232 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Cli. XVIII. 



their wants, for the purpose of salting tliem down for winter consumption. 

 This, indeed, saved the expense of feeding ; but, besides abridging the 

 comforts of llie table, it prevented the production of manure for the culture 

 of the land, which thus became impoverished, and it was not until the 

 admission of turnips into our farming system, tliat those inconveniences 

 were remedied. They are now, liowever, universally grown for the 

 common food of sheep and oxen, upon all soils to which they are adapted ; 

 and lands so ])Oor as to be formerly worthless under the plough, have 

 now been rendered productive by the application of the dressings which 

 they furnish. 



SOIL AND SPECIES. 



The soil best adapted to turnips is of a dry-bottomed free nature, of 

 some depth and fenility ; but, although distinctively termed " turnip- 

 land,'' it yet comprises every species of earth which can be profitably 

 used for any arable purpose, provided it be light, dry, and friable : con- 

 sequently exclusive of heavy clays. It must, however, be understood, 

 that although the common root can be grown on the poorest sands and 

 gravels, yet there are some species which require stronger soils — even 

 rich, free loams; and they all demand very careful culture, with an 

 abundant supply of manure. The plant delights in a cool, temperate, and 

 moist climate, and therefore thrives better in those districts upon the 

 borders of England and Scotland, than in our southern counties : its culture 

 is also more general in those parts ; and as — like every thing else — it is 

 best understood where most practised, it is chiefly with reference to the 

 management there adopted that our remarks will be directed. 



There are several kinds of this valuable root, and new varieties are con- 

 stantly produced ; but, although distinguished by different appellations — 

 as " the white, the green, the purple, and the red-topped ;" " the tankard," 

 which, though large, is porous and unsubstantial ; " the Norfolk," and " the 

 globe " — and varying in appearance from the globular form to the flat- 

 topped and the oval, or pear-shaped, they may yet be generally classed 

 under the heads of the white and yellow species, and the Swedish. 



The white globe, or Norfolk turnip, was the first known, and is the 

 most commonly cultivated ; particularly as being the best suited to those 

 light soils which are generally devoted to the feeding of sheep, as pro- 

 ducing tlie heaviest crops, and as coming the most early into use. It 

 grows to the largest size, partly out of the ground, and is very sweet ; l;ut it 

 is tender, and should be consumed before Christmas, while its leaves are 

 green and its bulbs large and succulent, otherwise it grows pithy, and rarely 

 survives the frost, or else runs to seed, and thus becomes useless as food. 

 Of this, however, there are other sorts, the roots of which, being more 

 deeply inserted in the ground, better support the severity of winter : of 

 these there is a small, hard kind, — called the " stone-turnip,"' — which stands 

 the weather better than most others, and being not alone equally sw^eet, but 

 of a finer grain and of greater specific gravity, is very generally grown 

 in order to secure a succession of feed ; but it does not attain so large a 

 size. 



The Aberdeen yellow '\s an intermediate species— between the "globe" and 

 the " Swede" — of a hardier nature than the former, and is of considerably 

 slower growth : it is therefore sown earlier than the first kind, and also 

 remains much longer in the ground ; which brings it into use after the other 

 sorts have been consumed. It bears large crops, and. though not so large 

 as the Norfolk, is fully as nutritious as any of the white kind, but is not so 



