THE PENINSULA. FARMERS' CLUB. 465 



Mr. Montague. — Sometimes that crop brings higli prices and sometimes 

 nothing. 



Mr. Tracy. — Our plan for keeping turnips is this: A Jong ditch made with 

 the plow, the roots thrown in, straw placed on top, and the ground thrown 

 back on them. This was followed, I believe, with the spade. This was thought 

 to be very fine for beets particularly, as they did not heat, and the convenience 

 of getting at them is great. 



Mr. Marshall. — I put 500 bushels together this fall. If I had not opened 

 them early they might have spoiled. They were already heating, though they 

 were by no means so securely covered as we cover potatoes. 



Mr. Tracy. — Root cellars will heat with all the ventilation you are able to 

 give if large quantities are put in together. I adopted an expedient this fall 

 on which I will report next spring. It consists of a ventilator over the top, 

 extending out at each end of the pit. The end may be closed in cold weather. 



Mr. Drew. — One hundred bushels are enough to place in one pit. Throw 

 straw lightly over them, and a little dirt; leave the ends open till cold 

 weather, then close them, and on warm days open again for ventilation. 

 Bruises on turnips will not make them heat, but earth mixed with them gath- 

 ers dampness, which probably generates heat. Laing's purple tups are the 

 best for us. They have no lateral roots, grow partly out of the ground, are 

 sweet and not strong, and for the table cook as easily as potatoes. 



Mr. Eeese. — Eoots invariably begin to rot when you cut off the top. 



Mr. Tracy. — Possibly cutting below the bud occasions decay. Seedsmen 

 claim that the best seed is grown from plants with a single shoot. 



Mr. Parmelee. — I am a skeptic on improved varieties. I have seen Mr. 

 Marshall's turnips, and my opinion is that mine, though not so thoroughly put 

 in, are perhaps as fine as his. 



Mr. Montague. — Of the same variety those sown in drills grow with necks 

 and no bottoms ; those sown broadcast were perfect and very fine. 



Mr. Drew. — Some of our turnips weighed from ten to fifteen pounds; they 

 were not pithy, but solid. 



Mr. McCallum. — One of mine was enough for three meals, and very sweet 

 and fine at that. 



Mr. Tracy. — Cow horns are a good variety. They grow out of the ground. 



Mr. Montague. — I have raised the Russia, a white sweet turnip, which fed 

 to cows does not make the milk taste; but I would not recommend them for 

 feed, as they bring up too much dirt. 



Mr. Marshall. — There is nothing better for general use than the yellow ruta- 

 baga. I plant from the 15th to the 20th of June, earlier here than in the' 

 southern part of the State. 



Mr. Tracy. — At Lansing the last of June or first of July will do. The nights 

 there are warmer. Here our plants grow but little at night. I am now satis- 

 fied that the long orange carrot is the best variety for us. Their depth in the 

 ground is no objection. The subsoil plow brings them out, cutting no roots, 

 but throwing them out about as fast as a horse will walk. 



Mr. B. Lardie. — The subsoil plow does the work effectually, and I am in- 

 clined to think it admirable, in order to ripen up the roots in the fall, to run 

 the plow along one side of the row. 



Mr. Tracy. — My subsoil plow came from Boston. Mr. Holdsworth of Trav- 

 erse City IS getting them up on an improved plan. 



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