250 On the Agriculture of the Netherlands. 



the rich alluvial soils of Holland ; but here there is not that 

 careful cultivation which is found in the poor sands of Flanders. 

 Rape, wheat, beans, and oats often follow one another, and the 

 land is then regularly fallowed, and a large dressing of manure is 

 given for another exhausting course. 



Turnips are seldom sown in the Netherlands otherwise than as 

 a second crop after rye or winter barley. This root was, how- 

 ever, cultivated in the Low Countries for more than a century 

 before it found its way into British husbandry as a regularly re- 

 turning crop. The circumstance of the early maturity of rye on 

 light soils, no doubt, suggested the idea of raising another crop 

 before winter ; and turnips, which require to be sown late, natu- 

 rally appeared well suited for this purpose. No time, however, 

 was to be lost, for a few days' delay in sowing the seed may make 

 the difference of a good crop or an entire failure. Those kinds 

 of turnips which grew most rapidly were consequently preferred, 

 without great regard to the size which some others might attain 

 when they had sufficient time to grow to perfection. Large 

 turnips are not thought so nutritious as the smaller, and 4 or 5 

 inches in diameter is considered as a very good size for a turnip. 

 The rye is no sooner cut and tied into sheaves than the land is 

 ploughed, or the stubble cut with a heavy hoe, which stirs the 

 soil 2 or 3 inches deep. The roots of the rye are raked off, and 

 either burned or carried into the yard to be converted into manure 

 in the croupissoir mentioned before. The surface is well soaked 

 with liquid manure, and the turnip -seed is sown broadcast, 

 rather thick, and harrowed in. In the sandy soils the roller is 

 drawn over, and makes all the surface level and compact. A 

 very few days are required to bring the plants up, and there are 

 seldom any complaints of the ravages of the fly. When the 

 rough leaf expands, the crop is hoed or more frequently weeded 

 and thinned by hand. The turnips are left 3 or 4 inches apart, 

 and when they have acquired the size of walnuts or small apples, 

 they are again thinned out, the thinnings being carried to the 

 house to be mixed with the food of the cows. In three months, if 

 the season has not been very hot and dry, there is a very decent 

 crop of turnips, which are pulled and washed, and the tops cut off. 

 The green part is given immediately to the cows and pigs, and 

 the bulbs are stored in the root-cellar, a spacious vault partly 

 under ground, which is a necessary appendage to the buildings of 

 every farm-yard. Thus the land is clean and ready to apply a 

 good dressing of manure, which being ploughed in, the second 

 crop of rye is sown without any fear of its not succeeding. 



rhere are several causes which would prevent this system from 

 being successfully adopted in England. The rye and barley 

 harvest are not so early • and before the land can be prepared for 



