MANGOLD GROWING.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3449, 24 November 1932, Page 3

MANGOLD GROWING.

A point about which many farmers seem to have incorrect views is the cost of the mangold, states the Agricultural Journal. Although the mangold is a fairly expensive crop, it is not nearly so costly as some farmers seem to believe. Apart from specially abnormal conditions the total cost ranges from about £8 to £ll an acre, allowing standard charges for all cultural operations, materials and rent. On the basis of the charges allowed in this estimate, a crop of 50 to 60 tons an acre should result. It is when the feeding-value of this crop is set against the cost that the true economy of the crop becomes fully evident. Assuming a 50-ton crop at a cost of £lO an acre, the cost becomes 4s a ton. That the mangold is potentially a very cheap source of feed is made clear by considering this estimated cost in conjunction with the fact that when hay is worth £3 a ton, then on a feed-value basis mangolds are worth 10s a ton. It is of considerable practicable importance that many of the items included in a total estimated cost of £8 to £ll an acre would not call for direct outlay on a great many farms. Indeed, on many farms the direct extra outlay involved in growing a mangold crop would be at least £3 an acre. The matters of seasonal importance regarding the mangold are: (1) It should be grown much more extensively, because it is potentially a very cheap source of winter and spring feed both for dairying and sheep-farming; (2) it responds profitably to high fertility, so that land intended for mangolds, if not naturally rich, should be made so by the use of farm or artificial manure or both; (3) correlated with its response to high fertility, is its profitable response to abundant cultivation both before and after seed-sowing.