VARIETIES CULTIVATED -SWEDES. 



275 



loamy soils, where their produce and keeping properties 

 are generally satisfactory. 



L aing's Improved Purple-top (Jig. 4), differs widely 

 from the other varieties of Swedes, in having large, entire, 

 cabbage-like leaves, which, by their spreading horizontal 

 habit of growth, speedily cover the soil between the drills, 

 prevent evaporation from the Surface, and materially check 



Fig. 4. 



the growth of weeds. It is rather a glow grower, and 

 appears to be better adapted for the clitnate of the south 

 than of the north, where the earlier winter checks its 

 growth. It is very hardy, of a fine globular shape, no 

 neck, and rarely exhibits any tendency to run to seed in 

 autumn ; indeed, in the spring it is usually a fortnight 

 later than the other varieties in commencing this process. 

 In the Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Mr. Haxton furnishes 

 the results of an experimental trial of the productive quali- 

 ties of the several varieties of Swedes, all grown under 



