Vegetable Growing for Market 



183 



Another troublesome and unsightly disease is that caused by the 

 Cabbage Gall Weevil (Ceutorrhynchus sullicollis). This pest lays its 

 eggs flush with the ground on the young "bulbs". In due course the 

 young maggots are hatched out and penetrate the tissues, thus causing 

 the sap to exude and form wart-like swellings. Inside these the little 

 white maggot is perfectly safe, and cannot be reached by the most 

 virulent insecticides. After several years of experimenting, the only 

 sure remedy for this pest is prevention. The frequent use of the hoe 

 in the early stages of 

 the crop seems to keep 

 the plants perfectly free 

 from the pest. It ap- 

 pears that the move- 

 ment of the soil against 

 the plants detaches the 

 newly hatched maggots 

 from the stems, and, 

 being thus deprived of 

 their natural food, they 

 soon die. The Plate 

 shows a load of turnips 

 to be badly infested 

 with the Cabbage Gall 

 Maggot. [j. w.] 



The Spring Turnip 

 may be called the crop 

 of the market gardener, 

 while that of the 

 autumn and winter may 

 be termed the farmer's 

 crop. Spring Turnips 

 want rich warm soil, 

 well cultivated. There 

 is an old tradition 

 among gardeners that the first sowing must not be made before the first 

 full moon in March, or they will bolt. The earliest varieties are the strap- 

 leaved White- or Purple-topped Milan. These, drilled in rows 1 ft. apart, 

 and singled to 6 in., should come to market early in June. The Early 

 Snowball (fig. 499) is a good sort for second sowing, followed by the 

 New Model, which requires more room than the other two. By arranging 

 the sowings at intervals of ten days or a fortnight a supply can be kept 

 up till late July, when the market can be left to the farmer. Spring 

 and summer turnips are not of first value unless they are clear and white 

 in the skin. To obtain this the land must be freed from the grubs of 

 the Turnip Beetle, which eat unsightly holes in the face of the turnips. 

 For this purpose one of the several preparations that give off a gas 



Fig. 499. Turnip Early Snowball 



