no 



STATEMENT OF H. A. STILES. 



Having entered for inspection and preminm my crop of 

 Summer English Turnips for the market, it becomes my duty 

 to report some of the obstacles encountered in growing this 

 vegetable the present year. In no season Avithin the history 

 of my exi^erience of twenty years in turnip culture, has it 

 come so near a failure as the present one. 



Turnij) 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 to 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 land 

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

 the quickness of groAvth, fineness of texture, and in its but- 

 tery flavor, and glossy whiteness. 



The best varieties for table use aie 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 ham 

 manure or ferlilizers? 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 tur- 

 nip fit to eat. 



Having no secrets to reveal, I will briefly state my meth- 

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

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

 and has been under cultivation a hundred years or more. 



