116 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Statement of H. A. Stiles of Middleton. 



English Turnips. — Having entered for inspection and 

 premium my crop of summer English turnips for the market, 

 it becomes my duty to report some of the obstacles encoun- 

 tered in growing this vegetable the present year. In no sea- 

 son within the history of my experience of twenty years in 

 turnip-culture, has it come so near a failure as the present 

 one. 



Turnip-seeds were sown the last days of April and the first 

 of May, and, germinating rather quickly, which is favorable to 

 growth, seldom appeared more promising for a bountiful har- 

 vest. The time of harvesting and marketing the early turnip 

 is from the 20th of June until the 20th of July, and before 

 the former period the effects of dry weather were visible on 

 portions of the crop, which continued with extreme heat to 

 check the growth, injure the quality of the turnip, and seem- 

 ingly lessen the quantity fully one-half of what it would have 

 been with seasonable rains. 



The most important requisite to the successful culture of 

 the crop, is suitable land. Gardeners sometimes assert that 

 they can raise just as good, clear and nice a turnip in autumn 

 as can be grown. True, they may be grown clear upon laud 

 unfit for the early turnip, but a difference may be noticed in 

 the quickness of growth, fineness of texture, and in its buttery 

 flavor and glossy whiteness. 



The best varieties for table use are the strap-leaved, white, 

 and red-top. Questions are often propounded, like the fol- 

 lowing : What kind of land do you have ? Do you use barn 

 manure or fertilizers? Do you sow in drills or broadcast? 

 Do you salt your lands ? You must have some secret, of which 

 you will not inform us, for we cannot get an early turnip fit 

 to eat. 



Having no secrets to reveal, I will briefly state my method 

 of culture this year. In the first place, my land is light, 

 sandy, loamy, and leachy ; it is quite level and free from 

 stones, and has been under cultivation a hundred years or 

 more. 



Lot No. 1 contains about one hundred rods. Ploughed 

 April 20, using the Michigan sod-plough. It has been in 



