Convention—Boot crops for tue farm. 
235 
seed, and this depression will show a line of moisture when the ad¬ 
joining surface is dry. This facilitates their sprouting and break¬ 
ing up the crust; it also assists in early culture, as it marks very 
plainly the line of the row, obviating the necessity of sowing radish 
seed, as recommended by some. As soon as the plants are fairly 
up, I go into the patch with my one-horse plow. I prepare the 
plow for the business by setting a rolling coulter in such a w^ay as 
to form a perfect shield next to the row. This is to enable me to 
plow close to it, and yet keep the dirt stirred by the plow from cov¬ 
ering the young plants. It is impoitant to work very closely to the 
row, as it greatly reduces the labor of after culture. An implement 
which could be passed rapidly along, and cultivate about four inches 
on each side of the row would be desirable. Such wheel hoes are 
made which will work on level ground, but, in reply to some cor¬ 
respondence, I have been told that they will not work upon my 
ridges. With four inches of latitude for my plow and coulter, I 
could do very perfect work. One object in planting on the ridge 
is, to have the furrow into which all of the lumps and rubbish can 
be moved in the early working. With the row as low as the gen¬ 
eral level, it would be difficult to protect it. 
The greatest item of labor connected with raising a root crop lies 
in getting them properly thinned out. It is absolutely essential to 
a good crop that this should be done in season. 
I made careful observations while harvesting my roots this fall, 
to determine what distance apart it was best to have them in the 
row. I fixed upon from four to five inches for the large varieties 
of carrots, and just twelve inches for the large beets and mangels. 
The richer the ground the farther they should be apart. Some ex¬ 
periments reported by Mr. Lane in the New York Tribune gave 
eighteen inches for the greatest yield of mangels, but I am per¬ 
suaded that this must have been on better ground than mine. 
While the beets are small they will look rather thin at a foot apart, 
but it is an advantage for them to know at once what space they 
are expected to fill, as they will make a greater push for it than 
they will if once choked, and thinned down gradually to the proper 
distance. The rows being so wide apart the plants can spread 
themselves laterally, if they feel a little crowded in the row. This 
labor of thinning must be done primarily with the fingers. A man 
must get right down to the work. There is always a chance for 
