SWEDISH TURNIPS 



&quot; the philosophers.&quot; If this page should have the honour to meet 

 the eye of LORD COCHRANE, it will remind him of one of the many 

 happy hours that we have passed together, and I beg him to regard 

 any mention of the incident as a mark of that love and respect 

 which I bear towards him, and of the ardent desire I constantly 

 have to see him avenged on all vile, cowardly, perjured and in 

 famous persecutors. 



243. When any one has told me, what it is that makes &quot; grass 

 green,&quot; I shall be able to tell him what it is that makes darkness 

 preserve turnips ; and, in the meanwhile, I am quite content 

 with a perfect knowledge of the effects. 



244. So far for the preservation while winter lasts : but, then, 

 how to manage the roots when spring comes ? Take the turnips 

 out of the heaps ; spread them upon the ground round about, or 

 any where else in the sun. Let them get perfectly dry. If they 

 lie a month in sun and rain alternately, it does not signify. They 

 will take no injury. Throw them on a barn s floor : throw them 

 into a shed : put them any where out of the way ; only do not 

 put them in thick heaps : for then they will heat, perhaps, and 

 grow a little. I believe they may be kept the whole year perfectly 

 sound and good ; but, at any rate, I kept them thus, last year, 

 till July. 



245. Of saving seed I have some little to say. I saved some, 

 in order to see whether it degenerated : but, having, before the 

 seed was ripe, had such complete proof of the degeneracy of 

 cabbage seed : having been assured by Mr. WILLIAM SMITH, of 

 Great Neck, that the Swedish turnip seed had degenerated with 

 him to a long whitish root ; and, having, besides, seen the long, 

 pale looking things in New York Market in June ; I took no care 

 of what I had growing, being sure of the real sort from England. 

 However, Mr. BYRD S were from his own seedy which he has saved 

 for several years. They differ from mine. They are longer in 

 proportion to their circumference. The leaf is rather more 

 pointed, and the inside of the bulb is not of so deep a yellow. 

 Some of Mr. BYRD S have a little hole towards the crown, and the 

 flesh is spotted with white where the green is cut off. He ascribes 

 these defects to the season ; and it ma y be so ; but, I perceive 

 them in none of my turnips, which are as clear and as sound, 

 though not so large, as they were last year. 



246. Seed is a great matter. Perhaps the best way, for farmers 

 in general, would be always to save some, culling the plants care 

 fully, as mentioned in paragraph 32. This might be sown, and 

 also some English seed, the expense being so very trifling com 

 pared with the value of the object. At any rate, by saving some 

 seed, a man has something to sow ; and he has it always ready. 

 He might change his seed once in three or four years. But, 

 never forgetting carefully to select the plants, from which the 

 seed is to be raised. 



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