TURNIPS. 



363 



with a chain harrow, a hoe, or by hand. The following method of harvesting turnips is 

 given by a leading farmer in the State of New York: 



&quot; The one thing that makes labor in the root-field so unpalatable to Americans is the con 

 stant stooping that it nearly always involves. I obviate this almost entirely in harvesting 

 by using the hoe, ground sharp. With this in your hands, begin at the outside row, and 

 as you follow it down, cut the top clean from each turnip with the blade, striking right or 

 left, as is most convenient. The impetus given to the top will carry it about half way to the 

 adjoining row. Returning in this, you strike in the same direction, and so proceed. After 

 a few minutes practice, two or three tops may be cut with one blow, and almost any one can 

 &quot;top&quot; as fast as he ordinarily walks. After the field has been thus &quot;topped,&quot; it will present 

 this appearance: Two rows of turnips will alternate with each row of tops. In pulling the 

 roots, strike the blade of the hoe back of the turnip, and with a quick jerk, pull it toward the 

 adjoining row, pulled or unpulled. The blade of the hoe cuts many of the lateral roots, thus 

 rendering the task of pulling comparatively easy. After topping and pulling, a row of 

 turnips will alternate with a row of tops; and in hauling, the wagon should be driven between 

 these rows of turnips. I have myself topped and pulled by this method four hundred and 

 five hundred bushels in ten hours.&quot; The tops are worth gathering as food for stock. 



ROOT CUTTEK. 



BOOT CUTTER. 



Storing. Turnips require a cool, dark place for storage. &quot;When raised only in small 

 quantities they may be stored in a cellar, either in bins or upon the ground. They will keep 

 better to have but a few bushels in a place, and cover slightly with earth or sand. Heat 

 is detrimental, but they will bear considerable cold without injury. 



They may be preserved in very good condition in trenches; in fact, all root crops will 

 keep better in trenches than in a common cellar, and come out in the spring almost as fresh 

 as when put in, providing the trenches are properly managed. They should not, however, 

 be piled deep in such pits. Trenches from two to two and a half feet wide and two and a 

 half feet deep, and as long as required for the quantity to be stored, are the best for this 

 purpose. The turnips should be put in to the depth of only a foot and then covered with the 

 earth that was thrown out in digging. It is better to have the soil for the pits quite dry, and 

 the land a little sloping, to admit of drainage. Should the weather be very severe, a covering 

 of stable manure thrown upon the tops of the trenches will prevent freezing. A root-cellar, 

 made similar to a silo, and which has been previously recommended for the storage of potatoes, 



