80 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



TURNIPS. 



Dr. Waterbury said that there would soon be a call for cavalry 

 for our army, which would create a demand for forage for the 

 horses. To supply this, horned cattle and sheep should be 

 taken from the hay-mow, and provision made for feeding them 

 on turnips. It is not too late in the season for sowing that 

 crop. 



Dr. Trimble suggested that the blockade of the Southern ports 

 had cut off that market for our hay crop, and hence that which 

 was formerly sent thither Avill be on hand for the army horses. 

 Many articles of consumption are now unusually low, because 

 there is no market for them in the South. Even eggs were sent 

 from New York to Galveston, last year. 



Mr. Carpenter considered the turnip crop important for the 

 health of cattle. They will thrive better with an occasional 

 mess of turnips, and if necessary can be fed with them altogether. 

 In England the turnip crop is considered one of the most valua- 

 ble crops grown. Cattle are fatted on turnips principally. Tur- 

 nips can be raised very cheaply ; they cost but 7 cts. per bushel, 

 and sometimes even less, but little more than the cost of storing. 

 Nor is it too late to sow buckwheat, or even corn. The finest crop 

 of corn he had ever raised was planted after the 5th of June j 

 although that is too late for corn as a general rule. 



Dr. AVaterbury said that history showed the effect of war to be 

 to raise the price of agricultural produce. If prices are now 

 lower, it is merely the temporary result of shutting up the out- 

 lets. The kind of turnip he preferred, was the ruta baga, being 

 richer and containing more substance than the white turnip. 

 The white turnip contains so much water that cattle are some- 

 times said to do better, on feeding them with turnips, if denied 

 all other water than that contained in their food. The ruta 

 baga turnip can be planted in drills, either with a small sowing- 

 machine, or by attaching a tin cup with a small hole in the bot- 

 tom, to a stick, for a handle, so that the seeds may rattle through 

 the hole. Turnips require the best of land. The rows ought to 

 be from twenty inches to two feet apart. If the land will yield 

 100 bushels of corn to the acre, he would recommend the distance 

 of two feet. It is well to mark the rows by placing a long board 

 four inches wide by the side of the row in planting, and walking 

 across it. This makes a mark which can be readily seen for a 



