46 



burnt surface, )neld fine crops of them. No person 

 ever deserved better of a country than he who first 

 cultivated turnips in the fiehl — no plant is better suited 

 to Ireland — no plant prospers better in the coldest 

 and wettest parts of it, and no plant contributes 

 more to fertility. The Norfolk farmers generally 

 raise the white or red, and the green topped turnips 

 which grow to a verj' large size, but the roots be- 

 come hard and stringy early in spring. The green- 

 topped turnip growing more above ground is in more 

 danger of sutFering from frosts than the other two 

 kinds, which are more than half covered by the soil, 

 but it is the softest and sweetest, when grown large, of 

 any kind, except, perhaps, the yellow Aberdeen, 

 which is a hardy and delicious turnip. Swedes are 

 much better for keeping, (they ^viU be good so late 

 as in June,) and more nutritious, but they require a 

 rich soil, and abundant manure. Sow all kinds from 

 a drill barrow in drills, prepared as for mangel wiirzel, 

 at thirty inches apart ; the barrow usually sows two 

 drills at once, and is drawn by one horse, or by a 

 man; it has two rollers, one that goes before the 

 sowing apparatus and levels the pointed tops of the 

 ridges, and another that follows for the purpose of 

 compressing the soil and covering the seed. The 

 time for sowing the different varieties is somewhat 

 different ; the Swedish should be put in the earliest, 

 and then the yellow, both of them in the month of 

 May, but the globe kinds should not be grown until 

 June, and after the first week of July a full crop 

 cannot be expected. You may continue to sow your 

 latest crop after vetches. Rape seed also may be 

 advantageously sown after vetches, for spring feeding, 

 after which a corn crop should succeed. If you are 

 in want of room, and if you have not a drill barrow, 

 you can make a httle furrow either with a pointed 

 stick or hoe, on the top of each drill, into which with 

 the hand you can deposit the seed. 



After the turnips have thrown out their rough 



