CULTURE OP THE TURNIP. 179 



purchased. The largest potatoes grow from eyes taken 

 from that part of the tuber nearest the stalk. 



608. The crop may require two careful hoeings, and 

 the weeds should be kept down by further cultivation, 

 if necessary. At the first hoeing, when the plants are 

 from one to two inches high, the plough or the cultivator 

 may be used between the rows, as the workman may 

 prefer. 



609. The crop is harvested in the month of September 

 or October, according to location and the variety, being 

 lifted out of the ground by the hoe, or, which is far 

 better, the eight-tined fork. Some farmers run a furrow 

 with the common plough through the rows. 



610. The Turnip. The turnip is cultivated with the 

 highest success only in a moist and equable climate. In 

 this country, on account of the excessive droughts to 

 which we are subject, the large size of root and luxuriant 

 growth so frequently found in Scotland and the west 

 of England, are seldom to be seen. Possibly the 

 deficiency in weight of the crop may be made up by a 

 greater amount of nutriment in proportion to weight, as 

 in the case of grasses and other plants grown in a dryer 

 climate. But this must be determined by more extended 

 experiment and accurate analysis. 



611. The common turnip is very highly esteemed as a 

 valuable food for stock, especially for sheep, and its 

 cultivation is regarded as one of the best methods 

 of preparing the soil for a succeeding crop of grain. 



612. Experience has shown that it is very advantageous 

 to raise alternately a deep or tap-rooted crop like the 

 turnip, carrot or parsnip, and a surface-rooted one like 

 wheat, rye, barley, &c. The form of the root of some 

 of these plants is shown in figure 34. The root crop is 



16* 



