124 



RENNIE S AGRICULTURE. 



Swede Turnips, 



Improved 



Varieties. 



Preparation of 

 the Soil for 

 Swede Turnips. 



rots are grown chiefly for feeding to horses and 

 milch COWS, but for cows the Jumbo sugar-beet is 

 taking the place of the white carrot, on account of 

 the saving in labor in hand-hoeing and thinning. 

 Horses are also as fond of sugar-beets as carrots, 

 and the sugar-beets are quite as nutritious. The 

 same method of keeping mangel-wurzels and sugar- 

 beets during the winter is required for the keeping 

 of carrots. 



There are many varieties of swede turnips grown 

 at the present time. These have been improved 

 from the original "Skirving, " work which is carried 

 on extensively by growers of swedes. The type of a 

 root is fixed by growing seed from a certain type for 

 a number of years. While some of the newer 

 varieties are large and smooth, their quality for 

 table use may not be equal to that of some others. 

 As a rule, the bronze top varieties are superior to the 

 purple top for table use. In some sections of the 

 country the practice of growing swede turnips for 

 export to the United States for table use has become 

 quite an extensive business. The wisdom of doing 

 this is another matter, for, aside from the ready 

 cash derived, we must consider the fact that it takes 

 about double the nutriment from the soil to produce 

 a crop of turnips than it does for a grain crop. 

 Again, the farmer should consider the great loss of 

 fertility to the soil by selling and shipping the whole 

 product instead of feeding it on the farm and re- 

 turning it again to the soil, as only a small per- 

 centage is retained by the animals for the production 

 of beef or milk. 



In preparing soil the previous fall for swede 

 turnips, while it is preferable to have the land 

 manured and ribbed, it is not so important, as 

 turnips do not require to be sown as early as mangel- 



