taa sturtevant's notes on edible plants 



been exceeded in modem times. Matthiolus,> 1558, had heard of turnips that weighed 

 a hundred pounds and speaks of having seen long and purple sorts that weighed thirty 

 pounds. Amatus Lusitanus," 1524, speaks of turnips weighing fifty and sixty pounds. 

 In England, in 1792, Martyn ' says the greatest weight that he is acquainted with is thirty- 

 six poimds. In California, about 1850, a turnip is recorded of one hundred pounds weight.* 

 In the fifteenth century, Booth * says the turnip had become known to the Flemings 

 and formed one of their principal crops. The first turnips that were introduced into 

 England, he says, are believed to have come from Holland in 1550. In the time of Henry 

 VIII (1509-1547) according to Mcintosh,* turnips were used baked or roasted in the ashes 

 and the young shoots were used as a salad and as a spinach. Gerarde ' describes them 

 in a number of varieties, but the first notice of their field culture is by Weston in 1645. 

 Worlidge, 1668, mentions the turnip fly as an enemy of turnips and Houghton speaks 

 of turnips as food for sheep in 1684. In 1686, Ray says they are sown everywhere in 

 fields and gardens. In 1681, Worlidge says they are chiefly grown in gardens but are 

 also grown to some extent in fields. The turnip was brought to America at a very early 

 period. In 1540, Cartier * sowed turnip seed in Canada, during his third voyage. They 

 were also cultivated in Virginia in 1609; ^ are mentioned again in 1648; *" and by Jeffer- 

 son in 1 78 1. They are said by Francis Higginson " to be in cultivation in Massachusetts 

 in 1629 and are again mentioned by William Wood, 1629-33.^^ They were plentiful about 

 Philadelphia in 1707. Jared Sparks'' planted them in Connecticut in 1747. In 1775, 

 Romans in his Natural History of Florida mentions them. They are also mentioned in 

 South Carolina in 1779. In 1779, General Sullivan destroyed the turnips in the Indian 

 fields at the present Geneva, New York, in the course of his invasion of the Indian country. 

 The common flat turnip was raised as a field crop in Massachusetts and New York as 

 early as 181 7. 



Navet, or French Turnip. 



{B. napus esculenta DC.) 



This turnip differs from the Brassica rapa oblonga DC. by its smooth and glaucous 



leaves. It surpasses other turnips by the sweetness of its flavor and furnishes white, yellow 



and black varieties. It is known as the Navet, or French turnip." This was apparently 



Matthiolus Comment. 240. 1558. 



' Dioscorides. Amatus Lusitanus Ed. 247. 1554. 



' Martyn Fl. Rust. 1792. 



< Williams, A. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 4. 1 851. 



Booth, W. B. Treas. Bot. 1:167. 1870. (B. rapa) 



Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:183. 1855. 



' Gerarde, J. //eri. 177, 178. 1597. 



' Pinkerton CoW. Voy. 12:667. 1812. 



* True Decl. Va. 1$. 1610. Force Coll. Tracts 3:1844. 

 i'Perf. Desc. of Va. 4. Force Coll. Tracts 2:1838. 



" Higginson, Rev. Francis. New Eng. Plant. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. 1:118. 1806. 



" Wood, W. New Eng. Prosp. 11. 1634. 1st Ed. 



" Sparks, J. Essays Husb. (ly^y) 17,. 181 1. 



" De CandoUe, A. P. Trans. Hart. Soc. Land. 5:26, 30. 1824. 



