SWEDISH TURNIPS 



POSTSCRIPT TO THE CHAPTER ON SWEDISH TURNIPS. 



247. Since writing the above, I have seen Mr. JUDGE MITCHELL, 

 and having requested him to favour me with a written account 

 of his experiment, he has obligingly complied with my request 

 in a letter, which I here insert, together with my answer. 



Ploudome, 7 Dec. 1818. 

 DEAR SIR, 



248. About the first of June last, I received the First Part of 

 your Year s Residence in the United States, which I was much 

 pleased with, and particularly the latter part of the book, which 

 contains a treatise on the culture of the Ruta Baga. This mode of 

 culture was new to me, and I thought it almost impossible that 

 a thousand bushels should be raised from one acre of ground. 

 However, I felt very anxious to try the experiment in a small 

 way. 



249. Accordingly, on the 6th day of June, I ploughed up a small 

 piece of ground, joining my salt meadow, containing sixty -five 

 rods, that had not been ploughed for nearly thirty years. I 

 ploughed the ground deep, and spread on it about ten waggon 

 loads of composition manure : that is to say, rich earth and yard 

 manure mixed in a heap, a layer of each alternately. I then 

 harrowed the ground with an iron-toothed harrow, until the sur 

 face was mellow, and the manure well mixed with the earth. 



250. On the first of July I harrowed the ground over several 

 times, and got the surface in good order ; but, in consequence of 

 such late ploughing, I dared not venture to cross-plough, for fear 

 of tearing up the sods, which were not yet rotten. On the 7th 

 of July I ridged the ground, throwing four furrows together, and 

 leaving the tops of the ridges four feet asunder, and without 

 putting in any manure. I went veiy shoal with the plough, 

 because deep ploughing would have turned up the sods. 



251 . On the eighth of July I sowed the seed, in single rows on the 

 tops of the ridges, on all the ridges except about eighteen. On 

 eight of these I sowed the seed on the iQth of July, when the first 

 sov/ing was up, and very severely attacked by the flea : and I was 

 fearful of losing the whole of the crop by that insect. About the 

 last of July there came a shower, which gave the turnips a start ; 

 and, on the eighth day of August I transplanted eight of the re 

 maining rows, early in the morning. The weather was now very 

 dry, and the turnips sown on the iQth of July were just coming 

 up. On the loth of August I transplanted the two other rows at 

 mid-day, and, in consequence of such dry weather, the tops all 

 died ; but, in a few days, began to look green. And, in a few 

 weeks, those that had been transplanted looked as thrifty as those 

 that had been sown. 



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