Book VI. 



THE TURNIP. 



857 



ploughed. Ashes generally produce a good effect in causing the seeds to vegetate quickly, but the fer- 

 tilising powers of some of these do not appear to he of a permanent nature. Bruised bones and various 

 other substances have been used with much benefit; but it is to be observed, that putrescent ma- 

 nures form the main support of the turnip cultivator, and that the others are only to be regarded as 

 subsidiary. 



5394. Sowing the turmips. The land being formed into ridgelets in the manner 

 described, is ready for the reception of the seed. Tliis is sown on the tops of the ridgelets 

 by machines of various forms. 



5395. The most simple of these consists of a hollow cylinder of tin, fixed upon an axle, and moving round 

 with two light wheels, distant from each other twenty-seven or thirty inches, which are made to run in 

 the hollows of the ridges. (2688.) The seed is put into the cylinder through an aperture which opens and 

 shuts for that purpose: this cylinder turning round with the axle, the seed drops, through small equidistant 

 holes made in it, into a tin tube, by which it is conveyed to the ground. Immediately before this tube is 

 a hollow coulter of iron, sharp before, which incloses the forepart of the tin tube, and makes a track in 

 the ground from one to two inches deep, into which the seed drops. This simple apparatus is mounted 

 upon a light wooden frame-work, having two shafts behind, by which the workman holds and keeps it 

 steady in its course. It is then attached by a rope to a light wooden roller, in the shafts of which the 

 animal of draught is yoked. More perfect machines, however, may be employed where turnips are cul- 

 tivated upon a large scale, and we may refer to that of French (2688.) as one of the best. 



5396. The preparation of turnip-seed for sowing, by steeping in the drainings of dung- 

 hills and other similar matters, has been recommended as a likely mode to prevent the fly ; 

 but it is not found to have this effect, and is never followed. 



5397 The following mode of preparation is sometimes adopted : Half new and half old seed are mixed 

 together ; then half is taken and steeped in water for three or four hours ; afterwards both steeped and 

 unsteeped seed are mixed and immediately sown. The object of this preparation is to obtain four different 

 brairds or risings of the seed, which are supposed to give four chances of escaping the fly that attacks the 

 infant plants, instead of one. Another mode is to join radish-seed to the above, new and old, steeped in 

 the foregoing manner, it being found that the fly prefers the radish to the turnip. Some recommend 

 the mixing of an equal quantity of rape-seed with the turnip-seed, alleging, that if a fly cuts off the tur- 

 nips, the rape may be left for a crop ; and that if the turnips escape, the rape may be treated as weeds. 

 The most common precaution, however, as to the fly, is to sow thick, or to mix the seed with soot, lime, 

 or ashes. 



5398. The quantity of seed used may be from two pounds to two and a half pounds 

 avoirdupoise per acre. It is necessary to give a sufficient quantity of seed, to pro- 

 vide against the loss of plants from the ravages of insects, and other contingencies. But 

 the quantity should not be excessive ; because the plants, when too thick, get interwoven 

 together, and thence become difficult to be thinned in a proper manner. 



5399. The sowing process being completed, the ridgelets remain flattened and com- 

 pressed. [Jig. 756.) 



756 



5400. The several operations of forming the ridgelets, spreading the dung, covering it 

 by the plough, and sowing the seed, ought to be carried on in close succession. The 

 dung must be immediately covered, that none of its powers may be lost by evaporation ; 

 and the seed, to ensure its early vegetation, ought to be sown as soon as possible upon 

 the moist earth turned up. The various works of the turnip culture, thus carried on at the 

 same time, furnish the best specimen which the culture of the fields affords of the bene- 

 ficial effects of a proper division of labour. The process has all the appearance and 

 effects of garden culture, with the difference of its being conducted with incomparably 

 greater economy and despatch. 



5401. The period of sowing in the north of England and Scotland is from the 1st to 

 the end of June, though it is often continued to the middle of July. The turnips, how- 

 ever, sown after the latter of these periods seldom attain to a proper size ; and, when 

 sown earlier than the 1st of June, they are apt to shoot forth the seed-stem before winter, 

 by which not only the soil is deteriorated, but the nutritive juices of the root exhausted. 

 In the south of England they may be sown somewhat later than in the north. 



5402. The time of sowing in other countries must be varied by the nature of the climate and soil. It is 

 to be inferred, that in warmer countries, where vegetation is more rapid, the sowing should be deferred 

 till a later period. At Roville, in the north of France, M, de Dombasle sometimes sows in August, and 

 yet obtains a medium crop. 



5403. Hoeing. When the plants are an inch or more in height, or when weeds 

 r.ppear amongst them, the process of hoeing commences. This is done either by a small 

 1 lough drawn by one horse, going and returning along the hollow of each ridgelet, and 

 cutting of a slice of earth from the sides, as near to the turnips as possible {fig. 757-) 



757 



or by the horse-hoe, of which there are various kinds. The most simple of these consists 

 of a flat triangular share (fig. 758. a), with two lateral arms (6, b), formed to set wider 

 or narrower, and fixed to a beam and handles by three upright coulters of iron ; or, 

 which is better, the lateral arms are omitted, the triangular share fixed to the beam, and 

 two moveable upright coulters attached by a cross bar. 



