AGRICULTURE. 



pulverised before turnips are sown. It is usually 

 drawn up, by the double-moulded plough, into 

 drills or ridges, about twenty-seven inches apart, 

 into which the manure is spread. The manure 

 being covered by 'splitting' the ridges by the 

 plough, the seed is sown by machine on their 

 crests. This enables the young plants to obtain a 

 ready supply of manure, which promotes a rapid 

 growth. When the leaves are about two inches 

 high, Tennant's grubber should be used betwixt 

 the rows ; and thinning may then be commenced. 

 This is done by hand-hoes ; and the work being 

 light, it is frequently performed by women and 

 boys. Three expert hoers may go over an acre a 

 day. The crops are frequently drill-horse hoed or 

 grubbed during their growth. Earthing up the 

 turnips by the plough is less frequently practised 

 than formerly, excepting upon stiff clay soils. 



To raise maximum crops of turnips, the soil 

 must not only be well cultivated, but highly man- 

 ured. All those varieties which are early sown 

 should be most liberally dressed with matters 

 yielding carbonic acid and ammonia, for the 

 simple reason, that the longer a plant lives the 

 more it can digest and assimilate ; and further, all 

 those varieties whose growth is extended over the 

 longest period, should have the manure supplied 

 in the most carbonaceous form, which is the best 

 means of slowly yielding up the active elements 

 as the crops require them. Farm-yard manure is 

 best adapted for prolonging the growth of turnips 

 in autumn ; and their early growth is best pro- 

 moted by guano and other soluble nitrogenous 

 manures. 



Phosphoric manures are largely and effica- 

 ciously employed in raising late-sown turnips. 

 Except on rich soil, these manures can never 

 be relied upon to raise maximum crops of 

 turnips, which require more ammonia than any 

 of the cereals. It ought to be borne in mind, 

 however, that in nineteen cases out of twenty in 

 which phosphates are beneficially applied to the 

 turnips, there is really abundance of phosphoric 

 acid diffused through the soil ; the necessity of an 

 artificial supply is owing to the small seeds of the 

 turnip requiring a concentrated dose placed within 

 reach of their rootlets, so as to promote their 

 rapid development Phosphates enable the tur- 

 nip-plant to form roots and leaves, without which 

 it cannot appropriate the nutrient matters exist- 

 ing either in the soil or the atmosphere. Medium 

 crops of turnips may often be got by dressing 

 with superphosphate of lime, in the middle of 

 June in Scotland, when the crops have little time 

 to grow ; but this manure, unless combined with 

 matters yielding ammonia, cannot be relied upon 

 to raise a crop of turnips which is sown in the 

 middle of May. 



Turnips are either consumed by sheep on the 

 fields in which they grow, in grass-fields, in fold- 

 yards, or feeding-houses. In the vicinity of large 

 towns, they are sold to cow-feeders. This depart- 

 ment of agriculture will be treated in CATTLE 

 AND DAIRY HUSBANDRY. 



After having the roots and leaves cut off, the 

 bulbs of the turnips are usually stored in heaps 

 about eight feet in width, and piled up as high as 

 they will lie on this breadth of base. They are 

 covered with straw, which is fixed on with ropes, 

 or sometimes a spadeful of earth is thrown on, to 

 prevent the wind blowing it off. Earth, however, 



is so far objectionable, as it prevents the gases 

 from escaping, and encourages fermentation. The 

 most common error is putting too great a quantity 

 of turnips together, for the heat ferments and the 

 roots decay. Perhaps the most simple and best 

 mode of storing turnips is to lay them out in a 

 field adjoining the farm-steading, in large heaps, 

 level on the top. The only precaution necessary 

 is, not to make the heap more than two feet in 

 depth. A quantity of loose straw is thrown over 

 the top of the heap, which the first shower of rain 

 is sufficient to beat down, so as to require no 

 further fastening. When stored in this way, 

 turnips resist the frosts better than when piled up 

 in pits, which are more exposed to the wind ; and 

 they are also less liable to sprout in spring, as the 

 straw keeps them moist and cool. In storing 

 turnips which are to be early consumed, care 

 must be taken not to cart them in when in a 

 frozen state, or covered with hoar-frost. 



Mangel-wurzel. The productive powers of the 

 Swede are more limited in England than Scot- 

 land, or, in other words, larger crops can be grown 

 in the latter. Any deficiencies, however, which 

 exist in the root-growing capabilities of the south- 

 ern climate with respect to turnips, are amply 

 made up by its adaptation to the growth of 

 mangel-wurzel. 



The plant having small seeds, and being sown 

 fully one month earlier than the Swede, must be 

 liberally supplied with manures yielding phos- 

 phates and ammonia. With the exception of 

 Italian rye-grass, or the cabbage, no other plant 

 is capable of working up or assimilating a greater 

 quantity of food in a season. The capacity of 

 the mangel for manure is seen when planted on 

 the richest garden-ground, or on spots from which 

 dunghills have been removed. In these circum- 

 stances, turnips will only grow to leaves and 

 stems, while mangel will produce large roots. In 

 highly manured land in the south of England, 

 very large crops of mangel are raised, far out- 

 weighing the produce of Swedes in this country. 



Mangel-wurzel is an inferior plant to the Swede 

 in the climate of Scotland, for, even with the most 

 liberal treatment, the crops are comparatively 

 light. In our colder climate, also, the plants have 

 a much greater tendency to seed than in the 

 south. In the inferior produce of the mangel, 

 and this tendency of the plants to seed, the effects 

 of the lower temperature of Scotland are more 

 clearly exhibited than by any other cultivated 

 crop. 



One of the chief elements that hasten the seed- 

 ing of plants is a scanty supply of food. The 

 growth of the cabbage, for instance, in its leafy 

 state, is only protracted by a liberal allowance of 

 manure. Indeed, the abnormal supply of food 

 that vegetables obtain in their cultivated con- 

 dition, is the principal influence which alters their 

 habits of growth. Liberal manuring, and a soil 

 of good physical capacity, are well known to have 

 the effect of protracting the period of bulbing in 

 turnips ; while the opposite conditions, light man- 

 uring and a dry soil, cause the plants to flower. 



It is only a modification of the same principle 

 that we have stated above that is in operation, 

 when mangel flowers in summer in colder climates. 

 Plants, like animals, may be starved by cold as 

 well as by a want of food. A want of moisture, 

 also, has the effect of making vegetables form 



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