good soil the tops 
grow large. The Jersey variety is preferred, on ac¬ 
count of small growth of top. Sow early, at the rate 
of four or five pounds of seed to the acre, and keep 
the crop free from weeds. 
The Silk Business, 
Notwithstanding all the reaction it is likely to en¬ 
counter from the extravagance of the Morus Multi- 
caulis speculation, will, nevertheless, yet become a 
great business in our country, and one of certain pro¬ 
fit to the farmer who embarks in it—not as a depend¬ 
ence, or a speculation, but as a collateral branch of 
his farming operations. Let no one give up for the 
mulberry, the culture of grain, grass, or roots—or 
omit the rearing of cattle, or the ordinary means of 
increasing the fertility and profits of his farm. Let 
the course of general improvement of the farm go on. 
But at the same time, with a small outlay, he may be¬ 
gin to plant the mulberry—not upon his best fields— 
but upon his waste grounds—upon such as are dry 
and stony—along his division fences, and about his 
buildings, where they will least interfere with his or¬ 
dinary farm products. He may plant them in hedges. 
A few thousand eggs, will cost but a trifle, when his 
trees are sufficiently advanced to yield foliage to feed 
his worms. The business of gathering the leaves, 
and taking care of the worms, is but one of 30 or 40 
days. It can be done altogether by the inmates of 
the family, without taking any thing from the ordina¬ 
ry labors of the farm. It can be done, and should be 
done, by the women and children. No expensive co¬ 
coonery is necessary for farm purposes. A room in 
the dwelling, or a shed, to protect the worms from the 
weather, may be spared on almost any farm, for the 
small time it is wanted for this purpose. The silk 
which is produced in this way, may be considered a 
clear gain to the family which produces it, be it fifty 
dollars, or be it five hundred dollars. 
\ In regard to the kind of mulberry to be cultivated, 
we really feel incompetent to advise. We do not be¬ 
lieve there is any great difference in the value of the 
silk which is made from the different varieties of the 
mulberry. One may be of finer or softer appearance, 
another of more substantial fabric, but all of intrinsic 
value, and adapted to particular purposes,. The pre¬ 
ference given to large leaves, we think less of, than 
most others do : for we are induced to believe, that 
the Asiatic mode of taking the young twigs, instead 
of the leaves only, for the worms, is preferable, as the 
first will remain succulent and fresh the longest. And 
if planted in hedge, a dozen bushels may be taken in 
so many minutes, with a bill-hook, and without pre¬ 
judice to the hedge. So that in our opinion, the prin¬ 
cipal question to be decided by those who intend to 
grow them for their own use, is, what kind is best 
adapted to one’s soil and climate. 
Those who will submit to the trouble of taking up 
the multicaulis in the fall, and re-planting it in the 
spring—or of cutting it to the ground, and covering 
the stump during winter, will perhaps best subserve 
their interest by selecting this variety ; though if they 
expect to have it withstand our severe winters, un¬ 
scathed, in the open ground, except in solitary instan¬ 
ces, and in peculiar dry and poor soils, they will cer¬ 
tainly be disappointed. The same remarks, will in 
some measure apply to the white mulberry, in the 
country north of Albany. We have tried both the 
multicaulis and the white mulberry for years; the first 
has died wholly, and the last partially. 
We last spring planted out some trees of the Brus- 
sa and Canton, and sowed seeds of the former, and 
left the trees, and a part of the seedlings, to the open 
exposure of the weather. The trees threw out many 
branches, which grew from three to four feet—the 
seedlings, growing very thick in garden soil, reached 
15 inches. On examining them to-day, we find two 
