Part 3

In the cities there is a large market for Carrots as feed for horses, it being very generally accepted that a few given daily or every other day, aids the digestion of grain-fed animals, adds to the gloss of the hair, and are of special medicinal value. The largest, smoothest and darkest orange colored roots sell the best in the market. The price varies all the way from ten to twenty dollars a ton of 2,000 pounds, depending in part on the value of hay. Where the quantity fed daily is small, a large knife or a shovel will answer to cut them up in pieces of suitable size; but if the quantity amounts to several bushels daily, then a root-cutter will be needed. There are two classes of these, one for sheep, and the other for large stock, the essential difference being that those designed to cut roots for sheep cut into smaller pieces. Of those designed to cut roots for large stock, the Whittemore machine is as good a machine as any, having a capacity to cut up a bushel in about half a minute. Among farmers there is much unnecessary fear about the danger of animals choking while feeding on apples, potatoes and roots. For the last ten years I have fed to my cows not far from three hundred tons of squashes, potatoes and roots, (mostly squashes) and never yet lost an animal or had any very serious trouble from choking. My habit is to feed them while quietly in their stalls, with a division board between the feed of each. All cases of choking that have come to my notice have occurred _where the animal was suddenly disturbed while eating_. There is a great difference of opinion as to how many roots can be fed to stock daily without injuring them. The proportion will depend somewhat on the constitutional peculiarities of individual cows, but when the bowels are all right the appetite of the animal is probably the safest guide. I have had a large and extended experience in feeding squashes to milch cows,--the Boston Marrow, Hubbard and other varieties; beginning with a half a bushel to each animal, I increase the quantity until the daily consumption has averaged a hundred pounds a day to each. Under such heavy feeding, after a while their appetites clog somewhat, but I am inclined to the opinion that beginning with a moderate feed, they would soon readily eat seventy-five pounds daily with a relish, for as long a period as they might last. When feeding Carrots or any roots, the most economical method is to give meadow or salt hay, with a small quantity of flax-seed or cotton-seed meal. The effect of the roots and these rich meals is to give to these inferior varieties of hay, the nutritious value of the best upland English.

Carrots fed too liberally to horses, will make them soft, and cause them to sweat at the least exertion. The manure made by animals fed on Carrots or any other roots is of poor quality and therefore for the farm’s (as well as the animal’s) sake a proportion of grain, or its equivalent, should always be fed with them.

MANGOLD WURTZELS.

What is a Mangold Wurtzel? A number of years ago I raised a piece of Early Turnip Beet seed in a very isolated location; there was not another piece of Beet seed growing within half a mile, at least. A good deal of the seed wasted, as is usual when the seed is allowed to ripen well on the stock before cutting. From this waste seed thousands of young plants sprang up, many of which survived the winter, by the help of the protection of chickweed and snow. They had got so far along when ploughing time came, I left the piece unploughed, thinning them out that they might produce early beets. As the season advanced a good many of them pushed seed shoots and ripened a crop of seed. Some of the seed I gathered and the next season planted it to see what it would produce. The crop was “everything;” all the way from a nice, dark colored Early Turnip Beet, through different sizes, colors and forms, up to a light-fleshed Mangold Wurtzel! As the original Beets were a very pure Turnip Beet, and during several years of careful cultivation for seed purposes had shown no admixture with any other variety, the experiment proved either that the coarse variety of Stock Beet, which we call Mangold Wurtzel are but sports from our fine-grained table Beets, or that the Beets class are sports from Mangolds,--most probably the former.

Mangold Wurtzels differ from table Beets in their general coarseness of structure, and the larger size to which they grow, the elements which enter into the composition of each being the same in kind.

What is a Sugar Beet? The term “Sugar Beet” is an unfortunate one, as the word “Sugar” had already been appropriated to express the sweet flavor of the varieties of Beets raised for table use, while the word Beet is strictly a misnomer, the vegetable Sugar Beet being in reality a Mangold Wurtzel. A generation ago our fathers used the term “Sugar” as a familiar designation for any sweet variety of beet raised for table use, and at the present by the great majority of the public the term is still so used. As the new industry of manufacturing sugar from the beet grew on the continent of Europe, seedsmen were called upon to supply for commerce seed of the best variety for this purpose. It was necessary that this variety should be as free as possible from all coloring substance as this would, as a matter of course, give a stain to the juice, and impose on the manufacturer the labor of purifying it. The ones at first selected were the long, white Mangold Wurtzel, and these were called the “Sugar” Beet in commercial parlance. These white Mangolds were not entirely white, the portion that grew above ground being usually colored a light green by exposure to the sun’s rays; it became therefore an object for the manufacturer to still improve on them to the end that all the coloring should be eliminated. The intelligence and enterprise of the seedsmen of Europe responded to this want, and in the course of a few years two prominent varieties were produced, that have nearly completely satisfied it,--one of these was sent out by the estimable house of Vilmorin Andrieux & Co., of Paris, and is named “Vilmorin’s New Improved White,” and the other “White Imperial Extra,” by the distinguished German house of Ernest Benary.

These improved Sugar Beets of commerce grow nearly entirely under ground, and when grown these beets define themselves to be the Mangold variety, by the coarser structure of the root, the stouter ribs and the greater coarseness of the leaves, which spring in larger masses directly from the crown, than is the case with beets for the table.

The moral of all this for my farmer friends is, that if you want a beet for table use do not order “Sugar Beet” or you will be very likely to find a Mangold growing in your garden, a return, but not a recompense for the sweat and toil of the husbandman.

VARIETIES.

About twenty varieties are catalogued by seedsmen, many of which are but strains of the same kind, bearing the name of the grower, who by careful cultivation has endeavored to improve it. Classified by form they come under three classes, viz.:--the long, the round and the ovoid or intermediate varieties. Classified by color we have the red or scarlet, the pink, the yellow or orange, and the white varieties.

=The Long Varieties.=--Among the more prominent of these are the Ox Horn, the common Long Red, Norbition Giant, Carter’s Orange Globe, and the Silesian varieties of Sugar Beet. The Ox Horn is a very crooked growing variety, as its name would imply, with a small diameter in proportion to its great length. Growing almost wholly out of ground it curves about so in the row as to be decidedly in the way, is apt to break when pulled and in addition to these defects, storing very badly, it is not in any way desirable. The Norbiton Giant, Long Red, Gate Post, and Tankard are improvements over the common Long Red in a greater uniformity in their habit of growth, their size, and a less liability to grow hollow at the top at the advanced stage of growth.

[Illustration: LONG RED MANGOLD.]

=The Round Varieties.=--In these are included the common Red and Yellow Globe, Gate Post and Tankard, with some of the underground varieties of the Sugar Beet.

=Ovoid= are either red or yellow in color and are intermediate in form between the long and the round kinds.

=What Kinds to Grow.=--In this country the Long Red are the most popular, particularly the Norbiton Giant variety. While travelling in England, Ireland and France, for inquiry and observation, I found that the round and ovoid varieties were more generally cultivated than the long sorts. In my experience the ovoid varieties incline to grow smoother than the long kinds and hence are likely to bring up less earth with them, which on heavy soil is a matter of some moment. I think of the two kinds the yellow, under the same circumstances, makes the larger root. The long varieties pile better in the cellar, while the round or ovoids cut up rather more readily, appear less inclined to rot at the top, and are firmer fleshed. The globe and ovoid varieties appear to be best adapted to hard and shallow soils, and of these the Yellow Globe and Ovoid are especially valuable, as they are better keepers than most sorts and remain sound, without sprouting, until late into the spring, and with special care may be kept even into the summer season.

[Illustration: OVOID MANGOLD.]

The long Silesian varieties of Sugar Beet vary from each other only in the color of the part exposed above ground,--being green, grey or red. The kind introduced to the American public a few years ago, under the name of Lane’s Improved American Sugar Beet, is a strain of Long White Mangold. The improved varieties of Germany and France yield about double the percentage of sugar that is found in the common Mangold, in some crops the proportion being as high as sixteen per cent. This would make the Sugar Beets of double the value of Mangolds for stock, but unfortunately, the roots under like conditions of cultivation, average but half the weight of Mangolds.

[Illustration: GLOBE MANGOLD.]

The average percentage of sugar found in analysis of beets grown in this country is exceptionably high. Having land free from alkalies, of unbounded fertility, readily accessible, and attainable at almost nominal cost, it is a serious question why we do not follow the example of other countries and raise our own sugar rather than import it. Our inducement is the home market that the sugar factory would afford for unlimited areas of beets, while the refuse pulp would enable farmers to increase greatly the number of their neat stock, to the advantage of the manure pile and enlargement of their area of tillage. The great draw back is the price of labor in our own prosperous country.

THE SOIL AND ITS PREPARATION.

In the matter of soil, Mangold Wurtzels will accept a greater latitude than any other root; thriving on every variety, all the way from light loam to muck, and from that to as strong a clay as is sufficiently friable for tillage. Muck (properly drained) and a strong loam are best suited to develop pounds of crop. Though the crop grown in the lighter soil is not so great it is much sweeter than when grown on heavy soil and when extraordinary quantities of manure have been applied, some of the heaviest crops on record have been grown on light loam. The great crop of Mr. Fearing of Hingham, of over sixty tons to the acre, was raised on a sandy loam. Some years ago I took a purchaser into the field where two lots of Mangolds were growing; he selected at once the large roots on the low land. I asked him to taste a slice of those on the upland, when he at once changed his preference. As a rule it will be found that those grown on warm upland soil are decidedly the sweeter and this fact has an important bearing on the feeding value of the crop.

If the soil is in good heart for a foot in depth, plough it to that depth before putting on the manure. After putting on the manure, if coarse, it will be well to cut it up with Randall’s wheel-harrow before ploughing under. After cross ploughing the manure four or five inches beneath the surface the aim should be to make a good seed bed by getting the surface level and the soil light and fine. On most soils this can be accomplished by a liberal use of the wheel-harrow followed by a fine-toothed smoothing harrow and that by a plank drag. An old barn door will sometimes answer for this, but as it is an excellent implement on the farm it will be well to have one. It should be about three feet wide and six long, with one side about ten inches high, meeting the bottom at an angle of forty-five degrees; the planks had better overlap slightly, as they will the better break the lumps of earth. The team is to be hitched to the turned up side, and the driver is to stand on the drag, driving it sideways over the land. The effect of such a drag in breaking up lumps and generally pulverizing the soil, will be found to be much superior to that of any roller. Should the soil be of such a character or in such a condition that the harrow and drag process will not make a good seed bed, there remains no resource other than to prepare it as for onions, either raking over the entire surface, or running over it three or more times with the Meeker Harrow.

[Illustration: MEEKER HARROW.]

THE MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION.

The kind and quantities of food needed to grow any vegetables is found by an analysis of that vegetable. Having thus learned the kind and quantity needed for any crop, the next step of the wise farmer will be to ascertain what manures contain the necessary constituents and which of these contain them in the cheapest form. A little knowledge of Chemistry, in its application to manures, is of incalculable value to the husbandman and no amount of experience and traditionary knowledge can serve as a substitute for it. I believe that it is in this direction that the great advance in agriculture will be made, and were there no other argument for Agricultural colleges the fact that they are prepared to give thorough instruction in this one department would be a sufficient reason for their existence, and for their liberal patronage by their several states. Prof. Voelcker, an excellent authority in everything that pertains to chemistry, in its application to agriculture, gives the following table as the average composition of the ash of the principal root crops.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF ROOTS. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | |Number of Analyses. | | | |Potash. | | | | |Soda. | | | | | |Lime. | | | | | | |Magnesia. | | | | | | | |Oxide of Iron. | | | | | | | | |Phosphoric Acid. | | | | | | | | | |Sulphuric Acid. | | | | | | | | | | |Silica. | | | | | | | | | | | |Chlorine. +-------------+----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+ | TURNIPS. | 38 | 49.8| 7.8| 11.7| 2.6| 0.9| 10.3| 11.8| 1.2| 5.0| | SWEDES. | 7 | 38.9| 14.0| 12.8| 4.2| 0.8| 10.4| 13.7| 1.9| 4.2| | MANGOLDS. | 12 | 46.6| 18.4| 5.9| 4.8| 0.8| 8.3| 3.7| 4.0| 9.9| | SUGAR BEET. | 40 | 48.0| 10.4| 6.4| 9.5| 1.0| 14.4| 4.7| 3.8| 2.3| | CARROTS. | 10 | 37.0| 20.7| 10.9| 5.2| 1.0| 11.2| 6.9| 2.0| 4.9| | PARSNIPS. | 4 | 46.7| 2.7| 15.7| 6.0| 1.3| 15.8| 5.6| 2.4| 4.0| +-------------+----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+ | LEAF ASH. | +-------------+----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+ | TURNIPS. | 37 | 27.6| 5.1| 33.2| 2.6| 2.0| 7.3| 13.1| 3.5| 7.7| | SWEDES. | 3 | 21.9| 12.3| 30.2| 3.2| 2.0| 6.4| 10.6| 4.8| 11.0| | MANGOLDS. | 4 | 25.5| 23.3| 10.4| 9.7| 1.2| 5.4| 7.2| 3.3| 17.8| | SUGAR BEET. | 7 | 21.9| 16.6| 19.5|18.1| 1.3| 7.3| 7.9| 3.1| 5.7| | CARROTS. | 7 | 17.6| 18.2| 32.1| 3.9| 3.0| 3.8| 8.2| 5.2| 8.9| +-------------+----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+-----+-----+----+-----+

This table shows us that the Mangolds require the mineral ingredients of manure in the following order, when arranged with reference to their importance:--Potash, Soda, Chlorine, Lime, Phosphoric Acid, Magnesia, Sulphuric Acid, Silica. In addition to these minerals other substances enter into the composition of Mangolds, the most important of which is Nitrogen. Barn-yard manure contains about all the elements needed by vegetation, but not always in the right proportion, therefore, when applying it, it is always profitable to know the proportions of the minerals which enter into crops that the deficiency may be supplied from other sources. It is perhaps hardly necessary to say that unleached wood ashes and the German Potash Salts, Sulphate and Muriate, are the cheapest sources for Potash at present known, while Soda and Chlorine are obtained from Muriate of Potash or from the waste salt of the fisheries. Of this I shall have more to say presently when treating of salt as an auxiliary fertilizer. Lime is obtained from the common Carbonate of Lime of the mason, either water or air slacked, and this usually contains more or less of Magnesia, or from wood ashes which is largely one-third lime. The great source of Phosphoric Acid is the bones of animals or corprolites, by which is meant the fossilized bones and dung of extinct animals; Sulphuric Acid is most cheaply obtained from Plaster, which is Sulphate of Lime.

Some hold great benefit is derived by the crop of the following year, from ploughing under the leaves as soon as the roots are topped; the value of this is just what the analyses of our table shows. The large crops reported as raised in this country, have been raised on soil ranging from light to a friable clay loam and have received all the way from eight to fifteen cords of barn-yard manure to the acre. In some instances this has been all ploughed in; in others half spread broadcast and ploughed in and the other half put in the furrows. When coarse and unfermented I would advise a deep ploughing of it under, in the Fall as with Carrots; other waste substances can be used as substitutes for barn-yard manure, care being taken either that such waste substances are specially rich in Potash, Soda and Chlorine, or that these substances be added. The equivalents given are roughly estimated under the article treating of the manure for Carrots and will be sufficient for practical purposes; I therefore make no further allusions to these cheap wastes as sources for manure, further than to mention that sea manures are specially rich in potash and soda.

Of all roots Mangolds are the rankest feeders, removing more plant food from the soil than any other root crop. The crop of Mr. Albert Fearing, of Hingham, Mass., was sixty tons of roots, and if the tops were in the usual proportion, of about one-third, they weighed twenty tons more, giving the enormous yield of eighty-tons of green food from one acre of ground. The crop raised on Deer Island, in Boston harbor, was about seventy tons to the acre; with a like proportion of tops the total yield must have been over a hundred tons. In the sewage farms of England eighty tons of roots have been raised on an acre of ground. Fearing applied fifteen cords of manure to his acre of ground; of the quantity applied to the Deer Island crop I regret I have not the data at hand.

If the mere bulk alone was to be aimed at in the crop, the problem would be a very simple one, but there are three points to be considered: first, how to get a crop that shall be great in bulk and at the same time give us the second desirable point, viz.: _ripeness_, and thus insure the third desirable point, viz.: _the highest percentage of sugar it is possible for the roots to acquire_.

This matter of the value of Mangolds, for feeding purposes, being in about the same proportion as the sugar present, though appertaining to that part of this Treatise which treats of “Feeding to Stock,” yet has so direct a bearing on the manuring of the crops that I will take it up at this place. The recent researches of that distinguished chemist, Prof. Voelcker of England, than whom there is no better authority, has thrown much light on the question of manure in its application to this crop. The Professor takes the position that the nutritious value of roots is in proportion to the amount of dry matter in them, and that the percentage of sugar present coincides with that of dry matter, the proportion of sugar rising or falling with the percentage of dry matter in the roots. That the feeding value does not depend on the proportion of nitrogen they contain, is proved theoretically, by the fact that the percentage is very much higher in the early stages of growth, before the crop is matured, than it is later in the season, while in the experiments of Mr. Lawes in feeding sheep, the lot containing the most nitrogen in the way of nutrition gave the poorest results.

Assuming with Prof. Voelcker that bulk should not be sought at a disproportionate sacrifice of sugar in the crop, and that certain soils and certain manures and certain methods of cultivation are more favorable than others to the development of this desirable proportion. I present extracts from his valuable article on “Root Crops as affected by Soil and Manures.”