90 RUTA BAGA CULTURE. Part L ' 



'pri:::e reports, they must have been of the extent of 

 a n ingle acre, or something in that way. In my 

 usual order, the ridges four feet asunder, and the 

 plants a foot asunder on the ridge, there are ten 

 thousand, eight hundred and thirty turnips on the 

 acre of ground, and, therefore, for an acre to weigh 

 thirty-three tons, each turnip must weigh very near- 

 ly seven pounds. After the time here spoken of, I 

 had an acre or two at the end of a large field, trans- 

 planted on the 13th of July, which probably weigh- 

 ed j^/^^ tons an acre. I delayed to have them weighT 

 ed 'till a fire happened in some of my farm builds 

 ings, which produced a further delay, and so the 

 thing was not done at all ; but, 1 weighed one rs:agon 

 load, the turnips of which averaged eleven pounds 

 each; and, several weighed /owr<eg/i pounds Ccich. 

 My very largest upon Long Island weighed twelve 

 founds and a half. In all these cases, as well here 

 as in England, the produce was from transplanted 

 plants ; though, at Hyde Park, I have many tur- 

 nips of more than ten pounds weight each from sozvn 

 plants, some of which, on account of the great per- 

 fection in their qualities, I have selected, and am 

 now planting out, for seed. 



71. I will now give afuU account of m'y transplant- 

 ing at Hyde Park. In apart of the ground, which 

 was put into ridges and sown, I scattered the seed 

 along very thinly upon the top of the ridge. But, 

 however thinly you may attempt to scatter such 

 small seeds, there will always be too many plants, 

 if the tillage be good and the seed good also. I 

 suffered these plants to stand as they came up } 

 and, they stood much too long, on account of my 

 want of hands, or, rather, my want of time to at- 

 tend to give my directions in the transplanting ; 

 and, indeed, my example too ; for, I met not with 

 a man who knew how to Jix a plant in the ground j 

 and, strange as it may appear, more than half the 

 bulk of crop depends on a little, trifling, contempti- 



