iNJl'IdOtlll TO TIIK TURKIP f'Ror. S23 



plaiiU ftn infuttion of wormwooii, or quassia, which ron<leri> tlic plaiiti» m> 

 bitter that the insect is forced to decamp. Boiling water is poured on the 

 wormwood, or other nauseous ingredient, and the infusion may stand from 

 12 to 24 hours. It is applied to the flelds with a wisp ol straw ; u single 

 sprinkling is said to be qui to effectual, unless rains or heavy dews fall, when 

 it may be expedient to repeat the operation.* On the same principle, Jus- 

 tice, an old writer, recommended scattering " bear chaff," steeped in vine- 

 gar, among the plants that are infected. f Gardeners have facilities in pro- 

 tecting their small plots not enjoyed by fanners. They find a mixture of 

 soap and water a good remedy — 1 lb. of soap to 12 gallons of soap-suds, 

 or gallons of soft water to a pound of soap, applied with the garden 

 engine. t Weak brine has likewise been employed. Pure water itself, 

 vrhile it annoys the insects, hastens the growth of the plant, so as to place 

 it beyond their power to hurt it. This, however, is an operation no ex- 

 tensive farmer can undertake. " This is evident from the consideration 

 that one day's showers— say equal to one inch of rain — scatter over each 

 acre a hundred tons of water, a quantity which a man, horse, and water-cart 

 could not spread in a week.''§ In soils infested with cruciferous weeds 

 deep cultivation may be useful to bury the embryo of the future beetle, 

 at a depth at which it cannot hatch. To destroy those brought to the sur- 

 face by the farm operations. Sir John Sinclair advised having the land sub- 

 jected to fire, by means of the cuttings of hedges, clearings of ditches, and 

 spare straw, strewed over the field, and burned iftiraediately before sowing. 

 But what above all is of essential importance is the adoption of such a 

 mode of cultivation as shall ensure a rapid germination of the turnip seed, 

 a regular and equal braird, and vigorous growth of the young plants during 

 the stage of their existence, in which they are most liable to injury. To 

 obtain a good bed for the seed depends very much upon the state of the 

 soil at the time of sowing. It cannot be too finely worked ; for besides the 

 advantage which a porous tilth imparts to the seedling in facilitating its 

 egress, tne beetle will be less sheltered from inclemencies of the weather 

 than it would be if the ground were cloddy or rough. If too moist, much of 

 the seed will perish, or come up enfeebled ; if too dry, it will be long in 

 vegetating, or spring forth irregularly ; either of them favourable condi- 

 tions for a formidable inroad of the fly. The land, if it can be avoided, 

 should never be wrought while wet, or, as it is termed, " poached." As, in 

 dry seasons, frequent ploughings often occasion great evaporation, it is 

 sometimes advantageous to allow the land to lie for a day or two after the 

 last working, before drilling up, that the moisture which it still contains 

 may be equ^ly diffused, or, as it is expressed, that "the land may come to its 

 natural sap." Much benefit also, in the retention of moisture in the pores 

 of the soil at this stage, arises from rolling the ground with a heavy roller, 

 aftec it is harrowed. I may here notice the beneficial effects of charcoal, 

 or even common salt, in jireventing the escape of damp ; and that a top- 

 dressing of muriate of lime, one of the most deliquescent salts, will coni* 

 mnnicato a lengthened state of freshness to the soil. The same effect will 

 follow even in a severe drought, by applying as a manure, bones dissolved in 

 muriatic acid ; or, what is equivalent, bones mixed with common salt, to 

 which vitriol is added to induce solution.]) I need scarcely advert to the 

 value of phosphate of lime, guano, and ^ood farm-yard dung, in active fer- 

 mentation (taking care, in the last case, that the seed is placc<l in contact with 

 the manure,) to hasten forward the young plant to rapid maturity, and thus 

 abridge the period of danger. Deep sowing has been profitably practised 

 by many farmers in the west of Scotland ;1[ and oven at home its benefit has 

 been felt u» dry seasons ; a hcalthv braird being produced, nearly in a state 

 approaching to the " rough leaf, ' and thus the better adapted to set the 



♦ Kollnr on Injurious Iniects, 142. f M*Int«!«Ii> Practical Gardener, 76. 



♦ Dunctn, Quart. Journ. of Apric, vHI.. .%2. § Gard. Chron., Juno 22. 1844, p. 413. 



II PrnfniiMtr Way. in Gardiner* Phronicle. If lyrshJro AgriciiUnrist. 



