1888 



GLEANINGS IN ^kk CULf UitE. 



305 



land. Most people choose a hollow to sow 

 turnip-seed. 1 prefer a hill, gravily and 

 light, no matter about the stones and peb- 

 bles. The hollow will often get weedy, 

 when the hill or hillside is comparatively 

 free from weeds ; and the quality, too, is 

 better at high altitudes as well as the color ; 

 but if the seed is sown as hereafter describ- 

 ed, 1 think the locality and quality of the 

 land makes less difference than the after 

 care and cultivation. 



My choice of a turnip-patch is the ground 

 where onions, peas, or potatoes have been 

 grown. Have the tirst removed by the 1st 

 of August, and the ground perfectly free 

 and clean of weeds ; then sow the seed at 

 the rate of i lb. to the acre, broadcast, and 

 without mixing with land or other material. 

 Sow only about 3 to 4 ft. wide, then take a 

 cultivator and cultivate the newly seeded 

 ground so the seed gets three or at least two 

 inches down in the moist ground. It is 

 the great drought, usually so prevalent 

 everywhere about August, that destroys the 

 tender germs of the turnip-seed ; and it is 

 to this that I attribute the most of the fail- 

 ures. You see, I am a nurseryman by trade, 

 and I find this same thing is true of apple- 

 seeds. If they are planted shallow they do 

 not succeed so well as if sown very deep. 

 When the ground is well cultivated it should 

 be rolled or dragged to make it level, as a 

 dashing rain will ruin the crop if small. 



When the plants are up, and the leaves 

 are as large as a silver dollar, you will see 

 some of them are dark green and strong, 

 while those seeds that are not deep enough 

 in the ground will be what I call the weak- 

 lings. It is these weaklings that I remove 

 by pulling them up or hoeing them out till 

 the crop stands 12 to 18 inches, or even 2 ft., 

 from plant to plant. This thinning is not 

 done all at one time : but by going over the 

 ground from 3 to 6 times you will be sur- 

 prised to see what a small job it is to thin 

 an acre in this way. As the seed is sown 

 thin, the chances are that there will not be 

 so many to pull after all, only in spots, per- 

 haps, where they stand too thick, and where 

 two are too close together. 



Now as to cultivation. The turnip likes 

 cultivation — the more the better; and I 

 generally hand-hoe the crop two or three 

 times. But this season my soil was rich and 

 in good order, and the weeds did not appear 

 to bother us at all. My crop of four acres 

 will yield me nearly 12U0 bushels, and I am 

 selling them here at 40 cents a bushel, retail. 



I sent one car load to New York. I do 

 not know what they will net me ; but Voigt 

 & Co., of Pittsburgh, wrote me that they 

 were worth fifty cents a bushel there. The 

 freight is 9i cts. a bushel from here to Pitts- 

 burgh. 



Let me say just here, that my crop is short 

 at least 200 bushels, owing to' an acre that 

 was sown with seed that I bought. 11> came 

 up pretty well, but there are other things 

 that make seed moie than worthless. This 

 seed I bought of a good Christian gentleman 

 who would not sell bad seed if he knew it ; 

 but he had bought the seed, and sowed some 

 of it himself. 



Now a word in regard to the saving of 



seed. I have been improving my seed for 

 ten years, and many of my friends depend 

 on me for their turnip-seed. I do it in this 

 way : When the first turnips are al)out two 

 inches in diameter I put a little stick near 

 those that show a decided superiority over 

 their neighbors. What I mean by a superi- 

 ority is those that are first to get large and 

 show they mean to excel, and those that 

 have a small top and a high color, avoiding 

 by all means what I call a '" great rank foli- 

 age,'' with a small bulb and of poor color. 

 After these marked and selected specimens 

 are ready, and, in fact, while they are grow- 

 ing, I discard all that are rough on the top, 

 and of a white or pale appearance. I dis- 

 card all, too, that are too deep through from 

 top to root, preferring a flat specimen ; and 

 I believe the seed should be grown the same 

 year it is sown. 



How I wished Bro. Root could be with me 

 while harvesting my crop this year, when a 

 dozen hands were in the field topping the 

 great big fellows, such as I will send you a 

 barrel of. 



Remember the secret : First, good seed ; 

 second, very deep sowing; third, thinning 18 

 inches apart ; fourth, good cultivation. 



I use Terry's potato-boxes to harvest the 

 crop, and do it with women and children. 

 Dk. J. M. Maktin. 



Mercersburg, Pa., Oct. 31, 1887. 



Friend M.,rwould modify your directions 

 by having the turnips drilled in with one of 

 the Planet hand-drills ; but in fitting the 

 ground I would, just before sowing the seed, 

 go over it with a common phosphate-sowing 

 wheat-drill. I would fill the fertilizer-box 

 with a mixture of phosphate and bone dust, 

 or, better still, guano and bone dust. Then 

 go over the ground as for sowing wheat. 

 Be sure, however, that your drill is entirely 

 emptied of seeds of all kinds, especially 

 grass-seed ; for if you are not careful you 

 may have a crop of grass and wheat such as 

 you never saw before, among your turnips. 

 Now, after you have done with your wheat- 

 drill, sow your turnip-seed thinly in every 

 other drill mark ; or, if you prefer, every 

 third drill-mark. Then go on with the di- 

 rections you have given, using only the 

 hand-hoe between the rows. .If, however, 

 you sow the turnips 18 or 20 inches apart, a 

 trained horse will take a cultivator through 

 them. Don't be afraid of spoiling some. I 

 am sure that I lost a great deal of money 

 last fall by leaving too many plants in the 

 patch. We got a dollar a bushel for ours, 

 however, and, by the way, the sample bar- 

 rel you sent us sold readily for a dollar a 

 bushel on the streets of Medina. You speak 

 about saving only the high-colored speci- 

 mens for seed. Now, this is a big point. 

 Have them washed up nice and clean, and 

 the color a one will sell them. 



