Chap. Vl: T U R N E P S. 327 



"is loft in number,will be ove'rgained by their bulk, which is what 

 '« I have often obferved. But in places where they are Town for the 

 " ufe of the kitchen, they need not be left at a greater diftance than 

 *♦ ten inches or a footi becaufe large roots are not fo generally efteemcd 

 " for the table. 



'• ** It is not many years fince the pradlice of fowing turneps for 

 «* feeding cattle, has been in general ufe. How it happened that 

 *' this improvement fhould have been lb long negled:ed in every 

 '* part of Europe, is not eafy to determine; iince it is very plain that 

 " this piece of hufbandry was known to the ancients : for Columella, 

 *' in treating of the feveral kinds of vegetables, which are proper for 

 ** the field, recommends the cultivating rapa in plenty; becaufe, 

 ** fays he, thofe roots which are not wanted for the table, will be 

 «* eaten by the cattle. And yet this plant was not much cultivated ; 

 «* in the fields till of late years, nor is the true method of cultivating 

 " turneps yet known, or at leaft it is net pradlifed, in fome of the 

 " diflant counties of England : for in many places the feed is fcwn 

 *' with barley in the fpring, and thofe plants which come up, and 

 " live till the barley is cut, produce a little green for the flieep to pick 

 <* up, but never have any roots. In other places, where the turnep 

 " feed is fown by itfelf, the method of hoeing them is not underftood ; 

 '* fo: that weeds and turneps are permitted to grow together, and 

 " where the turneps come up thick in patches, they are never thinned ; 

 " fo that they draw up to have long leaves, but never can have good 

 " roots, which is the principal part of the plant, and therefore 

 '* fhould be chiefly attended to." 



Some very curious farmers, continues Mr. Miller, have of late ■ 

 cultivated turneps, by fowing the feed in rows, v/ith the drill-plough. 

 '•* In fome places, the rows are fo\vu three feet afunder, in others 

 " four, in fome five, and fome fix. The latter has beeri recom- 

 •'« mended by fome, as the moft proper diftance ; and although 

 *• the intervals are fo large, yet tlie crop produced on an .acre has 

 " been much greater, than upon the fame quantity of land where 

 <•' the rows have been but half this diftance; and upon all the fields 

 *' which have been tilled, the crops have greatly exceeded thofe which 

 *' have been hand hoed. The late lord vlfcount Tov/nft\end was at 

 *' the expence of making the trial of thefe two different methods of 

 " hu{bandry, with the greateft care, by equally dividing the fame 

 *' field into diff'erent lands, which were alternately fown in diills, 

 " and the intermediate lands in broad caft. The latter were, hoed by 



baud.,- 



