TURNIPS. 133 



plants get into the rough leaf, commence to hoe and thin 

 them out. Hoeing turnips and thinning them out, are 

 both done at the same time. You may think the remark 

 unnecessary, but I have known people to hoe on each 

 side of the row of turnips and afterwards go over the 

 piece and thin them out. The true plan is, to cultivate 

 the turnips between the rows with a horse-hoe, that will 

 pull a little soil away from the row. If the rows are 

 straight, a skillful boy will run his cultivator within an 

 inch of the plants; when through cultivating, the young 

 turnip plants will stand in straight rows two inches in 

 width, invitingly ready for the hoe. 



Have the hoe ground sharp and bright, square at the 

 corners, with the shank bent at nearly right angles with 

 the handle; then dash your hoe boldly across the row of 

 turnips, pulling it towards you; then push it back slowly 

 in such a way as to leave only one plant in a place. The 

 work can nearly all be done with a hoe, but occasionally, 

 when the plants interlock, it will be necessary to stoop down 

 and remove all but one with the thumb and finger. For 

 this reason, if the plants are very thick in the row, you 

 must commence to single out as early as possible, and push 

 forward the work with energy. It will not do to loiter 

 or tell stories. If you do, the plants will assuredly get 

 the start of you, and then you have a tough job on hand. 

 If, in spite of all you can do, you find you can not get 

 through the whole piece before the plants are likely to be 

 injured by over crowding, the better way is, to go through 

 the whole piece and bunch out the plants. By this I 

 mean strike the hoe across the row, leaving bunches of 

 plants ten or twelve inches apart, and afterwards go 

 over them again and single them out. 



Turnips will stand rougher treatment than beets or 

 mangels. If you cut too close to a beet plant, our hot 

 sun will kill it; while a turnip in the same circumstances 

 would revive during the next night. After the plants 



