ROOT CHOPS. 5] 3 



alone and they are also valuable for pigs and <.'attle, coming in at a time 

 when other foods are often scarce. Tliey should be fed to dry stock on the 

 dairy-farm in preference to milch cows, as it given to the latter the milk 

 will he tainted. The Swede turnip possesses good keeping qualities, and 

 may be either stored or left in the held for a couple of months till required. 

 If left for any considerable length ot time the proportion of woody malter 

 increases, rendering the root unpalatable and less easily digested. 



Swedes should be cut in pieces before being fed to cattle, as the animals 

 -are apt to swallow the whole or a large portion of a root, and the shape 

 of the piece may result in it becoming stuck in the gullet when it is forced 

 back into the mouth for rumination. The choking so produced has killed 

 more than one cow. 



Sheep may be utilised for feeding off a crop without the labour of 

 -digging: when confined to limited areas by means of portable fences, they 

 will eat out the whole of a crop, leaving only a thin shell that, together 

 with the animal residues, will plough in to advantage. 



Turnips as a Catch Crop. 



The cheapness of the seed, and the ease with which a crop of Swedes can 

 •be grown in the tableland areas, offer considerable inducements to those 

 engaged in mixed farming to sow a fairly large area each season as a 

 rotation crop. Following, for instance, a crop of hay, where the stubble is 

 ploughed immediately after harvest with a view to sowing potatoes in the 

 tpring, it is possible for the farmer to sow, say, \ lb. to 1 lb. of turnip seed 

 per acre in February, or just after rain in March, and with very little extra 

 •cultivation to produce a crop that can be used either as stock feed, or, if prices 

 warrant it, as vegetables for the market. In such a case, the preparation 

 of the land would be little more than would be required for an early fallow 

 .after the hay crop, and the practical certainty of a good yield, together 

 with the possibility (always present) of good prices for Swedes in the vege- 

 table market, should make the venture a good one. 



The seed should be mixed with, say, 56 lb. superphosphate, and sown 

 through the manure box of the wheat drill, certain feeders being blocked 

 so that the mixture of seed and superphosphate shall be sown only through 

 •every fourth feeder. Care will require to be taken to maintain a proper 

 mixture of the seed and fertiliser, or the seed will all work to the top, just 

 as in the case of rape. The hand should be run through the manure box 

 •every now and again to mix the contents up evenly, or the drill will 

 presently be sowing all superphosphate, and then, as it empties, all seed. 

 Xo more than sufficient to sow one acre should be put in the drill at one 

 time, and as only one-fourth of the feeders will be sowing, it will be neces- 

 sary to set the cogs of the manure drive to sow at about 2 cwt. per acre. 



In districts favoured with good rainfall, such as the Dorrigo and Com- 

 boyne, profitable crops have been obtained by simply broadcasting seed on 

 the ashes after a successful " burn." 



These suggestions for the use of turnips as a catch crop, however, must 

 not be allowed to obscure those for their production on more systematic 

 Tines, whether for farm or for vegetable garden purposes, as described above. 



Varieties. 



For Table Use. — White Stone and Nepaul appear to be the best varieties 

 :' turnips. Orange Jelly is a first-class variety as far as quality is con- 

 cerned, but 'it is a somewhat light cropper. 



t 64797 K 



