The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-05-20
FIRM IND USEHOLD
Raising Ruta-Baga and Mangel Warzel

The field on which the crop is to be
grown is put in the same condition, at the
same time, as though it were to be sown,
and is left bare. The seed is sOwn in
small seed-beds, in rows foot apart, the
land having first been made rich and fine.
When it begins to grow, the rows must be
hand-weeded, and the whole carefully hood.
This requires no more labor than an equal
length of row in the field. After this, all
that is needed is to keep the seed bed clean,
and its soil loose-no thinning is necessary.
AS fast as weeds appear i'll the field, it is
cleaned with harrow at slight outlay.
just before planting time-say the last of
June-it has thorough narrowing with
Shares harrow, to make it as fine and
smooth as possible, but it should not be
plowed, although this would better loosen
the soil. The repeated narrowing will
have killed all weeds whose seeds have lain
within growing distance of the surface, but
blowing would bring a fresh lot of seeds
within the terminating range, and make
work for the future. For planting, | use
six hands three would do half as well)-
two to draw the plants from the seed-bed,
two to drop them along the rows, these
may be boys, and two to pick them up
and plant them.
Plants are selected which are at least as
thick through as mans thumb-if they
are as large as hens egg it will do no
harm-and they are trimmed to length
of about six inches, say four inches above
the crown and two below it. This removes
the tap-root and all the leaves, the stems
of the leaves remaining for a handle. In
this work the plant pulers are helped by
the choppers, until the rows are marked
out. This is done by the two planters who
commence at one side of the field, but at
opposite ends, stretching a garden line
between them, and making its ends fast
close to the ground. They then walk,
toward each other, treading on tile line until
they meet, then they turn and go to their
starting points. Each has a stick thirty
inches long to measure off the distances,
and the line is moved to the new position,
hauled taut, and trodden into the ground
as before. The subsequent rows are
marked the same way. This plan has the
advantage of being very expeditions and
perfect. The impression made by the line
is easily seen, and the marking is absolutely
straight and at correct intervals. When
an hours work has been laid out,-a supply
of plants having in the meantime been
brought to the field, stacked up, with the
heads of all one way, and covered with
mats or blankets,- planting commences.
Small hand-baskets are packed with rows
of plants, and carried to the choppers to
the end of the row. These men walk
backward, and lay down the plants one by
one at intervals of about Is inches along
the lines, rHh the tops toaeard the left hand
of the planters who follow them. Each
planter has dibber in his right hand.
He Qst) takes up plant with his left hand,
(2d) makes a hole with his dibber, (3d)
~ fhn y,1nr nd H., l.,
dibber again into the soil by the side of
the plant, striking the point toacdrd tile
loaoer end of the root, SO as to pack the earth
closely about it. The whole operation is
done with these few movements, and he
passes on to the next plant. A good hand
will set out 20 plants in a minute, which is
a. the rate of Il, 900 in ten hours. Making
ample allowance for Interruptions, any
clever workman will set out G, 900 in day.
My foreman, who was nine years with
Peter Henderson, and is on his fourth year
with me, will set out 5000 plants day,
besides marking the rows and bossing the
job. Amy man will plant as fast as an
equally good man or boy will drop, and the
delay, if any, usually comes from the
pullers.
After the plants are out, the field need
not be touched until they are we'll estab-
a horseshoe or a one-horse sub-soil plow
may be run through the spaces, and the
rows between the plants may be stirred up
with a pronged hoe. There is absolutely
no finger work to be done, and the field
may be gone over with less work than
would be required for the second hoeing of
a field of drilled corn. Enough plants
may be left in the seed-bed to make crop,
and if the land is equally good, these roots
will not be nearly SO good as the trans
planted ones.
Ruta-b agas may be treated in the same
way. Round turnips will not bear removal
The secret is to have the plants SO large at
planting time, that the substance of the
root will be able to furnish moisture and
nutriment to start the new roots and leaves.
Now let us make a calculation:-An acre
will require, at 80 inches by Is inches,
about IA, 900 plants; the seed bed will pro-
duce, say ten plants to the square foot, SO
that five square rods will raise the plants
for an acre. Again, in an acre planted as
above, there are about $500 feet of row.
In seed-bed of five rods, lat 12-inch inter-
vals), there are about I, 400 feet of row, so
that by this plan we save the finger-weed-
ing and the baby-hoeing of about 1850
feet of row, to say nothing of the infinitely
greater facility with which, lowing to the
killing of weeds by the harrow, the crop
may be kept clean, nor of the increased
production.
Objection is usually made to the labor of
transplanting, but this is absurd. An
average green hand will plant thousand
feet of row in the time it would take him
properly to do the first finger wedding, or
the final thinning out of hundred feet of
seeded row.