'^96 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



he forced. For this purpose they must be gi'own exactly as recommended above, tliat aa 

 Tnuch power may be treasured up iu the roots as possible. To take, up exhausted plants 

 .from a crowded bed, which has beeu stripped of its leaves during the season, is to deprive 

 •■Shem of their natural advantages, and to expend the forcing process on weakened and im- 

 jierfectsubjecls. Let cuttings, with a crown to each, be now put in, in the best possible 

 situations, and by autumn they will be admirably adapted to your purpose. When the foliage 

 m withered, take up die roots, and put them singly into large pots or boxes. These may be 

 -Btood away anywhere, and introduced, two or three at a time, into a warm situation. The 

 v.Titer placed his pots this winter in a dark closet, at the back of a kitchen range, and the 

 Bhubarb grew rapidly. Every house can find some spot having the advantage of greater 

 -warmth than the ordinary temperature. Rhubarb may thus be had at any time, and a good 

 Bupply kept up until it is produced in the open air. It is very necessary to get it a« 

 early as possible, aa its value is much lessoned when gooseberries are plentiful. — H. B. 



NEWCASTLE FARMERS' CLUB. 



THE CULTIVATION OF TURNIpg. 



Mr. Ramsay introduced the subject : The kinds 

 of turnips most commonly cultivated are the 

 Swedish, the hybrid (said to be raised between 

 die yellow bullock and Swede), the yellow bul- 

 iack, the Aberdeen yellow, the white globe, the 

 green globe, and occasionally a few other sorts, 

 T*ith various names. The Swedish bears the frost 

 ^vell, and will keep till June. It does not yield 

 so weghty a crop as the globe, or some other 

 Mads: nevertheless its feeding qualities more 

 iiian compensate for the loss of weight per acre, 

 and it is generally consumed by the highest 

 priced stock on the farm : such as animals feed- 

 mg fat, and milch cows, and Uiose generally 

 "kept for use till spring months, it, like the car- 

 rot, feeding best when partly withered in ap- 

 jjearance. Too great exertions cannot be made 

 ia liave a sufficiency of the Swedish turnip, as it 

 is valuable spring food for every animal on the 

 farm. It is rather more expensive to raise than 

 some other kinds, requiring more manure, but 

 its quality more than compensates for the differ- 

 ence in cost of producing. A good crop of 

 Hvffidea will weigh twenty tons per acre, if 

 T£Jeed upon useful land, and the price in Nevv- 

 ■ easile at this tiaue is 258. to 26s. per ton. The 

 'hybrid, the yellow bullock, and Aberdeen yel- 

 ^i'j^w come next in order as to their feeding 

 fjualities, as well as keeping in the spring.— 

 They are all useful turnips and approach near- 

 est li-e Swedish. They can be grown upon 

 'lighter soil than the Swedes, and are consequent- 

 iy often sub.sututed for them. They can be sown 

 later, which is an advantage in some seasons, 

 p&rt/wularly when many potatoes are grown, the 

 laoer requiring much s'pring labor. The globes 

 a?e nio.5t valuable tor producing a great 

 svejght per acre. All kinds of cattle and sheep 

 are fed upon them, from the beginning of No- 

 vember until after Christmas, and iu many in- 

 stances in tlie spring months ; but they do not 

 teep so well as the Swedish and yellow turnips, 

 <oensequeutly are generally fed otf first. Enor- 

 .T2ious weights per acre are said to be produced 

 — even as far as 60 tons per acre. I have had 

 ZO tons myself, which 1 was well satisfied with. 

 1 -will not say 63 tons have not beer grown, as 

 1 know occasionally larger crops of all kinds are 

 jwoduced: however, I should think 30 or 40 

 ijons per acre easily attainable. All descriptions 

 *f soil are now made to grow turnips ; and they 

 (1116J 



have become so necessary to the raising of 

 dung, and rearing and feeding of cattle and 

 sheep, that one now scarcely knows how to car- 

 ry on his agricultural operations ^vitllout them. 

 AH stock are kept healthy when judiciously fed 

 with them, and when eaten on dr}- land by sheep 

 they increase the following crops to a great de- 

 gree. The turnip crop takes the place of a pum- 

 mer fallow, generally speaking. The land is 

 plowed before winter, and again early in the 

 spring, either across the first plowing or other- 

 wise. In the months of April, May, or .June, the 

 land, with frequent stirrings with the plows, 

 harrows, and scarifier, is made as fine and clean 

 as possible. I find the latter implement very 

 useful in assisting to prepare the land well, and 

 recommend a more extended use of it ; it is ex- 

 peditious, and drags the quickens and other 

 woods to the top, where the sun and air act 

 powerfully upon them ; it does not cut the quick- 

 ens so much as the plow, therefore more effect- 

 ually destroys them. I think the land canno^ 

 well be reduced too fine for producing turnips 

 The seed being very small reciuires a well pul 

 vcrized Bed, which not only causes the seed to 

 germinate quickly, but accelerates the growth 

 of the plant when young; consequently assistf 

 it in escaping the fly, one of the greatest ene- 

 mies of the young plant. When I advise fre 

 quent plowinge, &c , I would wish to guard 

 against this being done too rapidly — having seen 

 great los.ses occasioned by working all the 

 moisture out of the ground before the seed i? 

 sown. There ought to be intervals between the 

 plowings ; and if the weadier is dry the land 

 should be well rolled down, and remain so for 

 some lime, to regain the moisture which has 

 been drawn oft' bj' the continued exposure of 

 the land to the sun and air. The distance of the 

 drills for Swedes, as well as most other sorts, 

 varies from 26 to 30 inches in width. After this 

 is done the carts next deposit 10 to 20 tons of 

 dung per acre, according to its quality, as well 

 as the quantity which may have been made on 

 the farm. It is then equally spread and covered 

 in by the plow, and then is ready for the seed. 

 If the season is tolerably fine, and the dung prop- 

 erly prepared, there will seldom be a failing 

 crop. If these matters are duly attended to, I be- 

 lieve there will uotbe very many failure8,raaking 

 allowances for weather, over which we have 



