22i 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
March  10,  1004. 
Preparation  for  Mangolds, 
The  comparative  failure  last  season  of  such  a  valuable 
crop  as  the  Mangold  leads  us  to  inquire  the  reasons  of  that 
failure.  The  chief  of  these  we  believe  to  have  been  the 
lack  of  due  preparation  of  the  soil.  A  large  portion  of  last 
.season’s  Mangold  crop  was  sown  in  soil  more  like  broken-up 
bricks  than  a  reasonable  seedbed,  and  where  no  immediate 
rain  was  forthcoming  it  was  unreasonable  to  expect 
germination.  This  did  not  take  place  until  heavy  rain  was 
forthcoming,  and  in  the  meantime  the  pi’oper  season  for 
the  Mangold  crop  was  lost. 
On  heavy  soils,  most  suitable  for  Mangolds,  the  season 
of  sowing  is  mid-April ;  on  peaty  soils,  which  are  equally 
suitable,  the  sowing  period  is  somewhat  later,  because  on 
these  low-lying,  peaty  soils  spring  frosts  are  much  more 
frequent,  and  severe  frost  is  fatal  to  the  young  Mangold 
plant.  Therefore  the  farmer  of  strong  soil  should  endeavour 
to  get  his  Mangold  sown  as  early  in  April  as  possible, 
whereas  the  cultivator  of  peaty  land  may  with  profit  defer 
sowing  until  the  middle  of  May.  As  regards  medium  land, 
we  incline  to  early  sowing  rather  than  late,  making  May  1 
the  date  nearest  to  an  .ideal  one. 
We  have  an  impression  that  some  of  the  benefit  derived 
from  the  early  sowing  of  Mangolds  comes  from  the  greater 
certainty  of  germination.  Farmers,  as  a  rule,  sow  their 
Mangold  seed  in  the  same  condition  in  which  they  receive 
it  from  the  seed  merchant,  viz.,  a  shell  somewhat  like  a 
rough  nut,  with  one,  two.  or  even  three  seeds  within  it,  or, 
in  some  cases,  none  at  all.  And  if  such  a  thing  is  prevalent 
of  course  a  very  poor  plant  will  result.  First-rate  seeds¬ 
men  will  guarantee  that  their  Mangold  seeds,  or  more  cor¬ 
rectly  speaking  husks,  will  produce  a  germination  of  from 
150  to  175  per  cent.,  which,  of  course,  would  be  absurd  if 
no  shell  contained  more  than  one  seed. 
Now,  hundreds  of  farmers  soak  their  Mangold  seed  in 
water  for  a  day  or  two  before  sowing.  This  is  an  excellent 
plan,  for  it  softens  the  shell  and  enables  the  tiny  seed 
enclosed  to  reach  moisture  and  germinate,  but  a  better  way 
still  is  to  grind,  or,  rather,  gently  crush  these  nuts  or  shells, 
leaving  the  real  Mangold  seeds  free  to  come  into  immediate 
contact  with  the  soil  as  soon  as  sown.  These  Mangold 
seeds  are  very  much  like  a  Spanish  Chestnut  on  a  small 
scale,  containing,  as  the  Spanish  Chestnut  does,  one  or 
more  seeds.  Few  people,  we  imagine,  Avishing  to  grow 
Spanish  Chestnuts  would  plant  them  with  their  rough  outer 
casing.  We  are  quite  accustomed  to  seeing  Mangolds  come 
up  in  very  close  companionship,  the  reason  being  that  good 
Mangold  seed  contains  two  or  more  germinating  seeds.  If 
the  husks  or  pods  were  broken  up,  and  the  small  contained 
seeds  released,  this  lumping  together  of  unnecessary  plants 
coidd  hardly  occur. 
This  can  be  done,  and  is  constantly  beine  done  by 
farmers.  A  malt  mill  is  very  suitable  for  the  work,  but  any 
mill  which  does  not  grind  finely,  but  simply  crushes  the 
outer  casing,  will  do  all  that  is  required  wdthout  injuring 
the  real  seeds.  We  have  gone  at  some  length  into  this 
question  of  the  Mangold  seed  because  we  think  it  is  tne 
centre  around  Avhich  successful  Mangold  cultivation 
revolves. 
The  acreage  of  Mangold  would  be  lai’gely  increased  if 
farmers  w'ere  more  certain  than  they  are  of  securing  a  crop 
at  all.  The  first  and  most  important  consideration  is  suc¬ 
cessful  germination,  for  without  a  plant  we  cannot  get  a 
crop,  but  a  jmung  plant,  once  obtained,  it  is  only  a  matter 
of  feeding  to  produce  large  Mangolds. 
You  may  purchase  the  best  of  seed,  and  either  crush  or 
steep  it  in  water,  but  you  must  put  it  into  a  fairly  fine 
seedbed  if  you  wish  it  to  germinate  properly.  Last  season 
we  saw  some  seed  costing  Is.  6d.  per  lb.  put  into  a  dry, 
rough  seedbed  early  in  May,  and  the  plants  did  not  show 
above  ground  until  July,  after  which  they  had  no  time  to 
attain  a  useful  size.  The  great  point  about  the  Mafigold 
seedbed  is  thorough  cleaning  by  cultivation  the  previous 
autumn,  but  cultivation  last  autumn  was  almost  impossible. 
The  preparation,  then,  this  season  is  somewhat  belated, 
and  in  many  cases  consists  up  to  the  present  time  in 
nothing  more  than  a  good  ordinary  ploughing  followed  by 
crossing  quite  recently.  Well,  everything  depends  on  the 
cleanly  state  of  the  land,  for  if  it  is  very  foul  it  is  not  fit  to 
sow  with  Mangold,  there  not  being  sufficient  time  now  to 
thoroughly  clean  foul  land  before  mid-April. 
We  must,  therefore,  choose  land  which  is  fairly  clean, 
and  the  next  point  is  the  production  of  a  fine  mould  for 
the  seedbed.  Whether  the  land  be  sti’ong  or  medium,  we 
do  not  believe  in  undue  cultivation  at  this  time  of  year,  for 
the  weather  in  March  is  apt  to  adopt  suddenly  such  a 
droughty  nature  that  continuous  movement  of  the  soil  may 
soon  result  in  a  loss  of  the  moisture  so  necessary  for  the 
germination  of  seed. 
If,  therefore,  the  land  be  fairly  clean,  has  been  ploughed 
dowm  early,  and  cross  cut  recentlv  under  favourable  condi¬ 
tions,  we  should  be  inclined  to  leave  it  in  its  cross  cut 
condition,  especially  if  the  weather  remained  of  a  change¬ 
able  and  uncertain  nature.  If  the  Aveather  becomes  dry 
Ave  Avould  ridge  the  land  out  the  same  way  as  originally 
ploughed  and  leave  it  in  this  ridged  condition  until  near 
sowing  time,  Avhen  Ave  would  put  the  spit  muck  in  the 
furrows  and  roll  the  ridges  down  immediately.  All  would 
then  be  ready  for  splitting  the  ridges  and  drilling  at  the 
first  favourable  opportunity,  which  wmuld  usually  mean 
immediately  after  a  moderate  rain. 
On  some  heavy  soils  Mangolds  are  drilled  on  the  flat. 
The  land  is  worked  into  condition  in  February,  and  left  to 
get  the  surface  as  melloAv  as  possible  through  w^eather 
influences.  Then  nothing  remains  but  the  drilling.  This 
sounds  easy  and  cheap,  and  on  these  difficult  soils  it  is 
often  the  only  possible  Avay,  but  there  is  never  the  same 
prospect  of  a  bumper  crop  as  when  the  land  has  been 
ridged  and  split  over  an  ample  dressing  of  manure. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Once  again  during  this  dismal  season  we  have  to  speak  of 
disappointments.  A  few  daj’s  ago  the  land  was  almost  in  con¬ 
dition  for  drilling  ;  since  then  Ave  have  had  alternate  snow,  frost, 
rain,  and  thaw,  until  everything  is  almost  as  bad  as  ever.  Mean- 
wliile,  the  important  sowing  period  is  rapidly  approaching,  and 
the  land  is  quite  unprepared.  A  neighouring  farm  is  changing 
hands,  and  we  notice  large  quantities  of  toAvn  manure  arriving 
at  the  local  station  to  the  order  of  the  iieAA'  tenant,  who  is 
apparently  bent  on  a  large  acreage  of  Potatoes.  The  carting 
two  miles  from  the  station  of  several  hundreds  of  tons  of 
manure  is  no  light  task,  but  it  is  being  done  noAv  whilst  land 
work  is  best  left  alone,  so  there  may  be  a  double  benefit.  We 
AA'ant  more  farmers  like  this  one,  Avho  do  more  to  keep  people  on 
the  land  than  all  the  legislators  Ave  have  ever  trained. 
The  Avaggons  Avhich  bring  the  manure  are,  as  soon  as 
emptied,  filled  Avith  Potatoes  to  feed  the  people  in  the  toAvns 
Avhich  supply  the  manure.  This  jnust  be  good  for  both  toAA'u 
and  country,  and  certainly  for  the  raihvay  companies.  Me 
have  several  times  spoken  of  the  successful  lambing  season, 
but  Ave  are  sorry  to  have  to  record  an  exception.  A  near 
neighbour  and  good  farmer  is  having  a  sad  loss,  thirteen  eAves 
having  succumbed  very  rapidly.  Expert  advice  blames  the 
bad  AA'eather  and  heavy  lair  in  the  Turnip  fold.  This  may  be 
correct,  but  if  the  eAves  have  suffered  from  the  bad  lair  they 
have  probably  suffered  quite  as  much  from  a  plethora  of  roots. 
The  old  story,  overfeeding!  You  cannot  have  breeding  stock 
ahvays  in  shoAv  condition  and  keep  it  healthy. 
Turnips  are  becoming  rather  scarce  for  the  time  of  year, 
and  a  good  many  .sheeii  are  being  put  on  the  market.  So  far 
they  have  been  sent  in  the  avooI,  but  clipping  Avould  soon  com¬ 
mence  if  the  AA'eather  Avoidd  alloAv.  M’^e  may  here  call  attention 
to  tlie  great  advantage  gained  by  using  a  clipping^  machine. 
They  are  rather  expensive,  but  can  be  made  to  earn  7s.  Gd.  per 
day  over  and  above  the  Avages  of  the  operator.  They  are  easily 
managed,  and  if  carefully  cleaned  and  put  aAvay  after  the 
season  there  is  very  little  Avear  and  tear.  As  expert  clippers 
are  uoaa'  scarce,  AA'e  often  see  sheep  sent  to  market  in  such  a 
raggy  state  as  to  take  shillings  off  their  value.  A  machine  AA'ill 
preVent  all  that. 
Agricultural  Correspondents. 
FolloAving  our  notes  in  last  Aveek’s  issue,  the  Board  of 
Agriculture  and  Fisheries  inform  us  that  agricultural  corre¬ 
spondents  are  noAV  appointed. 
