OF ROOT CULTIVATION. 47 



cerous knobs, whilst the rootlets support irregular 

 knobs of a like kind, which, have more the aspect 

 of suspended rows of ginger than fingers-and-toes. 



Roots so affected soon rot, and have a foetid odour, 

 so that they are not only useless themselves, but 

 communicate canker and decay to the whole store. 

 In. the putrid mass will be found maggots and flies 

 and beetles of different kinds ; but as yet naturalists 

 are not agreed as to whether the nodules of disease 

 are caused by insects, or whether these creatures are 

 merely attracted by the foetid matter. We are, how- 

 ever, inclined to the belief that some insects are 

 connected with the diseased appearance in the first 

 place, whilst others afterwards step in to fatten upon 

 the decaying matter, induced by the first lot; but 

 still it must be confessed that the subject requires 

 much more attention than it has yet received, in 

 order to settle these important questions. 



Still it may be observed that one point has been 

 universally admitted; namely, that anbury only 

 occurs to any extent in sandy soils, where there is 

 an absence of lime, a good dressing of which mineral 

 is the best safeguard against this affection. Still, in 

 soils that are liable to anbury, we should not recom- 

 mend the continuance of turnip-growing, or at least 

 not so frequently in the rotation as has hitherto been 

 the case, and more especially as the soils which pro- 

 duce anbury to the greatest extent are just those 

 best adapted for parsnips and carrots, which, if not 

 wholly, may occasionally be very profitably grown in 

 the place of the turnip. 



Having given a few notes on the more prominent 

 forms of insect attacks to which root crops are liable, 



