144: MARKET GARDENING. 



TIME OF SOWING TURNIPS. 



In the latitude of Philadelphia farmers begin to 

 think of sowing ruta bagas about the 1st of July, and, 

 if everything is in readiness, complete their sowing by 

 the middle of the month. Their process is as follows : 

 Plow the land level, harrow crosswise and lengthwise, 

 getting it into fine tilth, then with the plow draw shal- 

 low furrows two and one-half feet apart ; in these furrows 

 the manure is spread ; it may consist of any fertilizing 

 material within reach. Of course, decomposed matter 

 is the best, whether it be vegetable or animal ; and here, 

 we remark, it is a good plan to prepare, in advance, a 

 compost which will readily disintegrate when spread. 

 Where such is not at hand, any of the approved com- 

 mercial fertilizers may be resorted to, but buy only from 

 parties of good repute. When the fertilizer, if a super- 

 phosphate (or other commercial manure at about equal 

 cost), at the rate of five hundred pounds per acre, has 

 been spread, it is a good practice to remove the hind 

 teeth from an ordinary cultivator, so as to adapt it to 

 the width of the furrow, and pass it over the fertilizer, 

 thus incorporating it with the soil. That done, the soil, 

 divided in forming the furrows, is returned by splitting 

 the ridges. This process will be found to form a ridge 

 over the fertilizer some inches higher than the level of 

 the general surface. As that is not desirable in our cli- 

 mate, where heat and drouth prevail, rather than excess 

 of moisture, as in England, from whence the practice of 

 ridging is derived, back down the ridges until they are 

 nearly level, which brings the seed, when sown, near the 

 manure, so important to stimulate the young plants. 



MANNER OF SOWING TURNIPS. 



Everything being now ready for sowing, with an 

 approved drill, and the writer recommends the Keeler, 

 sow the seed, and follow with a light roller if drouth 



