tion. The use of the saccharimeter and a reliable method of coring have given valuable results.
With mangels there has been no method of im provement, and roots were selected because of their shape or the color of their skin, no attention being paid to their dry-matter content, although it is for the dry matter that they are grown. To day, it is urged that all roots that are to be used for seed production should be sampled and the per centage of dry matter determined, and that all roots that fall below a certain standard should be discarded. The determination of the dry-matter content requires the use of a cheese tryer, with which a plug is removed from near the center of the root. (Fig. 779.) This sample is then numbered to correspond with a tag on the root, carefully weighed and dried in a water-jacketed oven or some place where it will not be charred. The loss in weight is water, and the percentage of dry mat ter may be estimated. The hole in the root may be filled with cotton batting which has been immersed in a solution of formalin. The roots which pass the test should be stored in sand or soil over win ter and planted early the following spring three and one-half feet apart each way. It is important that roots saved for seed production should not have their crowns injured.
Varieties of mangels.
Varieties are frequently classified according to shape and color of skin ; they may be long, ovoid, tankard, globe or cowhorn (Fig. 780), and have black, purple, red, orange, golden, yellow, pink or white skin. The varieties grown in the United States are nearly all of European origin, and Euro pean-grown seed is generally sown. Some well known varieties of mangels are : Norbiton Giant Long Red, Sutton Long Red, Gatepost, Yellow Levi athan, Yellow Intermediate, Chirk Castle, Golden Tankard, Yellow Globe.
Among half-sugar mangels, i. e., the mangels that apparently result from a cross between man gels and sugar-beets, may be mentioned Vilmorin Half-sugar White and Half-sugar Rosy, and the The figures show the percentage of dry matter. (Wood Berry_ various kinds of half-sugar mangels of most of the seedsmen.
Among sugar-beets grown for stock-feeding are Lane Imperial, Danish Redtop and Danish Im proved, which frequently contain a little higher per centage of dry matter than mangels, and the improved forms of sugar - beets, as Kleinwanzlebener and its several strains, which are the richest in dry matter.
Culture of mangels.
Land.—Mangels may be grown on almost any soil.
Deep learns are considered best, and are necessary for the production of heavy yields of the long varie ties. The globes and tankards may be grown on the shallower and lighter soils. Deep fall-plowing is advisable to ensure a compact subsurface. Thorough fitting of the surface soil should be given in spring. No crop responds more readily to good tillage, and none will be more discouraging to the grower who but half prepares the land. The use of the disk or Acme and the spike-toothed harrows, and then the Meeker harrow to finish the work, is advised.
Mangels do better where there is considerable sunshine, and if there is a good sup ply of moisture in the soil they will thrive in a warm, dry climate. After the first two months of growth they can withstand drought better than almost any other root crop.
Fertilizing.—Ten to twelve tons of manure per acre should be spread evenly in the fall, previous to plow ing, and this should be supplemented with fertilizers in spring. One hun dred to 200 pounds of muriate of potash per acre may be applied in the fall or early in spring, and 200 to 500 pounds of acid phosphate with fifty pounds of nitrate of soda per acre in the spring, both to be harrowed in before seeding. If the land has not been limed in the past few years, 1,000 pounds of quick lime per acre will probably be of value.
Seed and seeding.—Six to eight pounds of good seed will be ample, but frequently ten pounds, and, in the case of sugar-beets, twelve to fifteen pounds, are sown. These may be sown about three-fourths to one inch deep, the lesser depth on heavy soils and the greater depth on the lighter soils. The seeding is done as early as possible—the first of May for New York conditions—in rows twenty-eight to thirty-five inehes wide. The young plants will appear in ten to fourteen days. A regular beet drill may be used or the seven-inch eleven-hoe grain drill. The part sown is a fruit and generally con tains three to five seeds, half of which should germinate. Since two or three plants springing from one seed cause difficulty in thinning, attempts are now being made to breed fruits which contain but one seed.