RUT A BAG A CULTURE 



Time and Manner of Harvesting. 



104. This must depend, in some measure, upon the age of the 

 turnip ; for, some will have their full growth earlier than others, 

 that is to say, those, which are sown first, or transplanted first 

 will be ripe before those which are sown, or transplanted latest. 

 I have made ample experiments as to this matter ; and I will, as 

 in former cases, first relate what I did : and then give rny opinion 

 as to what ought to be done. 



105. This was a concern in which I could have no knowledge 

 last fall, never having seen any turnips harvested in America, and 

 knowing, that, as to American frosts, English experience was only 

 likely to mislead ; for, in England, we leave the roots standing in 

 the ground all the winter, where we feed them off with sheep, 

 which scoop them out to the very bottom ; or we pull them as we 

 want them, and bring them in to give to fatting oxen, to cows, 

 or hogs. I had a great opinion of the hardiness of the Ruta Baga, 

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

 scale. 



1 06. I began with the piece, the first mentioned in paragraph 

 46 : a part of them were taken up on the 13^/2 of December, 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, however, just to loosen them along the ridges, 

 into which their tap-roots had descended very deeply. We dug 

 holes at convenient distances, of a square form, and about a foot 

 deep. We put into each hole about fifty bushels of turnips, piling 

 them up above the level of the surface of the land, in a sort of 

 pyramidical form. When the heap was made, we 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 point the covering at top, 

 in order to keep out wet. 



107. Thus was a small part of the piece put up. The I4th of 

 December was a Sunday, a day that I can find no Gospel precept 

 for 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 sharp frost. Resolved to finish this 

 piece on that day, I borrowed 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 half 

 of the hands to go before the pullers and loosen the turnips with a 

 spade in the frosty ground. About ten o clock, I saw, that we 

 should not finish, and there was every appearance of a hard frost 



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