80 ELEMENTS OF 



THE TURNIP 



The common turnip has numerous sorts, distinguish- 

 ed by their size, form, time of ripening, and other pro- 

 perties. 



1. The round or globular ; 2. The depressed : and, 3. 

 The fusiform. 



The insect most destructive to the turnip during 

 the first stage of its growth, is the turnip-fly. It is a 

 species of beetle. This creature attacks the plant as 

 soon as the cotyledon leaves are upon it ; when the 

 plants have put on the second or rough leaves, they are 

 regarded as safe from injury from the beetle, and hence 

 a security against its ravages is a rapid and vigorous 

 vegetation of the plant. 



There are other creatures that attack the plant at 

 this stage, and when it has escaped these early ene- 

 mies, it is sometimes attacked by the larvse of a species 

 of saw-fly. 



CABBAGE. 



The kinds of the cabbage which are best suited to 

 general cultivation in the fields are the large-headed 

 cabbages. 



The proper method, however, of cultivating the pab- 

 bage is to bow the seeds of it in the first place in beds, 

 and ther» transplant it. 



THE POTATO. 



This plant, of tlie genus Solajium, is of the natural 

 order fSolanecc, or the Night-shade tribe. 



Of all the species, the most important to the human 

 race is— 



Solanum tuberosum— the Tuberous-rooted Night-shade, 

 or Potato. 



The soils best adopted to the potato are of the drier 



and liglitcr class. 



