Chap. II.] RuTA Baga cui.TrRE," Tft 



resolved to try it here, and I did try it upon too large 

 a scale. 



106. I began with the piece, the first mentioned in 

 paragraph 46 ; a part oi" them were taken up on the 

 13/A o/' Decewi6er, after we had had some pretty hard 

 frosts. The manner of doing the work was this. We took 

 up the turnips merely by pulling them. The greens had 

 been cut off and given to cattle before. It required a 

 spade, hoM'ever, just to loosen them along the ridges, 

 into which their tap-roots had descended very deeply. 

 We dug holes at convenient distances, ofa square form, 

 and about a foot deep. We piit into each hole about 

 fifty bushels of turnips, piling them up above the level 

 of the surface of the land, in a sort of pyraraidical Ibrm. 

 When the heap was made. Me scattered over it about 

 a truss of rye-straw, and threw earth over the whole to 

 a thickness of about a foot, taking care to poiiit the co- 

 vering at top, in order to keep out wet. 



107. Thus was a small part of the piece put up. 

 The 14th of December was a Sunday, a day that I 

 can find no Gospel precept ibr devoting to the throwing 

 away of the fruit of one's labours, and a day which I 

 never will so devote again. However, I ought to have 

 been earlier. On the Monday it rained. On the 

 Monday night came a sharp North-Wester with its 

 usual companion, at this season ; that is to say, a shai'p 

 frost. Resolved to fini.sh this piece on that day, I bor- 

 rowed hands from my neighbours, who are always 

 ready to assist one another. We had about two acres 

 and a half to do ; and it was necessary to employ about 

 one Art//' of the hands to go before thepM//f?rs and loosen 

 the turnips with a spade in the frosty ground. About 

 ten o'clock, 1 saw, that we should not finish, and there 

 was every appearance of a hard frost at night. In 

 order, therefore, to expedite the work, I called in the 

 aid of those efficient fiellow-labourers, a pair of oxen, 

 which, with a good strong plough, going up one side of 

 each row of turnips, took a way the earth close to the 

 bulbs, left them bare on one side, and thus made it ex- 

 tremely easy to pull them up. Wo wanted spades no 

 longer ; all our hands were employed taking up the 

 turnips ; and our job, instead of being half done that 



