THE MANGEL WURTZEL. This plant yields a much more abundant crop than the Carrot; and at the same time contains, in the same quantity or weight of roots, a great deal more nourishment; whence it is natural to suppose that it requires a richer soil than Carrots. I have not made sufficient trials to enable me to express a decided opinion on the best mode of cultivating the Mangel Wurtzel; and will therefore lay before you the successful practice, on strong land, in the county of Essex, in England, as it is stated, from a recent English publication, by the Philadelphia Society of Agriculture.[4]
[4] Memoirs of the Society, Vol. III. Appendix.
The Mangel Wurtzel is sometimes called the Great, or Improved Beet, and Root of Scarcity; but now, more generally, Mangel Wurtzel, its German name. The following is the account of its culture at Bedford, in Essex.
"It may be proper, in the first place, to state what is meant by _strong land_. The surface soil is loamy, and from four to twelve inches deep, upon a bed of strong clay mixed with gravel. It is too heavy, and generally too wet, in the winter, even for sheep to eat a crop of turnips on the ground; and although good turnips are raised upon it, it is always necessary to draw them for the sheep, stall-fed cattle, or cattle in the yards."
"In the middle, or latter end of the month of April, the furrows are set out with the plough, two feet apart, and double ploughed; that is, the plough returns on the [same] furrow to the point whence it set out, forming a ridge between each two furrows."
"Double ploughing with a common plough is preferable to single ploughing with a double mould board plough, because it affords a greater depth of loose earth than the double mould board plough would produce."
"In these furrows, the manure, which should be in a rotten state, is deposited, after the rate of six cubic yards to an acre."[5]
[5] Six cubic yards contain 162 cubic feet, or three cart loads for a pair of oxen. A cart body, 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet high, _in the clear_, contains 56 cubic feet; and three times 56 are 168.--I doubt the necessity of manure being "in a rotten state," seeing it is to be so deeply buried, for this or any other root crop intended for the food of domestic animals; especially for Mangel Wurtzel, which to obtain a full crop, should be sown very early, as soon as the ground is dry enough to be ploughed. The powerful fermentation of fresh dung might impart to the soil a salutary warmth in the cool spring season--At least it may be worth while to try it.