Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-01-20
Agritultnrd.
The Harvest Club-R0ot Crops.

Il
At the second meeting of the Harvest
Club the honors Of entertainment were d.
yided between root crops and ]. n. Bagg Of
West Springfield. by roUt husbsndry was
understood the raising OF potatoes, turnips,
carrots, parsnips, onions and beets, either
for the sustensnce of man CT the winter
feeding of cattle. II was said that twenty
five years ago very few roots were raised in
New England except potatoes, and that 200
bushels of turnips to the acre was then
called large crop. Now not only the pro-
duct per acre has been Increased, but here,
Bs in Great Britain, roots exert an impor-
tant influence in advancing agriculture
Everybody will admit that the best farming
is that which gives the greatest mass OF
sustenance in The least possible space. Ii,
by root culture, the capability of the soil
for supporting animal life can be doubled
or quadrupled, then the powe: of agriculture
is increased in the same proportion. The
value Of anything lies in its usefulness
The question, Which of the roots takes the
precedence in importance and value! de-
pends for ats solution upon the taste and
object of the producer. For man we have
high authority for saying that no vegetable
contains SO many el'ments of nutrition in
such perfect proportions as the potato. For
catt lie, the carrot, .he turnip and the beet
each has its advocates. Taking all ,hirgs
into consideration, it was the opinion of
the club that beets (either sugur or mangel
wurzeI) are the best crop grown. Over 80
tons can be raised to the acre, or on an
average 1000 bushels. In 1910, Frederick
Tudor of Nahant raised sugar 6eets at the
rate of 1909 bushels 10 the acre, and a sim
gle beet when cropped and cleaned weighed
thirty-one pounds. Sugar beets usually diff
fer from mangels in being smaller, and also
in their color, which is white, while man.
gels are either red or yellow. Mangel wur-
eel requires the same quality of land as
Indian corn, may be grown on sitter soils
than those adapted to the turnip, is richer
food FOR mich cows, and does not tain; the
milk. The best time for sowing ID; ngel-
wurzel is about the middle of May, or as
soon as the ground is warm, although a
month later than this will sometimes do A
crop of mangels can be got after crop of
early beets, but 10 obtain the greatest size
they must be sown early. The best distance
fur the rows is three feet apart, and for the
plants one foot. They should be sown by
hand, on account of the irreeularity of the
seed, and covered about one inch deep
Some transplant them to fill vacancies, but
this course is not recommended by the club.
II sown sufficiently early, va.ancies can be
! advantageously supplied by re-scwing Salt
is recommended as a fertilizer. One of the
members, who had excellent success the
past season, used 200 pounds of salt on
little more than an acre. 1t is estimated
that half dozen bushels Of uangels can be
raised as easy is one bushel of carrots, and
that it costs less 10 raise an acrs of the for
mer, than to raise an acre of corn. All
kinds of stock are fond of them, even swine,
and the tops are often used for summer soil
ing without any known detriment to the
root. In feeding store cattle the English
advise commencing with the SSede turnip,
and finishing of with the maugel or sugar
beet, as animals refuse the change when an
opposite course is pursued. Indeed the feed
ing Of mangels before Christmas is said to
be poisonous. Lord Spencer, in tho Far
ner's Encyclope d;a, reports the result of a
trial on the comparative feeding Properties
of mangslwurzen and Swedish turnips. as
conducted by himself, in which he declares
strongly in favot of the mangels. Sir Hum
phrey Davy made chemical analysis oi
white turnips, Swedes, mangel-wurzen and
sugar beet, in which the total nutrItive mat
ter in 1000 parts is thus expressed:
White Turnips. 4e Swedes, 81
Mangei xurzeI, I36 Sugar Beets, I4t
DIR. Anderson, chemist to the Highland
sericuliu raj socioty of Scotland. analyzed
a crop of mangel wurzel producing 81 tons
per acre with the same results. The follow
ing estimates o: other qualities are here re-
corded either for criticism or reference:
Is bushels Corn equals ton of ha-.
s66 pounds Carrots equals 100 pounds hay.
4UU swedes :"
$40 4" Turnips /"
Beets for early household purposes may
be sown in March on warm, protected land,
and will be ready for the table by the 18th
of June. Frost does not iniure lille beets
even If they freeze through. For winter
beots later sowing is preferable. Stripping
the tops Of beets for cattlefeediug is pruc-
tieed by gardeners.
The turnip crop also re ceived much favor
from the club. 1t wBs thought that the
fat turnip would stand more freezing with
out injury, than the long, and would grow
in a shorter time. Twelve hundred bushels
of long turnips have been grown upon an
acre, when sown in drills l8 inches by six.
Five hundred bushels o: the same have been
grown broadcast on an acre, that produced
the same year fifty bushels of corn. They
can be raised also among tobacco or after an
early crop of potatoes. They should be
sown about the middle of July, and If in
drills, the rows should be two feet apart
As mixture of grasses gives greater
yield than a single variety, SO some advise
sowing turnips with carrots and mangel-
wurzel. Swedes or Iuta-bagas, although be-
longing to the turnlp family, are more hardy
and nutritious than the common SORTS, and
require better soil They should be sown
about the 2Olh of June, al the same distance
apart as the msngel wurzel, and it takes
one pound of seed for an acre. They are