Connecticut western news., 1881-06-08
FARM AND GARDEN.
VALUE AND CULTURE OF MANeEIs.

in the agricultural columns of the New York Tribune the following timely sug- gestions on mangel culture Learned men, Mir. Woodward says, may laugh at the root crop as much as they please, and prate that roots are nothing but water but when he looks at his stock he feels that if what they say is true, then "great is water and greatly to be praised," but he much prefers to have 1 it inside the skin of mangel, and so does his stock.
 He last year had eight acres that averaged not less than 1,4OO bushels per acre.
 While carrots are better than swedes and swedes are richer in food elements than mangels, still he prefers mangels, for the following reasons among others They can be planted early, before the press of other work comes on, and can be cultivated and the principal part of hoeing and wedding done before the hurry of harvest time; they are never attacked by those little black feas that are the bane of the swede grower, and are altogether much freer from all insect pests. They are not so dependent on favorable season for their growth being planted early, they grow all sum- mer whenever the weather is favorable, and will usually yield twice or more times as much per acre; they are ready to harvest much sooner in the fall, while the weather is good; they are not half as liable to heat and spoil in pits or cellars as the swedes. Besides all these, for meat making, and especially for milk and butter making, they can be fed in much greater abundance without the bad results of imparting bad flavor to the products. If you raise the Long Mammoth varieties. you must thin to single plants about sixteen inches apart, but for the main crop he greatly prefers any of the very many varieties of Yellow Globe or Ovoid; really in all these he can see but very little difference. Any good rich soil, the richer the bet ter, will give a paying crop of mangels. A strong gravel is good, ora sandy loam, but he prefers pretty heavy foam, almost aclay if naturally or artifcially underdrained, this, if rich, will give the very best results, both as to quantity and quality.
 The main point is to have the land rich and fine ; blow deep and be careful to blow well harrow, cultivate and roll till the surface is mellow and no Jumps are left mark for rows 30 inches apart, with marker similar to corn marker. Sow not less than 200 pounds of bone- flour and three bushels of salt per acre :; to do this, throw it lengthwise of the rows, so as to get all you can immedi- ately on them.
 Any good seed drill will answer, sow ing as directly on top of ridge as possi- ble, and using plenty of seed, not less than five pounds per acre. He starts the cultivator as soon as he sees the rows plainly, and by using, on side of cultivator next the mangels, g tooth made of steel and L-shaped, he can run very close to them without injuring the plants. As soon as weeds start he again cultivates, and when the leaves of the young mangels are about two inches long, he "chops out,"i G., cuts with a sharp hoe through and removes one foot of TOW, then leaves six inches and cuts out another foot, and thus goes through, leaving hills six inches along the row hnHr 1,11 To oIo week after this "chopping out, he cul- tivates again and then weeds in doing this he uses hoe and hands, taking out all weeds and from the hills all plants except from three to four in each. He does not get as large roots, but he gets a much larger yield per acre by raising in hills, and he much prefers moderate sized roots they handle better and are not so coarse and woody as the very large ones.
 In harvesting he pulls by hand, and, having leather mitten on his hand, twists the top of, throws into single row, and from these throws directly into the wagon. At cellar they are thrown on rack or riddle, made of strips two inches wide placed one and half inch apart lengthwise this is about eight feet long and one end is placed on wagon and the other on window or trap to eel lar, and by rolling down this the dirt is nearly all rattled off and falls to the ground through the openings between the strips. If not plenty of room in cellar to store crop, they must be pitted. Make pits on dry ground any length de- sired, and let the bottom be about five feet wide, and sunken a foot or more in the soil if dry enough place the man. gels in this as high as they can be made to lie easily; put on plenty of straw and cover one foot deep with earth; place g ventilator consisting of four-ineh drain tile, or box four inches square, into
 the top of the pit, every six feet, letting
 1t project two or three inches above the
 dirt covering. This will carry off al moisture from the mangels as they sea
 son, and will keep them perfectly dry ) 8 very important thing in keeping then
 well through the winter. Before yer. cold weather, remove the ventilators
 filling the holes with straw, and cove
 the heap foot or more deep with coars
 straw manure; or in the absence of this
 give another coat of straw and anothe foot of dirt. They must not be allowe to freeze if we would have them keep.