r 



REPORT OF MR. S. A. BEDFORD 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



291 



EXPERIMENTS WITH TURNIPS. 



.sowings were 



Tliirty varieties of turnips were tested this year. As usual two 

 made of each variety. The first on May 25 and the second on June 9. The first 

 sowing was covered by water for some days, which so packed tlie soil that the yield was 

 materially lessened. The second sowing escaped the flood, and for the first time in the 

 history of the farm nearly all varieties gave a larger yield than those of the early sowing. 

 The roots from both sowings were pulled October 2. 



The soil on which the turnips were Sown wa.s a clay loam. The previous crop was 

 potatoes. The seed was sown in drills thirty inches apart, and the yield has been cal- 

 culated fi'om the weight of roots gathered from two rows each sixty-six feet long. All 

 were pulled on October 2. 



TURNIPS TEST OF VARIETIES. 



Name of Varieties. 



Skirving's , 



(Jliampion Purple Top . . 

 Webb's New Renown. , . 



New Arctic , 



Bangholm Selected 



Magnum Bonum . 



Good Luck 



Shamrock Purple Top. . , 



Kangaroo 



Perfection Swede , 



Sutton's Champion 



Jumbo 



Selected Champion 



Halewood's Bronze Top. 



Marquis of Lome 



Prize Purple Top 



West Norfolk Red Top . 



I^all's Weatbury 



(jriaiit King 



Prize Winner 



East Lothian 



New Century 



Elephant's Master 



Drummond Purple Top. . 



Carter's Elephant 



Selected Purple Top 



Monarch ^ 



Emperor 



Mammoth Clyde 



Imperial Swede . 



Character 



of 

 Growth. 



Strong. 



Fair. 



Strong . 

 Fair. . . 



Strong.. 

 Weak . . 

 Fair. . . . 

 Strong. . 

 Fair. . . . 



Strong. 



Fair. . . , 

 Strung. . 



Fair. 



jWeak . 

 Fair. ?. 



Yield per 



Acre. 

 1st Plot. 



Bush. Lbs 



840 

 730 

 708 

 699 

 660 

 642 

 633 

 602 

 620 

 607 

 585 

 567 

 541 

 519 

 514 

 514 

 514 

 510 

 506 

 501 

 492 

 466 

 466 

 462 

 457 

 440 

 422 

 396 

 356 

 321 



24 



24 

 24 

 36 



24 

 36 

 48 

 24 

 12 

 12 

 36 

 12 

 12 

 48 

 48 

 48 

 24 



36 

 48 

 24 

 24 



36 



24 



24 



12 



Yield per 



Acre. 

 2nd Plot. 



Tons. Lbs. 



18 

 26 

 23 

 21 

 20 

 20 

 22 

 20 

 21 

 23 

 19 

 15 

 13 

 18 

 17 

 20 

 16 

 15 

 16 

 21 

 16 

 17 

 16 

 21 

 15 

 19 

 16 

 17 

 21 

 20 



696 



536 



464 



768 



1,184 



392 



616 



920 



504 



1,784 



280 



1,680 



400 



1,488 



1,904 



920 



208 



1,416 



1,264 



768 



1,264 



1,640 



208 



504 



360 



544 



1,000 



56 



1,560 



1,976 



Yield per 



Acre. 

 2nd Plot. 



Bush- Lbs. 



611 

 875 

 774 

 712 

 686 

 673 

 743 

 682 

 708 

 796 

 638 

 528 

 440 

 624 

 598 

 682 

 536 

 523 

 554 

 712 

 554 

 594 

 536 

 708 

 506 

 642 

 5.50 

 567 

 726 

 699 



36 

 36 

 24 

 48 

 24 

 12 

 36 



24 

 24 



48 

 24 



48 

 36 

 24 

 48 

 24 



48 

 24 



2-i 



36 



hi; 



ib — LVi 



