TUEKIPS. 135 



It will also bid defiance to the severest frost. If neces- 

 sary, the bottom of this wide, deep, dead-furrow, may be 

 cleaned out and made flat, level, and square with the 

 spade or shovel; the pit is then ready for the roots. No 

 straw is needed at the bottom or sides. The days are 

 short, winter is approaching, and you must work lively 

 and make a short job of it. 



My plan is, to set three teams with stone-boats to draw- 

 ing the untopped turnips to the pit; one man, with the 

 team and stone-boat, takes two rows at a time, and as 

 soon as he has put on all he can carry, he drives to the 

 pit, where a couple of men help him to top the turnips 

 and throw them into the pit. By the time this is done, 

 another load is at the pit, and the empty stone-boat goes 

 for another load, and by the time the second load is 

 topped, the third team is at the pit with a load waiting 

 to be topped. If all hands work sharp, a great lot of 

 turnips can be gathered, topped, and pitted in a day. On 

 my own farm, I generally find it best to have an extra 

 man to help the drivers to pull and load the turnips; if 

 both work well, this doubles the speed of the whole oper- 

 ation. In other words, we have two men pulling turnips 

 all the time, and two men ought to pull twice as many 

 as one man. In fact, I have sometimes thought that two 

 good sharp boys would pull more than twice as many 

 turnips as one man who spends one-third of his time in 

 stopping and starting the team. Two active boys, who 

 work during these short days with a will, can pull up two 

 rows of turnips and put them on the stone-boat almost as 

 fast as a slow team will walk. If they cannot top the 

 turnips fast enough at the pit, put on another man, or 

 what is better still, take hold and help yourself. As a 

 rule, however, the man or boy who has charge of the job, 

 should not undertake any part of the work that will oc- 

 cupy all his time; he had better undertake the general 

 supervision, and be ready to lend a helping hand where 



