APRIL S3 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
271 
Defiance —This was saved from seed twice 
sown as Winter wheat. Sept. 17. 
Sonora.— From Prof. Blount, Colorado. One 
drill. 
Golden Globe.— Mediterranean (?). One 
drill each. 
Velvet Chafe, —From Prof. S. M. Tracy, 
Mo. Sown Sept. 18, one and five-elevenths 
bushel per acre. 
China Tea, Sherman, White Fife, Minn. 
Hard Fife, Oregon Club, Hard Australia, Lost 
Nation, Touzelle, Soft Australian, Chiii, White 
Russia, Odessa. Eldorado, Canada Club, Jud- 
kin, Brooks. White Mexican, Improved Fife, 
Russian, Pringle's Hybrid No. 6, Calna Spring, 
Egyptian. 8.sou Fife, Dominion, Pruesian 
White, Pringle’s Hybrid No. 4, Australian 
Club, all from Prof. Blount. Small plots of 
each sown S' pt. 18, 19 and 20. 
Nursery. Polish, White Rogers, Russian No. 
8. Dott, Russian Nos. 10, 13, 2, 8, also from 
Prof. Tracy. 
La Dow. Wyor's Hybrid, large heads, square 
at top, E'dorudo(apparently different from the 
other), Black-bearded Centennial, Blount’s 
Hybrid No. 10, between Diehl and Golden 
Straw. 
Rural Winter Defiance. —A portrait of 
this was presented in our Fair Number. Itorig- 
inated from shriveled seed four years ago of 
Spring D.. fiance. The seed sown as above was 
saved only from heads measuring nearly seven 
Inches in length. 
Rural Winter Lost Nation —Saved from 
selected beads of Winter crop of last year. 
Originally from Spring Lost Nation seeds re¬ 
ceived from Dr. T. H. Hoskins, of Newport, 
Vt. Two kernels were planted by band Oct. 5, 
one foot apart each way on a plot of about 
one-fortieth of an acre, so as to admit of culti¬ 
vation. 
Rural Winter Champlain.— Fli6toiy the 
same as that of Winter Dfifiance. 
MANGEL?, WHAT THEY ARE-HOW 
RAISED AND STORED. 
[In answer to question, pagre 277] 
COL. F. D. CURTIS. 
Mangel, or maugel-wurzel is a German 
name and means mangel (want), and wurzel 
(root). [It is also supposed to be a corruption 
from “ mangold" beet, and wurzel, root. Eds. | 
It is the best root for field culture, not hecause 
of its special sweetness—saccharine matter—but 
because the largest crops can be grown with 
the least labor. It is not a turnip, although 
some varieties are turnip-shaped, as the Yel¬ 
low Globe Mangel. The word turnip is of 
Saxon origin and means a round root. Some 
of them are flat-round, and others spherical or 
globe-shaped, as the Ruta-baga (Brussica eaiu- 
pestrie) or the Swedish turnip a variely 
finei-grained, sweeter and smoother. There 
are two sorts of the latter, white and yellow, 
the latter, larger and more valuable. Globe 
Mangels, as the name implies, are round, 
while the other mangels are long or beet¬ 
shaped. They grow out of the ground as the 
season advances and are easily palled on this 
account and come up with very little earth 
attached to them, while it is necessaiy to plow 
out the sugar beets and other small varieties. 
The Yell'iw Globe Mangels grow with a slen¬ 
der tap-root and with a slight push are apt to 
become detached from the ground, when they 
will wither and die. This ia an objection to 
them and necessitates considerable care In 
their culture, after they have attained some 
size, as even the pressure of the foot will looseu 
their hold on the soil. The long mangel has a 
much stronger tap-root and takes a firm hold 
in the ground. This root is also fed by u 
number of small rootlets starting out of the 
sides, which are lifted out of the ground and 
dry up as the root Increases in size, other root¬ 
lets growing beneath them and keeping up 
the means ot growth. The tap-root will 
penetrate down several feet if the soil is mellow, 
and on this account these roots are not so 
much ulfeeted by drought. A rich surface in¬ 
creases the number of lateral rootlets, and 
thereby adds to the growth. Mangels, there¬ 
fore, waut a deep soil and a rich surface. A 
rich surface gives the young plants a vigorous 
start and, through these rootlets, also helps to 
make a largo growth. Thirty and forty tons 
are not au excessive yield, uud there is no sin¬ 
gle crop where, a greater burden can be taken 
from the land than of mangels, With proper 
machinery to sow the seeds aud to cultivate 
the young plants, the hand labor can be re¬ 
duced to a small percentage. The need of hand 
labor is the main reason why this crop is not 
more generally cultivated. 
The seed should be so put In that there are 
no “ skips” or vacant places as It does not 
pay to transplant to fill these out. Trans¬ 
planting is a tedious aud unsatiefactory pro¬ 
cess, as the plants will not generally amount 
to much, especially if the ground is diy and 
the weather hot. Whenever it Is done the 
large leaves should be twisted off, or the evap¬ 
oration from them will kill the root before it 
takes hold In the ground. It is better to fill 
ia “skips” with the seed of Swedish turnips, 
which may be sowed a month later than man¬ 
gels and then mature. If mangel seeds are 
sown with a common seed sower, they should 
be first 14 sized,” that is, run through a sieve 
so as to make the seeds at least of three sizjs, 
and the machine should be set accordingly, 
otherwise they will be more apt to clog in the 
hopper. Three pounds of seeds are ample for 
an acre if all are covered and evenly distribu¬ 
ted ; but, to make sure, it will be better to sow 
thicker, using five or six pounds. The Ger¬ 
mans allow 14 pounds of sugar beets per acre, 
but the rows are closer together than mangels 
are grown, and the plants are left thicker in 
the rows. 
Mangel rows should be at least two feet 
apart and the plants be thinned out to one 
foot or lfi inches. Oue beet seed will send up 
several plants, as the Beed is really a burr and 
contains a number of germs or seeds, accord¬ 
ing to its size. The seeds ought to be put 
in from a half inch to au inch deep, according 
to the dryness cf ihe land at the time of sow¬ 
ing. The best cultivator wc know of to work 
among the young plants has the hind teeth so 
shaped that they clean away all of the weeds 
and stir the ground close up to the plants 
without covering them up. This leaves a 
Bpace about an inch wide, to be thinned out 
by hand. A stroke with a hoe across the row 
cuts out everything except a bunch of plants 
and weeds where a plant is to be left, and this 
bunch must be weeded by hand. When once 
thoroughly done no more hand labor is required 
except to pull, now and then, in after cultiva¬ 
tion, any stray weeds. Cleanness and frequent 
cultivating are important and will well repay 
the care. 
Mangels should be planted as soon as the 
ground is in good order in the Spring. In the 
latitude of Tennessee they may be planted as 
late as May or the first of June, as ihe Autumn 
is later there than in New York. They require 
a period of abont five months to get a fall 
growth and mature. They should be gathered 
before hard frosts, as freezing makes the 
crowns soft and Injures them, causing rot. 
As soon as the plants can be scon above 
ground the cultivator should be run betweeu 
the rows, and when the beets are two or three 
inches high they Bhonld be thinned out. They 
should be planted in drills, and the ground 
m bj be ridged up or not. When slightly 
ridged the plants are not so apt to be covered 
up in cultivating. If the ground is naturally 
clean—free from weeds—the labor of ridging 
may be dispensed with. In this case, a marker 
may be run across the field to mark the rows 
SPJKELET OF CANARY GRASS —FlG. 215. 
and clear them of lumps, so that the planting 
may be better done. The soli should be in 
good, mellow order. It iB a good plan to roll 
it before marking out and planting. 
1 he roots may be housed in a cellar or kept 
in the field. When cellar room is not availa¬ 
ble, a pit four or six feet wide and one foot 
deep should be prepared in a dry spot bv throw¬ 
ing the ground out on each side and leveling 
the bottom on which the roots may be dumped 
and piled up for any length, the top being 
shaped like Ihe roof of a house. The sides c f 
the heap msy be carried up afoot or two from 
the bottom, and the pit covered with straw 
with a small tile on the top every ten feet to 
let out the moisture and heat. A covering of 
earth from six inches to one foot thick should he 
put on top of the straw and spatted down with 
a shovel. The roots should be takeu out at one 
end when needed. They should be perfectly dry 
when put into the pit and when covered. They 
may be pulled in the fore part of the day and 
the leaves cut c ff, the roots being thrown into 
rows with spaces betweeu them to drive a team. 
They may be picked up by hand and thrown 
in a wagon or cart, and also thrown Into the 
pit without Injury. The slight brufslng does 
not cause them to rot. A wisp of straw should 
AMERICAN CANARY GRASS—PHALARIS INTERMEDIA.—FIG. 314. 
be pushed into the tile to keep the cold out. In 
severe climates a covering of manure should 
be put over the earth to prevent freezing. 
When warm weather comes iu the Spriog the 
roots should be taken from the pic and he 
stored in an outbuilding or they will grow. 
Mangels can be kept in this way in excellent 
condition until Jnly. Mangels are worth much 
more for feeding stock ihan the chemical ta¬ 
bles indicate. They are rated by these tablt s 
as 85 per cent, water, with about seven per 
cent, of sugar. When bogs will fauen on 
them fed raw, and cattle grow into beef, there 
mustbeviitne In water or chemistry fails to 
appreciate fully the value of these roots. 
-» ♦ » 
OATS—CULTURE AND EXPERIMENTS. 
PROFESSOR I P. ROBERTS. 
I am now enabled to give the results of an¬ 
other year’s, or what is far more valuable, the 
average results of five years’ experimenting. 
It has been my uniform custom to avoid rich 
ground when experimenting with oats, so as 
to give the special manures a chance to show 
their value on our land. The land selected 
for 1880 was a warm, gravelly soil producing 
well in a wet season, but Summer crops stiff, r 
on this land in a dry time, The average yield 
of these plots was about one-half as much as 
oar regular field crop. From a measured 
field of 14 acres and 154 rods we thrashed 1 023 
bushels of clean oats weighing 33 pounds to 
the bushel. In addition to this, a quantity was 
fed in the sheaf estimated at 75 bushels. Nine 
pecks of seed of a local variety—Ovid—were 
sown per acre. 
Thick and Thin Heeding. 1880. 
7 pecks of seed per acre... 
13 . 
16 “ “ « 
Average of thick aud 
4 years, 6 pecks per acre_ 
5 “ 7 ’• " . 
6 ** ia •* •• 
6 M 16 “ “ . 
Yield per acre, 
bu. lbs. 
. 24 12 
. . 21 2 
.18 9 
thin seeding 
.39 S9 
. 38 9X 
.38 10 
.c7 33 
1880 . 
Averape of 5 plots treated with commercial 
l'ertiliz-rs. 35 
Average of 6 plots, unfertilized.84 
Gem-ral average tor ibree years 
Treated with commercial fertilizers.35 
Unfertilized. 33 
1880 . 
12K 
3 
1«>4 
2X 
Averasro of broadcast plots, 7 pks. per acre 36 
“ drilled •* 7 •' *• so 
General average for three years 
Broadcast.49 
Drilled.43 
1880. 
18 
13 
4 
7* 
Treated with salt .31 
“ plaster.31 
Adjoining plots unfertilized.27 
General average lor three years 
Salted.40 
Pla».ttred. 37 
Unfertilized. 36 
1880 
13 
28 
13« 
16 
9 
7 
To plot No. 9 were applied 6tu lbs, of equal 
parte of salt aud p ar-b-r.87 i 
Plot No. s on the one erne, unfertilized... 29 17 
lo “ other - •• _2H 19 
Average of the two [No. 8and No. 10 ) .,..-.'9 3 
Tke darker and more moist appearance of 
the soil of No. 9 led to a determination of the 
amount of moisture in the first four inches of 
the soil of this plot and also of that of No. 8. 
Twenty samples of earth of one quart each 
were procured, at uniform distances from 
each other in each plot, by pressing a quart 
tin fruit can with one end out. into the earih, 
a thin slide being used to divide the soil with¬ 
in the can from that without. The samples 
were most thoroughly mixed, each with its 
own kind, and a sample of each mixture was 
placed in a glass jar and taken immediately to 
the laboratory. Two determinations of each 
sample were made with the following results : 
No. 8. U per cent, water. No. 9, It 6-10 i er cent, water. 
Allowing that a cubic yard of earth weighs 
S 000 pounds this would give in the first four 
inches of earth in an acre, as follows: 
No. 8,87 84-tUO tons water. No. 9, 92 63-liW toils water. 
The samples of earth were takeu about two 
weeks after the grain appeared above ground. 
The soil on the surface seemed quite diy al¬ 
though the plants had no appearance of suffer¬ 
ing for want of moisture. It appears from 
the above results that either plaster or salt or 
both have the properly of preventing evapora¬ 
tion or of drawing moisture from the atmos¬ 
phere. They probably perform both 1 fflees. 
I would call attention to the results ot broad¬ 
cast and drill sowing. I was led to these ex¬ 
periments by noticing that on the elay 
knolls, especially where the ground was 
spring-plowed, not more than oue half of 
the seed appeared to germiuate. Nota¬ 
bly was this the cuss where the sowing 
was early and heavy rains followed soon 
after. In ihe Spring of 1877 ten acres were 
heavily manured and plowed, near’y all of 
which was heavy clay land, and were planted 
to corn. In the Fall I ran one furrow, as deep¬ 
ly as two large horses could pull the plow, 
under each row of corn-stubble, leaving the 
ground extremely rough and corrugated In 
the Spring the surface was very mellow and 
dried off much earlier than the adjoining 
ground. It was cross-harrowed to level it; re¬ 
plowed and was easily put in very fine condi¬ 
tion. Foa»- bushels of oats per acre were 
drilled In and we congratulated ourselves that 
we had broken the backbone of that clay field 
