ROOT CROPS. 327 



can help it. His care should have been applied during the previ- 

 ous autumn and spring, and during the earlier growth of the 

 plants. Nature will now do all that can be done, and, under 

 favorable circumstances, all that can be desired. 



In cultivation by transplanting, very much of this labor may be 

 dispensed with. Soon after the plants are set out they should 

 receive one thorough horse cultivation and hand-hoeing, but they 

 will soon so far occupy the ground, that, except the use of the 

 subsoil plow, there is no room, and, indeed, no necessity, for 

 further cultivation. 



The turnip has the one great advantage, that its harvesting may 

 be postponed until nearly all other farm work is closed for the 

 season. I have learned by ample experience that even the sever- 

 est freezing, provided the crop is not locked in the ground for 

 the winter, is rather beneficial than injurious. During the autumn 

 of 1867, my turnips were left out until after the thermometer had 

 marked 12 degrees Fahrenheit, yet they were excellent for the 

 table, and kept perfectly until late in the spring. If left, however, 

 all winter in the ground, in the latitude of New York or of Phila- 

 delphia, they would undoubtedly be destroyed by frequent freezing 

 and thawing. Even the leaves will bear severe frost without in- 

 jury. The only precautions that it is necessary to take are, not to 

 touch either tops or roots until the frost is thoroughly withdrawn, 

 and to be very careful not to postpone the harvesting so late that 

 they cannot be removed, free from frost, before winter finally sets 

 in. The harvesting is easy and simple, and requires no directions, 

 beyond the statement that the tops and the tap-roots should be cut 

 off, but that the turnip generally should not be " trimmed " until 

 it is required for use ; as each abrasion of the surface establishes 

 a weak point at which decay first attacks it, and the less cutting it 

 receives before being stored away, the better its chances for re- 

 maining sound until wanted. At this season of the year, the 

 leaves will bear stacking in considerable heaps without fermen- 

 tation, and may be relied on as a source of valuable fodder for 

 some weeks. 



During the harvesting of the crop, the roots may be thrown to- 



