26 



THE SHEPHERD'S MANUAL. 



turnips are sown in July, and white turnips in July or August. 

 The soil is prepared by previous plowing and manuring, and made 

 fine and mellow ; the seed is sown in drills 30 inches apart, and 

 thinned out to 12 to 18 inches apart in the rows. A crop of roots 

 grown 18 inches apart, each root weighing 6 Ibs. , will yield 34 tons, 

 or 1,100 bushels to 

 the acre. For beets 

 or mangels, 4 Ibs. 

 of seed per acre is 

 required if sown 

 with a drill ; of 

 ruta-bagas and tur- 

 nips 2 Ibs. of seed is 

 sown. The best beet 

 is Lane's Improved 

 Sugar Beet ; the 

 best mangel, the 

 Long Red ; the 

 best ruta-baga, the 

 Purple-top Swede ; the Aberdeen turnip is better than the white, 

 and nearly as good as the ruta-baga ; the white turnip has the ad- 



Fig. 1. PIT FOB BOOTS. 



Fig. 2. BOOT-CUTTEB. 



vantage that it can be sown late and follow an oat, barley, or rye 

 crop. The harvesting is done by cutting off the tops with a sharp 



