148 On the Culture of Turnips, Ma^ 



. Your correfpondent obferves very juftly, that tliere is more than 

 twice the number of rows in one acre of land in the Yorkfhire 

 fyftem, than there is in the other. But I by no means agree 

 >vitli him, when he fays, that wlien one is hoed for 4s. per acre, 

 the other may be done for half a crown. The turnips may per- 

 haps be made of a proper thinnefs, with refpe(£l to quantity, at 

 an expence in that proportion ; but no field can be faid to be 

 properly handhoed, unlefs the land is moved by the hoe in every 

 part, however diftant from the plant. Indeed, in this county, 

 it is a common praftice for good farmers to hoe their fields com- 

 pletely over, even when fome parts have failed to produce tur- 

 nips, merely to pulverife the ground, and prevent the growth of 

 weeds. 



Your friend argues much upon the great benefit of ufing the 

 horfe hoe ; and, where it can be done effvjdually, I agree it is 

 an excellent implem.ent : But this is no argument againft the 

 Y'orkfhire method of fowing turnips, as we have hoes that may 

 be fet to any diftance ; and if the land is clear of ftones, will 

 hoe between the rows very well at twelve inches. I know not 

 to what perfe£i:ion they have invented hoes in Scotland \ but 

 I have not yet feen any, that could be ufed to any advantage, 

 acrofs the lands in a field grooving turnips ; and as you fow them 

 in the North on high ridges, it appears impoflible to do them fo ; 

 and therefore they hardly can, I think, be proper-ly cultivated 

 without hand'hoeing at leafi once over. 



I really cannot underfland how hand-hoeing, if properly exe- 

 cuted, can l)e of Icfs advantage to the land, than if done by 

 horfes : The latter may be lefs expenfive ; but perhaps the labour, 

 trouble, and inconvenience attending the putting the dung into 

 the ridges, is fully equal to that. 



One very material objection to the Northumberland method, 

 (in my opinion an unanfwerable one), is, the laying the land up 

 in high ridges, which is a means of evaporating the moifture from 

 the earth, and of expofing the young and tender plants, in a dry 

 feafon, to piercing cold winds, and the fcorching fun. I have for- 

 merly ittn turnips fo fown, entirely eaten up by infetls and the 

 iiy> when thofe done the other way were but little injured, their 

 growth having been lefs retarded by dry weather. How your 

 friend can make his turnips (where they are but 1 1 inches dif- 

 tant in the rows) as large as 8^ inches diameter, I acknowledge 

 I am not able to find out. But fuppofe, for the fake of argu- 

 ment (for I do not admit the faQ) that there ir the difference in 

 the weight of the turnips your friend fays, yet I contend, that 

 they are not fo advantageous to a farmer, as thofe of a lefs fize. 



In good, vv'cll cultivated land, in the Yorkfliire method, if pro^ 

 perly hced^ the root of the turnip will meet and cover the ground. 



Thefs 



