248 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XVIII, 



shafts for carrying Imrdles. The cost of such a cart with the cutting 

 apparatus would be from fourteen to seventeen guineas ; and we think it 

 would be found eminently serviceable to large flock-masters. 



The Barrow iurniji-slicer, described at foot, is an implement used for 

 the same purpose, and also constructed by Messrs. Ransome. 



It consists of a flat steel knife, A, placed upon a vertical iron wheel, which is turned 

 by a crank, as shown in the accompanying cut. The turni[)S are put into the hopper, 

 at B, which stands in a slantii:g direction towards the wlieel. Bj' turning the crank 

 the knife passes across the lower end of the hopper, and thus cuts the turnips into slices 

 of about half an inch thick, which fall through into a skep, or basket, placed beneath. 

 When it is requisite to cut them into smaller pieces, a set of small knivts are introduced 

 so as to stand crosswise before the edge of the flat knife, and thus, in passing the hopper, 

 cut each slice into strips of about one inch wide. These knives are fixed upon a small 

 plate, and may be inserted or removed at pleasure. 



If wanted for in-door work, these cutters are generally fitted up on a 

 stout wooden stand of sufficient height to admit of a basket being placed 

 underneath to receive the turnips ; but if to be used out of doors, we pre- 

 fer placing them upon a barrow with a moveable bottom ; and the barrow 

 is wheeled from heap to heap or from trough to trough, instead of removing 

 the turnips. They are certainly very liandy tools, for a man and a boy, 

 working one of them at moderate speed, will cut with ease one bushel per 

 minute ; they are, therefore, coming mucli into use, and their cost is 

 only three guineas. 



The value of an acre of turnips is, in consequence of the differences in 

 soil and seasons, so very various, and fluctuates so much according to the 

 demand and modes of ap})lication, that nothing decisive can be stated on 

 tlie subject. AVhen drawn and carried off the land for town consumjition 

 in the neighbourhood of large cities, they are sometimes extravagantly 

 dear, and are not unfrequently contracted for by market-men and cow- 

 keepers at from eight to ten guineas, and even still larger sums. Hardly 

 any price can, however, be said to compensate for the loss of the manure ; 

 for, even if dung be carried back, that will not supply the waste of urine 

 of which unusually large quantities are voided by animals which are fed 

 on turnips. 



It is by no means uncommon among flock-masters in upland districts, 

 or holding land wliich runs bare of pasture, to feed a portion of their sheep 

 upon the turnips of their neighbours in the lowlands ; and, upon the other 

 hand, farmers in the marshes frequently send theirs to the ground of men 

 who live on the downs and wolds, or upon dry turnip soils. The turnips 

 are in such cases either paid for by the acre, or the sheep are boarded 

 by the score at a fi.Ncd price per week — the agreements, of course, 



