214 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



and round like the seed of the cabbage and cauliflower 

 and are in similarly shaped pods. 



Turnip. The turnip is essentially a cold weather plant 

 and does best when most of its growth is made during the 

 autumn. It is grown to some extent in the spring, but 

 there is very little call for it until cool weather. 



Culture. The turnip needs to be grown very rapidly 

 to have the best quality. The best soil for it is a friable, 

 rich, sandy loam, free from fresh manure. Sod land that 



Fig. 87. White Strap Leaf turnip. 



has been recently broken up is excellent for turnips; 

 but on old land, i. e., that which has been cultivated for 

 several years, or where there is fresh manure, the roots 

 are often wormy. When grown for early use some quick- 

 maturing kinds should be planted as early in the spring 

 as the soil can be worked, in rows fifteen inches apart. 

 The seed should be sown rather thickly and the seedlings 

 thinned out two or three inches apart after all danger 

 from the flea beetle has passed. (This insect is the same 

 as that which attacks cabbage.) 



