266 THE TURNIP CROP. 



may be either preserved separate or changed into each 

 other. Pliny mentions three distinct species, of which he 

 gives a detailed description. He speaks strongly in their 

 praise, and says they were accounted as the third in value 

 of the cultivated crops, the vine and corn being ranked 

 before them. They each describe the character of soils 

 best suited for the cultivation of both sorts the one 

 delighting in a lighter class of soils than the other; and 

 they all agree in strongly recommending that the land be 

 well broken up by repeated stirrings until a fine tilth be 

 obtained, and that it be well manured. The diligent 

 farmer, says Pliny, ploughs four times for his rapa and 

 five times for his napus, and never forgets his dung. He 

 also tells that in his time many of the roots on a well- 

 cultivated farm would weigh upwards of 40 Ibs. each. 1 

 The quantity of seed to be sown is given at about 4 Ibs 

 per acre, and directions are not forgotten to thin them at 

 a certain stage of their growth, so that those left, wliich 

 should always be the strongest and most vigorous plants, 

 should have more air and room for increase. Our enemy 

 "the fly" appears to have been well known to them, as 

 they all speak of the injuries it caused to their crops, and 

 offer remedies or palliatives to its attacks. Columella 

 says he successfully used to collect the dust from his 

 chambers and the soot from his chimneys, and steep his 

 seeds in this, mixed with a small quantity of water. Pal- 

 ladius used to content himself with strewing a mixture 

 of soot and ashes in the drills at the time of sowing. Our 

 turnip-fly is probably the same insect that is referred to 

 by the Roman authors as attacking their crops, and our 

 most approved remedy is to place the seed in the soil 

 under those conditions most likely to insure a speedy and 



1 This is an extraordinary weight, even in our own country ; while on the 

 Continent, especially in the warm climate of Italy, the turnip of the present 

 day dwindles down to a size far below that ordinarily met with in our crops. 



