I HE IRRIGATION AGE. 



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good soil, in almost any state. They are 

 fine for feeding stock. Many families use 

 them the same as potatoes for winter and 

 and spring cooking. There is always a 

 market for them at fair prices. It costs 

 but little effort to plow and prepare the 

 land and sow the seed. If cultivated, the 

 labor is not so great as in many less pro- 

 fitable crops. 



A mellow loam is the most desirable soil 

 for turnips. Large crops are grown on 

 new land, and on any well worked spot 

 where other roots flourish. They must be 

 grown quickly to prevent woody and hol- 

 low ones. The soil should therefore be 

 placed in the best condition, and the sea- 

 son be favorable for sprouting the seed 

 and starting the young plants. An abund- 

 ance of nitrogenous fertilizers is necessary 

 to insure good crops of fine specimens. 

 For this purpose an application of cow or 

 sheep manure is advisable. Where com- 

 mercial fertilizers are used and available 

 there should be about 600 to 800 pounds 

 of a fertilizer having nitrogen 2 per cent, 

 potash 5 per cent, and phosphoric acid 7 

 per cent, put on an acre and well worked 

 into the soil. A good mixture for turnips 

 would be about 400 pounds acid phos- 

 phate, 200 pounds muriate of potash and 

 200 pounds nitrate of soda per acre. The 

 potash and phosphoric acid should be ap- 

 pied before seeding and thoroughly mixed 

 with the soil. The nitrate can be used as 

 a top dressing afterwards. 



There are several good varieties of tur- 

 nips. The flat rooted are the earliest and 

 generally the most profitable where quick 

 maturing is necessary. For spring plant- 

 ing these are the best. They are also to 

 be used in fall planting if there is danger 

 from hard freezing in the early autumn, 

 but for the most profitable feeding crops 

 the globe varieties are the most desirable. 

 They may be planted almost any time 



from February to September in the south- 

 ern states, and will remain in the ground 

 all winter. These are known as Swede 

 turnips, or rutabagas. They will yield 

 500 bushels per acre, when the flat varie- 

 ties under the same conditions will not 

 produce over 300 bushels. They get sweet 

 and juicy after frost, while the flat ones 

 become corky and tasteless. 



A Michigan farmer says he could never 

 get a stand of timothy until he sowed the 

 seed with turnips. He plowed up the 

 wheat stubble in July and sowed the seed 

 in August. The crop produced about 100 

 bushels of good marketable turnips per 

 acre and left as much more standing on 

 the ground. The next spring the old tur- 

 nips rotted and fertilized his grass seed so 

 that he had a fine crop of timothy. The 

 leaves had served as a mulch against hard 

 freezing during the winter and in the early 

 spring, while the turnips decayed and sup- 

 plied food for the timothy. This was after 

 he had harvested 100 bushels from an 

 acre. Here is an important lesson in sow- 

 ing fall turnips and grass seeds. 



Turnip seed may be purchased of any 

 seedsman for about 40 cents a pound. If 

 sown in drills and thinned out, one pound 

 is enough for an acre, but broadcasting re- 

 quires two or three pounds to the acre. In 

 Kentucky our old custom was to sow tur- 

 nips on July 25th, rain or shine. Of 

 course the seed may be sown earlier or 

 later in different sections. It is best to 

 sow just before a rain, if possible. If 

 broadcasted, they should be lightly covered 

 by brushing or other methods. When 

 sown in drills the depth is easily gauged 

 by the machine. For fine marketable tur- 

 nips the. drilling in rows and thinning out 

 by hand is the best method*. Broadcast 

 sowing is good when only home feeding 

 crops are wanted, and some are left to fer- 

 tilize the land. JOEL SHOEMAKER. 



