CHAP. iv. SWEDES AND TURNIPS. 955 



is useful, for it keeps the swedes in a robust and growing condition, 

 and they are then able to resist the attack. The ground should be 

 freely stirred to keep the soil round the roots in a moist condition. 

 It is not an uncommon error to imagine that if the surface is stirred 

 there is greater chance of loss of moisture ; this is a mistake, for when 

 the surface is worked the continuity of the capillarity is broken, so 

 that the moisture does not escape below the point where the eifect of 

 the sun and wind is felt. 



Swedes should not be fed until they are ripe, as they are less nutri- 

 tious before maturity, and possess properties which prove irritating to 

 the stomachs of animals. For this reason it is advisable to have some 

 other variety of turnip, or cabbage, in readiness for feeding in the early 

 part of autumn. The swede is essentially a winter food, and is at its 

 best from the middle of November to the beginning of March. It is 

 hardy, but, if ripe, it will not stand the severity of a more than ordi- 

 narily cold winter. Therefore, the earliest and ripest, at any rate, 

 should be got up and stored before December. If they are required 

 for sheep-feed they are best clamped in heaps a chain square apart on 

 the land where they grew ; and, if for cattle, taken to a convenient 

 place and stored, either in a long clamp or a root-house. When 

 clamped, the tops only should be cut off, and the heaps should be 

 covered with a layer of straw, which when fairly compressed should be 

 from three to six inches in thickness. This should be covered with a 

 layer of earth from two to four inches thick, to keep the wet out. At 

 first it is advisable to have an opening at the apex for ventilation, but, 

 after the roots have been clamped a fortnight, this is best filled up, as 

 wet is liable to run in, and wherever moisture goes frost follows in 

 severe seasons. When the roots show signs of sprouting in the heaps 

 in spring, the greater part of the covering of earth should be thrown 

 off, or they will ferment and rot. 



Swedes are of two kinds, the green-top and the purple-top. The 

 latter is the more generally grown. There are an immense number of 

 varieties in the market, but they are more or less " selections " of the 

 same kind. In choosing a variety it is more important to obtain one 

 which has been carefully " selected " recently, than to choose one of 

 good name but which has been badly " selected " for some time. It 

 is therefore preferable to buy the seed from good firms, who are known 

 to be careful selectors, even though they charge rather more per pound 

 than traders who make no attempt at selection. 



The TURNIP, under which name is included all varieties of turnips 

 except the swede, is a form of the rough-leaved summer rape, which 

 has been cultivated in such way as to develop the root rather than the 

 foliage. It is distinguishable from the swede because it possesses no 

 neck, the leaves appearing to grow straight out of the root. None of 

 these varieties possess either the hardiness or the feeding properties of 

 the swede, and they are more often grown as catch-crops, or are taken 

 on land when it would be too late in the season to grow swedes. They 

 are very useful on light chalk soils, where perhaps they form the larger 



