"11ANGEL " OR " MANGOLD " ?
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."]
Sat,—Neither of your correspondents has given the origin of
mangel-wurzel," which has a peculiar interest. It is of course the field beet which is grown for cattle food. It came to this country from Germany. Originally it was named in German Runkelriiben, and in fact it is so called now by agriculturists in all parts of Germany. There was a time in the history of Germany when the country was threatened with famine, and the root which saved the people from starvation was the Runkelruben. To mark this fact they gave it the name of Manget-Wurzel, which simply means " Famine Root." It came to this country under that name, which it has retained. It is a well-known fact that during the recent war the country people in Germany consumed large quantities of mangel-wurzel. This is not surprising because it is a very nutritious root with a higher percentage of sugar and other food than is found in turnips.—I am, Sir, &c., F. A. GARDINER.
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