BEETS, TURNIPS, AND CARROTS 203 



account of the injury to the foliage are easily seen when at 

 work. It is a simple matter to shake them off and thus 

 stop their damage, while it is well worth while to place a few 

 of them in breeding-cages and rear them to butterflies. They 

 will feed freely upon the leaves of the carrot, parsley, or 

 related plants, and will soon change into chrysalides, to change 

 again a little later into the beautiful butterflies. 



Provided one has a moist, loamy soil, the turnip is a very 

 easy crop to grow. It thrives especially in cool weather, 

 and consequently should be grown in spring or early autumn 

 rather than in midsummer. The seed germinates about as 

 quickly as does radish seed, and the tops are hardy, enduring 

 early frosts without injury. Turnips are commonly divided 

 into four great classes, according to the shape of the roots. 

 These are, first, those varieties in which the root is distinctly 

 flattened; second, those in which the root is round or top- 

 shape; third, in which the root is oval; and fourth, in which 

 the root is conical or subcylindrical. The varieties most 

 commonly grown belong to the first two groups, and for ordi- 

 nary garden purposes it is scarcely worth while to grow the 

 others. 



The seeds of turnips are very small and' it is difficult to 

 avoid sowing them altogether too thickly. As germination 

 tests have shown that a large proportion of the seeds will 

 germinate, it will be worth while for the young gardener to 

 mix the seed thoroughly with fine sand before sowing it. In 

 this way he can sow it more sparsely and save himself much 

 trouble in the subsequent thinning of the plants. The seeds 

 should be sown in drills and covered with about one-half 

 inch of fine soil. In a few days the seedlings will appear and 

 should be thinned rather early. It is well to plan for two 



