TURNIPS AND RUTABAGAS 395 



and red in color. The flesh is white or yellow; it is usually 

 white in tui-nips and yellow in rutabagas. Turnips mature 

 more quickly, wliile rutabagas have a higher feeding value 

 and keep better. 



535. Culture. Rutabagas and turnips grow best in a 

 cool, moist cUmate and in a sandy loam soil. The prepara- 

 tion of the soil, seeding, cultivation, harvesting, and storing 

 are not different from the treatment which has been recom- 

 mended for mangels. From 2 to 3 pounds of turnip and 4 

 to 5 pounds of rutabaga seed is required to the acre. As 

 turnips make their growth in from two to three months, they 

 may be sown in the late summer and yet mature a crop 

 before frost. They grow best in cool weather, and for fall 

 and winter use should not be sown till the latter part of July. 

 Rutabagas, on the other hand, require from four to six 

 months to reach maturity, and must be sown in May or June. 



536. Uses. Turnips and rutabagas are largely used in 

 England for feeding to stock, and to some extent in Canada, 

 but they are seldom grown for this purpose in the United 

 States. They are equal in feeding value to mangels and 

 other root crops, and the grain ration may be materially 

 reduced when they are used. Rutabagas are especially good 

 for feeding to pigs. As turnips do not keep well, they should 

 be fed in the early fall; rutabagas may be kept through the 

 winter without much difficulty. When all the root crops 

 are grown, turnips are usually fed first, being either pas- 

 tured off or fed as soon as they are harvested; rutabagas 

 are then used till about January 1, after which mangels are 

 substituted. Rutabagas may be fed throughout the winter. 



CABBAGE AND KOHL-RABI 



537. Culture and Uses. Cabbage and kohl-rabi are dif- 

 ferent forms of the same original plant, Brassica oleracea. 

 In cabbage, the food material is stored in the leaves, which 

 form a compact head, while in kohl-rabi it is stored in an 



