328 ox THE ECONOMICAL USE OF TUIIXIPS 



One of the indirect advantages of cntting turnips to slreep is 

 that it affords a strong inducement to the grower to lift his roots 

 in the late autumn or early winter and store them in pits or 

 other form. The enormous loss of unstored turnips caused by 

 the severe storm of January 1881 is so vividly before the minds 

 of farmers in all parts of the country as to render it unnecessary 

 to dwell at length on the profit of using all prudent means to 

 protect this important root-crop from the severity of the 

 weather. Thousands of acres of these valuable roots have been 

 completely destroyed, entailing a heavy loss directly upon 

 farmers at a time when, owinsj to the lencjthened ag^ricultural 

 depression, many of them can ill afford it. Moreover, the 

 indirect loss is very considerable, for the farmers have been left 

 with live stock on their hands, which, owing to the unexpected 

 and, we w^ould add, the preventible scarcity of roots, must either 

 be parted with at a heavy sacrifice, or, if they are retained, a 

 considerable outlay must be incurred on cakes, Indian corn, and 

 other purchased food to tide them over until the grass comes. 

 We submit that it is false economy to incur a heavy expenditure 

 in raising turnips and then to leave them at the mercy of the 

 elements during the winter months. It is " a penny wise and 

 pounds foolish " policy. Where manual labour can be procured 

 the expense is not so great as to prove a sufficient obstacle. 

 Where the work of shawing is paid for at the common rate of 

 from lOd. to Is. per 1000 lineal yards, it costs only from os. to 

 6s. per imperial acre. AVhile topping and tailing machines are 

 yet capable of considerable improvement, several of them do the 

 work well, especially when the bulbs are intended for spring 

 use, as by that time it is commonly necessary, even when the 

 tops have been taken off in the ordinary way, to turn them 

 over and hand-clean them before they are cut for stock. On an 

 average there is a heavy loss of unstored roots in Scotland every 

 fourth year, sometimes oftener, and their value would do far 

 more than defray the cost of harvesting the whole of the turnip 

 crop every season, even according to the most expensive process. 

 Indeed, the loss this year alone would have sufficed to store the 

 root crops for the next dozen years at least. To leave turnips 

 unstored in this climate is a speculation, and too many farmers 

 trust in this matter to the chapter of accidents. Many growers 

 are induced to leave their turnips growing by the hope that 

 they will increase in w^eight should the weather continue open. 

 But while they do, in some seasons, become heavier, they dete- 

 riorate in quality ; whereas those stored in pits become 

 thoroughly ripened and undergo an immense improvement as 

 food for stock in the process. The change for the better -which 

 takes place in the quality of roots properly stored is too wide a 



