sect. IV. THE COUNTY OF FIFE. 197 



ing it bleed, greatly hurts the growth. Care 

 should likewise be taken not to raise the earth 

 too high, or to bring it so close as to squeeze 

 the spreading leaves together. This method an- 

 swers well for potatoes, but is injurious to tur- 

 nip. After laying back the earth, it should be 

 stirred and trimmed ; and where by. accident it 

 is raised too high, should be levelled with the 

 hand-hoe. Turnips do not thrive when covered 

 up with mould. They swell best, and acquire 

 a larger size, when two-thirds, perhaps three- 

 fourths, of the body of the turnip stands above 

 the surface of the ground. How often, or how 

 long the operations of ploughing and hoeing 

 turnips should be performed, must depend up- 

 on the state of the land, and the forwardness of 

 the crop. It may be laid down, however, as a 

 general rule, that they ought to be repeated as 

 often as weeds appear, and continued as long as 

 they are practicable, without endangering the 

 plants. 



The principal danger to which this plant is 

 exposed, is from the slug and the fly. In a, 

 fortnight after the young turnips begin to ap- 

 pear, it often happens, especially in dry wea- 

 ther, that either the whole is totally consumed, 

 or so many destroyed as to leave a very scanty 

 and irregular crop. Various methods have been 

 devised to prevent this calamity. Some roll the 

 turnip in the night-time, when the slugs, con- 

 cealed in the ground through the day, are sup- 

 posed to come out and feed upon the young 

 plants, by which means they are crushed and 

 destroyed. To save the crop from the ravages 

 of the fly, it has been recommended to sow a 



