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are inccnJcd for the general crop, arc fown toward the 

 latter end of June, when they commonly receive fome 

 refrcfhing fhowers to bring them forward; without 

 which, it is very common to have them all deftroyed. 

 Thcfe feeds fhould always be fown upon an open- 

 I'pot of ground ; for if it is near hedges, walls, 

 buildings, or trees, they will draw up, and be very 

 long topped, but their roots will not grov/ to any fize. 

 They are fown in great plenty in the fields near Lon- 

 don, not only for the ule of the kitchen, but for cat- 

 tle in winter, when there is a fcarcity of other tood ; 

 and by this way is become a great improvement to 

 barren fandy lands, particularly in Norfolk, where, 

 by the culture of Turneps only, many perfons have 

 doubled the yearly value of their ground. 

 The land upon which this feed is fown, fhould be 

 ploughed in April, and twy-fallowed in May, that is, 

 once m.ore ploughed, and twice well harrowed, and 

 made very fine ; then the feed fliould be Ibv/n pretty 

 thin (for it being fmall, a little will fow a large piece 



nd -, two pounds of this feed is full fufficient 

 for"an acre of any land, but one pound is the com- 

 mon allowance.) The feed mufl be harrowed in as 

 foon as it is fown, v/ith a fhort tined harrow, and the 

 ground rolled with a v;ooden roll, to break the clods 

 and make the furface even. In ttn days or a fort- 

 . night after fowing, the plants will come up, at which 

 time, if the feafon fhould prove dry, they will be 

 in great danger of being deftroyed by the fly, which 

 is too often the cafe with this crop; but if it fo hap- 

 pen, the ground muft be fowed again ; for the feed 

 being cheap, the chief expence is the labour-, but 

 the ground fliould be firfl: harrowed to loofen it, ef- 

 pecially if it is fl:iff land; there have been many di- 

 re£lions given for to prevent this defl:ruftion, but 

 fcarce one has fuccecded on trial.- 

 When the plants have got four or five leaves, they 

 fhould be hoed to defl:roy the weeds, ^nd to cut up 

 the plants where they are too thick, leaving the re- 

 maining ones about fix or^.eigli't inches afunder 

 each way, which will be room enough for the plants 

 to ftahd for the firft hoeing ; and the foonSr^this 13 

 performed, when the plants have four leaves, the 

 better they will thrive; but in the fecond hoeing, 

 l^hich muft be performed about a month after the fiirft, 



_ ' 



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- .; they fliould be cut up, fo that the remaining plants 

 may fl:and fourtccii or fixteen inches difl:ancc, or more. 



;/ efpecially if they'afg Ikfighed 'for Teedirig of cattle ; 



r for where the plants are allov/cd a good diftance, the 

 roots will be proportionably large, provided the 



- ground is good ; fo that what is loft in number, will 

 be overgained by their bulk, vvhich is what I have 

 often obferved. But in fuch places where they are 

 fown For the ufe of the kitchen, they need not be left 



at a greater diftance than a foot, becaufe large roots 



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^je not Co generally efteemed for the table. 



.It is jiot many years fince the praftice of fowing 



eneral ufe: 



ould have 



been fo long neglected in every part pf Europe, is 



that 



Turneps for feeding of cattle has been of 

 how it happened that this improvement 



liot eafy to determine; fince it is very 

 this niece of hiifbandrywa^" known . 



of 



plain, 

 the 



to tne an- 

 the feveral 



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piece 



.tients. For Cplumella, in treating 



kinc^s of vegetables whicl^^, are proper for the field, 



v> recommends the cultivadng Rapa in plenty ; becaufe 



he) thofe roots which are not wanted for the ta- 

 ,;;ble,^-will be eaten by the cattle. ' And yet this plant 



much "cultivated in the fields till within "a 



# 



was not 



ypi^ century p^ft ; nor is the tfue method of cultivating 



■ 1- Turneps yet known, or atleaft not praflifed, in feme 



IK of the diftant counties of England at this time. For 



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in 



many places the feed is fown with Barley in the 

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and thofe plants which come up, and live till 

 ,the Barley is cut, • produce a little green for the 

 ■ftieep to pick up, but never have any roots. ^^ In other 

 places, where the Turnep-feed is fown by itfelf, the 



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IS 



th 



which 



e 



long leave:, but never can have good root 



principal pare of the plant, therefore Ihould be 

 chiefiy attended to 



The general method now practifed in England, for 

 cultivating this plant in the fields, is the lame as is 

 praclifed by the farming gardeners, v.'ho fupply the 

 London markets with theie roots, which is as before 



diredled. But it is only within the compafs of half a 

 century, that the country people have been acquainted 

 with the method of hoeing them ; fo that the farmers 

 ufually employed gardeners, v/ho had been bred uo 

 in the kitchen-gardens, to perform this work. And 

 the ufual price given per acre, for twice hoeing and 

 leaving the crop clean, and the plants fet out pro- 

 perly, was feven ftiillings ; at which price the gar- 

 deners could get fo much per v/eek, as to make it 

 worth their while to leave their habitations, and prac- 

 tife this in different counties during the feafon for 

 this work, which always happens after the greateft 

 hurry of bufinefs in the kitchen-garden is over ; fo 

 that they ufually formed themfelves in fmall eangs 

 of fix or feven perfons, and fet out on their dii4ereat 



routs, each gang fixin 

 and undertaking 



at a diftance from the reft, 

 the work of as many farmers in 

 the neighbourhood as they could manage in the fea- 

 fon ; but as this work is now performed by many 

 country labourers, thatpradlice is loft to the kitchen- 

 gardeners, the country labourers doing it much 

 cheaper. : :^- ; 



There has alfo been another method praftifed very 



lately, by fome very curious farmers, in cultivadno- of 



Turneps; which is, by fowing the feed in rows with 



the drill plough. In fome places the rows have been 



- fown three feet afunder, in others four, in fome five, 



and fome fix. -The latter has been commended by 



. flcilful perfons as the moft proper diftance ; for al- 



. though the intervals are fo large, yet the crop-pro- 



.■, duced on an acre has been much greater than upon 



the fame quantity pf land where the rows have been 



; -. but half this diftance ; and upon all the fields which 



. have been cultivated for Turneps, the crops have 



:. grektly exceeded thofe which have been hand-hoed. 



w.. The late Lord VifcountTownftiend was at the expence 



V . of marking the trial of thefe two diflTerent methods 



. of husbandry, with the greateft care, by equally di- 



'Viding the' fame fields into different lands, which 



^ were alternately fown in drills, and the intermediate 



_ 'lands in broad-caft. The latter were hoed by hand, 



' ;in the common method, and the other cultivated by 



the hoeing plough ; and when the roots were fully 



grown, his Lordftiip had an equal quantity of land, 



which had been fown in diff*erent methods, meafured, 



and the roots drawn up and weighed ; and thofe 



, roots which had been cultivated by the plough, were 



fo much larger than the other, that the crop of one 



acre. 



weighed a ton and a half more than that of an 



acre in the other hufl^andry. - • . : . j ,. :. 



r But when the Turneps are fown in drills, they will 

 require to be hoed by hand, to feparate and cut out 

 ^': the plants where they are too near together in the 

 " ^ rows, as alfo to cut up the weeds between the plants, 

 .-.where the plough cannot reach them. If this is care- 

 :. /fully performed^ the ploughing of the intervals will 

 . ..encourage the growth of the roots, by thus ftirring 

 , of the ground, "and prepare it much better for the 

 .; crop of Barley, or whatever elfe is fown the following 

 ;■ fpring.' This method of culture may be fuppofed to. 

 : be more expenfive than that commonly pradifed, by 

 . thofe unacquainted with it ; but thofe who have made 

 ,. trials of both, find the horfe-hoeihg to be much the 

 cheapeft, and by far the beft. - For the country peo- 

 ple, who ai'e employed in hand-hoeing of Turneps, 

 are very apt to hurry over their work, fo that half 

 the weeds are left growing, and the plants are feldom 

 finglcd out fo well as they fliould be ; nor are they 

 curious enough to diftinguifla the Charlock (which is 



method of hoeing them is not underftood, fo that | one of the moft common weeds in arable land) from 

 - weeds and Turneps arc permitted to grow together, 

 and where the Turneps come up thick in patches, they 

 ai-e never thinned yfo that they draw up to have 



V 



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the Turneps ; fo that about the middle of September, 



it is vefy common to fee the fields of Turneps full of 



the yellow/ flowers of the Charlock. Now, .in the 

 " : - . horfe- 



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