1876 



TURNIP 



The culture of Turnips and Rutabagas is very simi- 

 lar, except that the Rutabaga requires a longer season 

 in which to grow. The Rutabaga is nearly always grown 

 as a main - season crop, whereas the Turnip may be 

 sown very late for winter use or very early for late 

 spring or summer use. Usually the flat Turnip is not 

 grown during the hot weather of summer. In the north- 

 ern states it is sown from the middle of July to the mid- 

 dle of August for late crop, or on the first approach of 

 spring in order that tubers may be had for the early 

 vegetable market. The late or winter crop is ordinarily 

 used for storing in cellars and also for feeding, where- 

 as the early crop is often sold in bunches in the open 

 market, and later by the basket or bushel. 



The Turnips and Rutabagas are hardy; that is, the 

 young plants can withstand some frost. They are cold 

 weather plants and demand loose, moist soil. Usually 

 the seeds are sown in drills which stand from 10 to 20 

 inches apart. In the drills the plants are thinned until 

 they stand from 6 to 10 inches apart, depending on the 

 variety that is to be grown. For general field operations 

 the rows are sometimes placed as far as 30 inches 

 apart, in order to allow horse tillage. Sometimes the 

 late or winter crop is raised from seed sown broadcast, 

 but this method gives good results only when the soil 

 is well supplied with moisture, very thoroughly tilled 

 beforehand and is free from weeds, since subsequent 

 tillage is impossible. The seeds of Turnips and Ruta- 

 bagas are of similar size, two or three pounds being 

 required for broadcasting to the acre. When sown in 

 drills one-half or one-third this amount may be suffi- 

 cient. The yields will sometimes reach 1,000 bushels 

 to the acre, although the average is much less than 

 this. 



The Turnip needs no special care as to cultivation. 

 The greatest difficulties are the root maggot, which is 

 the larva of a small fly, and the flea beetle. The mag- 

 got may be killed by injecting bisulfide of carbon into 

 the soil about the roots before the grubs have burrowed 

 deeply into the tissues. In general field operations, 

 however, this treatment is impracticable and one must 

 rely on growing the crop in fields which are not in- 

 fested with the maggot; that is, rotation is the chief 

 recourse. The flea beetle may be kept in check by 

 spraying the plants with Bordeaux mixture, or perhaps 

 better by sprinkling them with Paris green diluted with 

 landplaster (one part by bulk of Paris green to 50 of 

 plaster). 



Rutabagas have firmer and richer flesh than the Tur- 

 nips. They are usually more prized for consumption in 

 winter, and Turnips are usually more popular in the 

 spring and early fall markets. Rutabagas are also more 

 prized for stock-feeding. They yield heavily, are rich 

 and succulent and keep well in any ordinary cellar. 

 Rutabagas started in the middle or last of June in the 

 northern states will reach their full growth by October. 

 They are usually not harvested until heavy frosts have 

 come. The roots of Rutabagas and Turnips sometimes 

 persist through the winter, even though they have 

 been solidly frozen, and send up flower-stalks in the 

 spring; but unlike salsify and parsnips the roots 

 should not be left in the ground to freeze if they are to 

 be used. L H B 



TURNIP, INDIAN. Ariscema triphylla. 

 TURNIP-ROOTED CELERY. See Celeriac. 

 TURPENTINE TREE. Syncarpia latifolia. 



TURPlNIA (Pierre J. P. Turpin, a French botanist 

 and author). Celastracece. About 8 species of trees or 

 shrubs from the tropical regions of the world, with 

 opposite abruptly pinnate or rarely simple leaves and 

 small white flowers in spreading terminal or axillary 

 panicles. Fls. hermaphrodite, regular; calyx 5-cut, per- 

 sistent; petals 5, roundish, sessile; stamens 5: ovary 

 sessile, 3-lobed, 3-loculed: fr. subglobose indehiscent. 



arguta, Seem. A tender shrub: Ivs. simple, ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, serrate: fls. white, becoming 

 yellowish. China. B.R. 21: 1819. -Advertised in S. Calif. 



F. W. BARCLAY. 



TWISTED STALK 



TURRJEA (Turra, 1607-1688, botanist of Padua, Italy). 

 Meliacetf.. About 30 widely scattered species of tropical 

 trees and shrubs with alternate, stalked, entire or lo^ed 

 Ivs. and long white fls. in axillary clusters. Calyx 4-5- 

 toothed or parted; petals 4-5, long and free; staminal 

 tube 4-5-toothed; disk none: ovary 5-, 10- or 20-loculed: 

 ovules 2 in each locule, superposed. T. heterophylla, in- 

 troduced to S. Florida by Reasoner Bros., is probably 

 not in cultivation. It was said to be a native of Natal. 

 The plant described as T. heterophylla in Flora Capen- 

 sis was probably imperfectly diagnosed and should be 

 known as T. floribunda, as explained in the Flora of 

 Tropical Africa. 



A. Fls. solitary or in pairs, axillary. 



heterophylla, Sm., not Sonder. Lvs. more or less 

 obovate-cuneate, 3-lobed above, varying to subentire: 

 fls. Vi-% in. long. Upper Guinea. B.R. 30:4 (as T. 

 lobata). Not cult. 



AA. Fls. clustered at ends of branches. 



floribunda, Hochst. (heterophylla, Sond.). Shrub: 

 foliage falls away before flowering season: Ivs. ovate, 

 acute or produced into a short obtuse point, undivided 

 or 3-lobed: fls. clustered at ends of branches: peduncles 

 and calices silky tomentose. Natal. -yjr ]yj 



TURTLE-HEAD. Species of Chelone. 



TUS8ILA60 (Latin, tussis, cough, and ago; referring 

 to the medicinal use of the Ivs.). Compdsitce. Here be- 

 longs the COLTSFOOT, the flowers of which look much 

 like the dandelion. It resembles the dandelion in having 

 scapes bearing solitary yellow flower-heads composed 

 of rays, but the scapes are scaly and the heads are 

 smaller, lighter colored and borne in early spring before 

 the "main crop" of dandelions. Also the flowers close 

 up in the hot sunshine towards noon, contrary to the 

 custom of dandelions. When the fruit is mature, they 

 hang their heads prettily. The Coltsfoot has a downy 

 head of fruit, but it is not as large, round and attrac- 

 tive as a dandelion's. After the flowers have lost 

 their beauty, the leaves appear. They are heart-shaped 

 and rounded at first, but as they grow they become 

 more and more angled. Tuey are covered with a soft 

 cottony matting which diminishes toward the end of 

 the season. The Coltsfoot is generally considered rather 

 coarse and plebeian, and it is rarely offered for sale, 

 except by collectors of wild plants. It spreads too 

 fast to be a denizen of the flower garden, but it is 

 desirable for wild gardening operations. It grows 

 naturally in moist places and thrives on steep raw 

 banks in the stiffest clay. A mass of its soft, cot- 

 tony foliage is a pleasant and restful sight in early 

 summer. The variegated form is more commonly culti- 

 vated than the type. Tussilago fragrans, the "Winter 

 Heliotrope," is a Petasites, which see. The leaves of 

 the Coltsfoot are said to be used in making cigars which 

 are smoked in cases of asthma. 



Tussilago is a genus of one species. It is more closely 

 related to Petasites than to Taraxacum. For generic 

 description, see Gray's Manual and Brittonand Brown's 

 Illustrated Flora. 



Farfara, Linn. COLTSFOOT. Described above. Spreads 

 rapidly by underground stems. Fls. in March. Native 

 to Europe, India and northwestern Asia. Naturalized 

 in America. Gn. 23, p. 113. 



Var. variegata, Hort., has Ivs. margined and more or 

 less blotched with white or yellow. Gn. 37, p. 435. 

 Lowe 56. ^ ]yj 



TUTSAN. Hypericum Androscemum. 

 TWAYBLADE. Liparis liliifolice. 

 TWIN FLOWER. Linncea borealis. 

 TWIN LEAF. Jeffersonia. 

 TWISTED STALK. Streptopus. 



