298 THE TURNIP CROP. 



boys can lead carts as well as men; lads or women can 

 distribute the manure ; and the best ploughman on the 

 farm should draw out, or, at all events, finish off the 

 ridging, which gives Mm a good opportunity of showing 

 his skill and workmanlike capabilities. 



The usual time for sowing Swede turnips is from the 

 middle of May to the middle of June. The common 

 turnips are usually got in as soon as convenient, after the 

 Swedes are finished. In the south both varieties are 

 sown two or three weeks later than in the north, as long 

 experience has shown that the early-sown crops are more 

 liable to be injured by " mildew" than those not so far 

 advanced in their growth ; and this disease, which appears 

 to result from an insufficient supply of moisture to the 

 plant, always prevails more in districts where the soils 

 and climate are dry than where the} 7 possess the humidity 

 natural to the north. The quantity of seed sown varies 

 from 2 Ibs. to 7 Ibs. per acre. It is always greatly in 

 excess of what is required to furnish the number of plants 

 that are eventually left for the crop, and consequently 

 wasted, if we could rely upon each seed germinating and 

 producing a plant. If this could be secured we should 

 find, according to Stephens, 1 that about If oz. of seed 

 would furnish plants sufficient for an acre of ground. This 

 weight is only about -Mb. of 2 Ibs., the quantity usually 

 thought necessary in the north ; and sVth of 7 Ibs., which 

 in many places in the south the farmer is accustomed to 

 use. We know, however, that practically this cannot be 

 accomplished, and that, in order to secure a crop, we must 

 sow a certain quantity of seed, more or less, in excess of 

 that necessary to produce the number of plants we intend 

 to leave to the acre, in order to allow for the great defi- 

 ciency occasioned chiefly by imperfect germination of the 

 seed, and the injuries inflicted by insects on those which 



1 Book of the Farm, vol. ii. p. 73. 



