TURNIP. 



where there is abundance of vegetable matter, 

 it is less useful. 



The time for laying on the manure depends 

 on the method of sowing adopted, and clear- 

 ness of the land from weeds. If the plough- 

 drill be used, it is desirable to immediately 

 precede the plough ; if the Norfolk, or large 

 drill, it is better to lay it on a week or two be- 

 fore sowing, to allow it to mix intimately with 

 the soil, especially if other manure is intended 

 to be used, and the soil pretty free from weeds. 

 The quantity to be applied will vary with cir- 

 cumstances : 12 to 14 tons per acre may be 

 stated as an average, and more if the soil be 

 poor and no other manure intended; while less 

 may be used in proportion as other manures 

 are applied. 



Lime stands next in importance, as a dress- 

 ing. The object of all manure is to supply 

 some deficiency, remedy some mechanical in- 

 convenience, or correct some detrimental agent 

 in the soil. When dung, for instance, has been 

 applied for several successive crops, a quantity 

 of undecomposed vegetable matter accumu- 

 lates, which the natural soluble properties of 

 the soil cannot dissolve, and it remains inert. 

 A dose of lime will correct this, and bring 

 every particle of such inert matter, with which 

 it comes in contact, available as food to the 

 plants. It also assists in the intimate pulver- 

 ization of the soil, as well as corrects any 

 acidity which may exist in it, from causes 

 which the agriculturist can seldom foresee, nor 

 correct, except by its use. It is also destruc- 

 tive to weeds in the soil, and hence exceedingly 

 valuable ; for every farmer knows that weeds, 

 being indigenous, are much more ready to 

 grow in the soil than his crops, which are arti- 

 ficial, and often exotic. For peaty soils, an oc- 

 casional dressing of quick lime is invaluable, 

 especially if there is an addition of clay, road 

 scrapings, &c., to give the requisite firmness 

 to the soil. It should be laid on as soon as 

 convenient after bringing from the kiln, and in 

 as hot a state as possible. The time for laying 

 on lime is a few weeks before the sowing, in 

 order that the subsequent ploughings may mix 

 it thoroughly with the soil, and thus its effects 

 be more immediate after the sowing. The 

 quantity per acre entirely depends upon the 

 character of the lime in the locality. Two to 

 four chaldrons per acre are used ; but as it is 

 applied for turnips generally in conjunction 

 with other fertilizers, the former may be stated 

 as the better quantity. If dung is also applied, 

 they should be used at as great a distance of 

 time between each other as circumstances will 

 admit of, and the latter not long before the 

 sowing. 



Bones form one of the most valuable ma- 

 nures for turnips on all light soils, on account 

 of their portable and stimulating character; 

 they are least useful on a gravelly or loamy 

 soil. They have converted barren moor lands 

 into rich, fertile, and productive farms, luxuri- 

 ating in every valuable product of the earth. 

 Their value is beyond all praise. The East 

 Riding of Yorkshire affords a specimen of 

 what they have effected ; and they require only 

 to be known to be extensively applied. In 

 1064 



TURNIP. 



many cases they are used alone ; in others, in 

 conjunction with farm-yard manure, with ashes, 

 and with lime. Ashes are sometimes drilled 

 with them as a substitute, by diminishing the 

 quantity of the bones. Lime is a valuable 

 auxiliary, on old going land," or soil which 

 has been long under cultivation. On peaty 

 soils, having a substratum of sand, they have 

 produced wonderful crops, by supplying them 

 with the necessary animal matter. The quan- 

 tity varies from 12 to 30 bushels per acre. Six- 

 teen bushels per acre will produce a fair crop, 

 on average soils ; and some farmers say that 

 more than that quantity is waste. It is desi- 

 rable to mix them with a quantity of ashes, 

 when they are drilled in the above quantity. 

 This facilitates the early progress of the plants, 

 and supports them until the bones become 

 available. English bones are generally pre- 

 ferred to foreign ; but from experiments made 

 by the writer, he prefers foreign to English, 

 and also to recent bones ; for, although the 

 latter have more of their juices than the former, 

 the former sooner decompose ; and the fat and 

 animal juices require considerable chemical 

 changes before they are available as food for 

 the plants. A mixture might be judicious, but 

 he has not tried it, nor is he aware of the trial 

 having been made. 



Other manures of a miscellaneous character 

 are used for turnips. Pigeon's dung is most 

 valuable ; rape dust has been used success- 

 fully ; and animalized carbon has also been ad- 

 vantageously employed. Sixteen bushels per 

 acre, when drilled, is the quantity generally 

 applied. Malt culms are useful as a top-dress- 

 ing. (Trans. York. Agr. Soc.) 



A machine for sowing turnip-seed with bone- 

 dust is described in the second volume of 

 Trans. High. Soc. p. 205; and the results of 

 some experiments with different manures is 

 given, Trans. High. Soc. vol. i. p. 66, 72, vol. iv. 

 p. 233. 



Weir's Manuring one-row Turnip Drill, is de- 

 scribed and figured by Loudon, and said to be 

 a remarkable improvement on the Northum- 

 berland implement. It has a manure hopper, 

 and a seed hopper, the same as the others ; but 

 the manure, in place of being dropped along 

 with the seed, is deposited in a deep gutter 

 made by the coulter which goes before ; this 

 manure is covered by a pronged coulter which 

 follows the other : next comes the coulter 

 which forms the gutter for the seed, which are 

 deposited 1 inch above the manure. (See 

 Loud. Ency. of Agr.) 



Varieties. There are numberless varieties 

 and sub-varieties of turnips, which arrange 

 themselves under four heads : 1. Swedish tur- 

 nips, or Rut a baga ; 2. Yellow and white tur- 

 nips ; 3. Yellow turnips ; and 4. White turnips. 

 Professor Low has divided them into three 

 classes, distinguished by their form: 1. The 

 round, or globular; 2. The depressed; and 

 3. The fusiform. These may be considered as 

 types, to which the different cultivated kinds 

 more or less approach. Many varieties are 

 cultivated which are more fanciful than useful. 

 For the main particulars of the following list 

 I am chiefly indebted to an interesting Essay on- 



