290 On the Cnltivation ofRuta Baga. 



cattle to the yard to feed in racks out of doors, as the ma- 

 nure is then left in its proper place. 



There is no difficulty in keeping the Ruta baga : my 

 uniform practice has been to leave the roots as they are 

 cut in a dry state till a proper time occurs for putting 

 them up, which I do, by placing as many as may be 

 wanted for some weeks in a good cellar, where they will 

 not freeze or heat, and the rest in heaps or hogsheads, 

 covered with straw and earth, in a place convenient to the 

 barn yard. In each of these heaps I place an equal quan- 

 tity, of ten bushels, that they may be taken out at once, 

 and last for a given time ; or if I make one large heap, it 

 is with separations of straw, so that one parcel may be 

 taken out without injuring the rest. 



One of the most beneficial effects of the turnip culture 

 is to prepare the land for grain, which it does admirably, 

 both by the manure it takes, and the fine clean state in 

 which it leaves the soil ; but it is generally so late a crop, 

 as not to admit of winter grain, so that the most usual crop 

 sown after it in England is spring barley. I speak thus of 

 its lateness, generally, because it has its exceptions, of 

 which the present year is a remarkable instance. I find 

 that it has been remarked by many, as well as myself, 

 that all the productions of the present year have been 

 very forward, which has been so much the case with tur- 

 nips, that I found mine quite ready to gather by the first 

 of November, so that I had time fully to house them, and 

 sow the ground with wheat, w^hich was put in the 8th of 

 November, and now looks very promising. 



The second object of turnips is as a green winter food, 

 for cattle, a great fattener of them, and the source of a 

 great quantity of manure. I do not speak here of the 

 English practice of feeding turnips on the ground, be- 

 cause this appertains rather to raising of sheep, to the 

 culture of the common turnip, and particularly to some 



