PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 85 



If we determine to plough in the crop as manure, 

 we should do it while the ground retains a tempera- 

 ture favourable to the decomposition of the plants, 

 and before the frost has diminished the volume or 

 altered their juices. If, on the other hand, we de- 

 cide on feeding off the crop on the ground, it is but 

 necessary to turn in our sheep upon it, under such 

 restrictions as will limit their range and prevent 

 waste ; and, indeed, that nothing may be lost, hogs 

 should be made to fol'ow the sheep. If, however, 

 feeding in the stables be thought more advisable 

 (and it certainly better economizes both food and 

 manure), the turnips should be drawn, topped, and 

 stacked ; interposing between each layer of them 

 one of coarse hay or other barn-rubbish, and cap- 

 ping the whole with a few bundles of clean long 

 straw. Though less nutritive than either potatoes, 

 carrots, or cabbages, the turnip is found to be par- 

 ticularly useful to stall-fed cattle, correcting, by its 

 aqueous qualities, the heating effects of corn, oats, 

 or rye meal. 



Our acquaintance with the yellow turnip (or ruta 

 baga) is but beginning. Mr. Cobbett's experiments 

 have, however, been very successful, and tend 

 much to recommend the plant in preference to the 

 white or common species. That, of the two, it is 

 the more compact, the heavier, the more nutritious, 

 the less apt to become stringy, and the more easily 

 preserved, are facts not to be contested. In both 

 France and England it is rising in reputation, and 

 perhaps only wants time to get into general use 

 here. To this article we will but add an extract 

 from the work of M. D'Edelcrants (of Sweden) on 

 the ruta baga. 



" Its root is milder and more saccharine than 

 that of the other species, particularly when boiled. 

 [ts flesh is harder and more consistent ; which bet- 

 cer enables it to withstand frosts, and to keep from 

 ne year to another. Its leaves extend horizon. 



