148 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



care to seclude them from air and light, and absolute dryness 

 seem to be essential to their preservation. They are fre- 

 quently kept by piling in heaps on dry earth, which are still 

 more secure with a layer beneath of corn stalks or dry pine 

 boughs 6 or 8 inches deep. On this pack the roots in piles 

 6 feet in diameter. Cover with corn stalks and dry earth, 

 and protect this with a roof of boards and a ditch deep enough 

 to carry off all water. There must be a hole at the top slight- 

 ly stopped with straw to permit the escape of heated air and 

 to preserve uniformity of temperature. There are numerous 

 varieties of the sweet potato, red, yellow, &c. They yield 

 from 200 to 300 bushels per acre and under favorable cir- 

 cumstances sometimes double this quantity. 



THE TURNEP (Brassica rapa.) 



The common flat English turnep was introduced into this 

 country with our English ancestry and has ever since been 

 an object of cultivation. When boiled it is an agreeable ve- 

 getable for the table. Its principal value however is food 

 for cattle and sheep by which it is eaten uncooked. Its 

 comparative nutritive properties are small, but the great bulk 

 which can be raised on a given piece of ground, and the fa- 

 cility and economy of cultivation, have always rendered it a 

 favorite with such farmers, as have soil and stock adapted to 

 its profitable production and use. 



A GOOD SOIL for it is a fertile sand or well drained loam. 

 Any soil adapted to Indian corn will produce good turncps. 

 But it is only on new land or freshly turned sod, that they are 

 most successful. An untilled virgin earth with the rich dres- 

 sing of ashes left after the recent burning of accumulated ve- 

 getable matter, and free from weeds and insects, is the surest 

 and most productive for a turnep crop. Such land ne>;U 

 no manure. For a sward ground, or clover ley, there should 

 be a heavy dressing of fresh, unfermented manure before 

 plowing. 



CULTIVATION. Turncps are sown from the 13th of June 

 to the 1st of August. The first give a greater yield ; the las! 

 generally a sounder root and capable of longer preservation. 

 The ground should In-, plowed and harrowed immediately be- 

 fore sowing as the moisture insures rapid germination of tin- 

 seed, which is of great importance to get it beyond the reach 

 of insects as soon as possible. This may be sown broadcast 

 at the rate of one or two pounds per acre and lightly harrowed 

 and rolled ; or it is better to be sown in drills, when a less 



