186 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
February  28,  1901. 
cultivation,  and  in  fact  they  cannot  be  grown  profitably  without  it. 
At  Quemerford  very  exhaustive  trials  are  carried  out  on  the  continuous 
growth  of  Potatoes  on  the  same  land  with  varied  mixtures  consisting 
of  dung,  nitrate  of  soda,  kainit,  and  superphosphate.  The  results  are 
too  much  to  give  here  in  full,  but  we  will  summarise  one  or  two 
points.  Of  the  artificials,  nitrate  was  the  most  effective,  and  super¬ 
phosphate  the  least.  Eight  tons  of  dung,  aided  by  a  mixture  of 
artificials,  was  much  more  profitable  than  16  tons  of  dung  used  alone. 
Eight  tons  of  dung,  ai’ed  by  kainit  alone,  was  more  profitable 
than  16  of  dung  used  alone  by  £3  16s.  7d.  per  acre.  The  most 
profitable  mixture  was  8  tons  of  dung,  2£  cwt.  nitrate  of  soda,  and 
cwt.  of  kaiuit;  profit  £8  10s.  lOd.  over  the  unmanured.  Sixteen 
tons  of  dung  was  more  remunerative  than  8  tons  by  £1  3s.  10d.,  after 
charging  for  cost  of  manure. 
The  above  results  strongly  corroborate  the  teaching  of  previous 
trials,  and  show  how  desirable  is  the  enlightened  use  of  manures.  We 
should,  however,  have  prelerred  to  see  sulphate  of  ammonia  used 
instead  of  Ditrate,  as  we  believe  it  to  be  a  better  form  of  nitrogen  for 
Potatoes.  Mixtures  such  as  the  above  would  suit  any  land,  but  for 
sand  we  should  increase  the  nitrogen,  and  for  warp  substitute  sulphate 
of  iron  for  1  cwt.  of  kainit. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Since  writing  last  week  we  have  had  quite  a  cold  snap,  14°  of  frost 
having  been  registered.  We  had  2  or  3  inches  of  snow,  which  are  now 
almost  gone,  but  there  is  still  a  touch  of  frost  in  the  air,  and  we  fear 
the  cold  weather  is  not  going  yet.  We  have  again  to  chronicle  no 
advance  in  farm  work.  Here  and  there  farmers  are  trying  to  plough 
where  the  land  is  light  enough  to  allow  of  decent  work  being  done,  but 
generally  speaking  work  is  still  waiting  for  the  weather.  Advantage 
has  been  taken  of  enforced  stoppage  on  the  land  to  let  the  steam 
thresher  have  a  good  turn.  Threshing  has  been  very  general  lately,  and 
laden  waggons  are  numerous  on  the  roads. 
Markets  are  still  very  uninspiring,  and  it  will  not  be  easy  to 
persuade  farmers  to  give  high  prices  for  fancy  seed  grain  for  spring 
sowing.  Success  of  new  kinds  is  quite  as  often  owing  to  the  value  of 
a  change  of  soil  and  climate  as  to  the  superior  qualities  of  the  variety. 
A  shilling  or  two  per  acre  is  often  quite  sufficient  to  pay  for  a  suitable 
change  of  seed,  and  it  is  laziness  on  the  farmer’s  part  if  he  does  not 
get  one. 
Notwithstanding  bad  lair  sheep  are  doing  well,  and  Turnips — i.e., 
Swedes,  are  no  worse  for  the  frost,  but  really  better,  for  it  has  checked 
them  from  running,  which  they  were  inclined  to  do.  Mutton  is  now 
worth  9d.  per  lb.  in  the  wool,  which,  with  wool  at  7|d.  per  lb.,  is  a 
tempting  price.  We  know  one  farmer  who  is  selling  half  his  fat 
hoggetts,  and  says  be  will  roll  his  roots  down  if  he  cannot  eat  them. 
What  a  change  since  last  February  ! 
We  have  noticed  a  discussion  in  a  contemporary  on  the  weight  of  a 
heavy  crop  of  Swedes,  and  as  to  40  tons  being  a  very  abnormal  weight 
per  acre.  Many  farmer  correspondents  are  hard  of  belief  in  such 
weights,  and  we  confess  to  sharing  their  want  of  faith.  We  have  just 
weighed  1  ton  from  240  square  yards,  which  comes  to  20  tons  per  acre, 
and  we  have  not  seen  many  crops  as  good. 
Wheat  has  been  at  a  standstill  for  some  time,  but  looks  fairly  well 
for  the  time  of  year;  if  there  is  to  be  any  wireworm  trouble  the  pest 
will  soon  be  showing  itself,  and  we  must  be  on  the  look  out  to  take 
palliative  measures  without  unnecessary  delay.  Wheat  at  present  rates 
will  hardly  pay  for  rape  dust,  so  we  must  trust  to  free  rolling  of  ground 
when  it  is  dry  enough.  There  seems  little  likelihood  of  that  as  we  write, 
but  with  March  so  near  at  hand  conditions  might  very  rapidly  change. 
Potatoes  still  pass  off  slowly,  despite  the  oold  weather,  and  prices  are 
firm  and  no  more. 
Sugar  Beet  and  I|angold  Wurtzel. 
The  experiments  by  the  Earl  of  Denbigh  in  the  growth  of  Sugar 
Beet  on  the  home  farm  at  Newnham  Paddox,  Warwickshire,  were 
on  a  larger  scale  in  1900  than  in  the  previous  year,  and  five  different 
sorts  were  tried,  and  to  show  more  distinctly  the  benefit,  if  any,  to  be 
derived  from  the  cultivation  of  this  root,  his  lordship  decided  that  it 
should  be  grown  under  exactly  the  same  conditions  and  cultivation  as 
a  crop  of  Mangold  Wurtzel.  The  field  on  which  the  roots  were  grown 
contains  51  acres,  and  acre  in  the  centre  of  the  field  was  sown  with 
Sugar  Beet  and  the  2  acres  on  either  side  with  Mangolds.  The  Sugar 
Beets  selected  for  trial  were  the  Aderstedt,  Breustedt,  Mette  Yilmorin, 
Vilmorio  Elite,  and  Klein  Waozleben,  and  for  the  Mangolds,  Sutton’s 
Prizewinner  Yellow  Globe  and  Sutton’s  Gulden  Tankard. 
The  land  is  a  fairly  strong  loam  on  a  clay  subsoil,  and  for  some 
years  has  been  cultivated  to  a  depth  of  from  8  to  10  inches,  but  at 
no  time  heavily  manured,  and  may  be  fairly  considered  in  an  average 
state  of  fertility,  neither  rich  nor  poor,  and  the  rental  value  of  the 
land  may  be  put  at  25s.  an  acre.  The  crop  of  Wheat  in  1899,  after  a 
Clover  ley,  was  only  a  moderate  one.  As  soon  as  the  Wheat  was 
harvested,  the  land  was  ploughed  about  8  inches  deep,  and  later  on 
in  the  autumn  was  ridged,  and  left  in  this  state  for  the  winter.  Early 
in  the  spring  about  ten  loads  of  farmyard  manure  to  the  acre  were 
spread  on  the  ridges,  and  these  were  then  split  back,  but  the  land  was 
so  rough  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  again  break  up  the  ridges  and 
work  the  land,  and  just  before  again  ridging  for  the  roots  5  cwt.  of 
dissolved  bones  to  the  acre  were  spread  over  the  land. 
The  ridges  for  the  Mangolds  were  27  inches  apart,  and  those  for 
the  Sugar  Beet  15  inches,  and  all  the  seeds  were  sown  in  the  first 
week  of  May,  the  Sugar  Beet  at  the  rate  of  20  lbs.  and  the  Mangolds 
at  6  lbs.  to  the  acre,  and  all  the  seeds  proved  to  be  of  very  high 
germinating  qualities,  and  there  was  not  the  least  sign  of  any  blank. 
As  soon  as  the  drills  could  be  fairly  seen  the  land  was  hand-hoed  on 
each  side  of  the  drills,  and  this  was  almost  immediately  followed  by 
bunching  out  the  plants,  the  Sugar  Beet  to  4  inches  and  the  Mangolds 
to  10  inches  ;  the  hand  hoe  was  again  used  to  hoe  round  the  bunches, 
but  previous  to  this  1  cwt.  of  nitrate  of  soda  was  spread  along  the 
drills,  and  the  land  was  also  well  horse-hoed.  The  plants  were  then 
carefully  thinned  by  hand,  and  the  Sugar  Beet  left  at  6  inches  and 
the  Mangolds  at  12  inches  apart  in  the  drills.  The  crops  were 
subsequently  hand  and  horse-hoed  several  times,  and  the  ground  was 
at  all  times  kept  in  a  loose  and  open  state,  and  about  the  middle  of 
June  a  second  dressing  of  1  cwt.  of  nitrate  of  soda  was  spread  along 
the  drills. 
The  roots  were  taken  up  early  in  November,  and  for  each  sort  of 
root  grown  three  plots  11  yards  square  were  cleaned  and  weighed,  and 
great  care  was  taken  that  these  plots  should  be  a  fair  average  of  the 
different  crops,  and  the  result  for  each  lot  of  roots  was  a9  follows : — 
Sugar  Beet. 
Aderstedt  . 
25  tons 
7  cwt.  86  lbs.  to 
the  acre. 
Breustedt  . 
24  „ 
1 
99 
13 
99 
99 
Mette  Yilmorin  . 
28  „ 
5 
9? 
43 
99 
99 
Vilmorin  Elite  . 
25  „ 
0 
99 
63 
99 
99 
Klein  Wanzleben  ...  . 
25  „ 
2 
99 
81 
99 
99 
The  average  of  . 
25  „ 
11 
99 
61 
99 
99 
Mangold  Wurtzel. 
Sutton’s  Prizewinner  Yellow  Globe 
41  „ 
7 
99 
42 
99 
99 
Sutton’s  Golden  Tankard . 
34  „ 
16 
99 
21 
99 
99 
The  average  weight  of  each  root  of  the  Sugar  Beet  was  as 
follows: — Aderstedt,  1336  ;  Breustedt,  1  '249 ;  Mette  Yilmorin,  1*096; 
Yilmorin  Elite,  1*225;  Klein  Waiazleben,  1385  lbs.  The  average 
weight  ot  each  root  of  the  Mangold  Wurtzel  was  as  follows: — 
Sutton’s  Prizewinner  Yellow  Globe,  4*987 ;  Sutton’s  Golden  Tankard, 
4*293  lbs. 
The  estimated  cost  of  ploughings,  cultivations,  farmyard  manure 
(hauling  onlv),  dissolved  bones,  nitrate  of  soda,  hoeing,  lifting,  and 
seed  for  the  Sugar  Beet  is  £9  2s.  6d.,  and  for  the  Mangolds  £8  2s.  6d. 
an  acre.  The  extra  cost  for  the  Sugar  Beet  is  lor  the  most  part,  on 
account  of  the  roots  being  so  much  thicker  on  the  ground,  and  the 
greater  difficulty  in  lifting  and  cleaning  them. 
To  test  the  value  ot  Sugar  Beet  as  food  for  feeding  cattle  and  for 
dairy  cows,  experiments  are  being  carried  out,  and  the  results  will  be 
given  at  some  future  time. 
The  experiments  at  Newnham  in  1900  compare  favourably  with 
those  of  1899.  The  weight  of  roots  per  acre  in  1899,  when  only  one 
sort  was  tried,  was  25  tons  12  cwt.  3  qrs.  12  lb ■>.,  as  compared  with 
the  average  weight  of  the  roots  grown  in  1900  of  25  tons  11  cwt. 
61  lbs.  ;  but  the  quantity  of  sugar,  15*90  in  100  parts  of  the  juice  in 
1899,  has  been  increased  to  an  average  of  18  08  in  1900,  and  the 
quotient  of  purity  from  85  48  to  88*13.  It  must  also  be  noted  that 
whereas  in  1899  the  roots  were  grown  on  specially  prepared  ground, 
with  heavy  dressings  of  manure,  the  roots  of  1900  have  only  had  the 
ordinary  cultivation  and  manuring  for  the  usual  root  crops.  It  was 
expressly  desired  by  Lord  Denbigh  to  show  this  year  whether  Sugar 
Beet  could  be  grown  with  advantage  under  the  same  management  as 
should  be  given  to  Mangolds  or  any  other  root  crop. 
There  were  other  experiments  made  at  Newnham  in  the  growth  of 
Sugar  Beet  in  1900,  but  as  these  were  carried  out  under  somewhat 
exceptional  circumstances  the  results  are  not  given,  but  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  in  one  case  the  roots  grown  exceeded  33  tons  to  the 
acre,  with  an  average  weight  of  2  016  for  each  cleaned  root,  and  that 
the  average  from  eight  different  plots  was  nearly  27  tons  to  the  acre. 
In  the  heavy  crop  of  over  33  tons  to  the  acre  the  analysis  showed  the 
quantity  of  sugar  in  100  parts  of  the  juice  to  be  17*20,  and  the 
quotient  of  purity  87*30,  so  that  it  is  clear  that  the  quantity  of  Sugar 
Beet  can  be  much  increased  with  ut  lowering  the  value  of  the  roots 
for  the  manufacture  of  sugar. — Henry  II.  Cave,  Estate  Office,  Rugby . 
