108 



CASSELL'S POPULAB GARDENING. 



is exceptionally impatient of heat and drought ; it 

 Tapidly runs ofi to seed, a fact which, once perpe- 

 trated, entirely destroys the crop and its usefulness. 

 For the main crop a large hed should he sown about 

 July 12th, and where Turnips are required constantly, 

 as young and as fresh as possihle, make another mode- 

 rate sowing ahout August 11th. I have given in 

 general terms the kind of soil most suitable. Where 

 some slight variations are admissible, or forced on 

 the cultivator, it will be preferable to give the richest 

 and best soil to the July sowing, the warmest site to 

 the March sowing, and the stoniest and lightest to 

 the August sowing. So soon as the young crop has 

 four or five young leaves, forming or formed, be 

 quick to hoe freely amongst them, and in process of 

 hoeing to chop them out, which is another .mode of 

 expressing the peculiar practice of thinning they are 

 subject to. This inust be done very decisively, as 

 loss, rather than gain, accrues to any attempt at 

 ' having a large crop, so far as number is concerned. 

 Any that are left too thickly growing together vrill 

 iorm but a small and indifferent bulb, whereas 

 plentiful thinning out will insure a quicker and an 

 immensely better produce. In view of this it is im- 

 material whether the seeds be sown in rows or broad- 

 cast, the latter being preferable, both in the matter 

 of quick sowing, and simplicity as regards thinning 

 the young plants out. When drill-row sowing is 

 practised the drills should be eight inches apart, and 

 the young plants thinned out to the same distances 

 apart in the rows. Limited distances apart all ways 

 will also suffice for broadcast sowings. 



The very troublesome insect known as the Turnip- 

 fly, or black flea [Haltica nemonmi)^, and club-root 

 Tjeing natural enemies of the plant, certain precau- 

 tions are sometimes to be recommended in regard to 

 them. The former is subject to no particular season 

 or place, though during rainy seasons the young 

 plants are enabled to advance so rapidly as to grow up 

 beyond their power of vital injury. During dry hot 

 seasons, on the contrary, it is often very difficult to 

 secure a crop owing to their ravages upon the minute 

 seedling plants at the moment when they come 

 through the ground and subsequently. Club-root, on 

 the other hand, is more partial to some soils and 

 situations than others; so much so that where it 

 exists habitually its attacks are anticipated. 



To neutralise the injurious results arising from both 

 these enemies drill-row sowings are to be preferred. 

 When the drills are drawn a probable antidote for 

 the fly consists in steeping the seeds in sulphur- 

 water, so managed as to insure some of the sulphur 

 adhering to the seeds when subsequently taken out 

 and sown. Another aid is to sow equal parts of soot 

 and lime over the seeds when sown in the drills be- 

 fore covering them in. For club-root, lime and 



wood-ashes sown along the drill-rows before the 

 seeds are sown have beneficial results. Thin sow- 

 ings of soot or lime broadcast over the bed when 

 the plants are coming up, is also known to do good. 

 Plants are more liable to clubbing when seeds are 

 sown upon newly-manured ground than upon such 

 as has lain a month or two in fallow, and is there- 

 fore better aerated, and hence " sweeter." 



The Turnip produces a. dual crop. The young 

 growing shoots, when they push up in seed-stalk form 

 in the early spring, prove a very tender green vege- 

 table, which is greatly valued by many. As, how- 

 ever, the main winter crop is generally used before 

 the season for spring growth takes place, and it is 

 not desirable to use valuable bulbs for this purpose, 

 dependence is placed upon the August sowing, or 

 the remnant of plants not used therefrom, to supply 

 such " Turnip-greens " in the early spring. Any 

 sized plant which has passed through the winter un- 

 injured, whether it has a base or Turnip proper at its 

 root or not, will furnish a crop ' of tops, and may 

 be relied on to furnish a supply. The moment any 

 portion of any crop shows symptoms of going to 

 seed it becomes useless for culinary purposes ; hence, 

 save when " greens " are required, or real seeds are 

 to be grown and perfected, it will be necessary to im- 

 mediately pull the crop up, else will the ground be 

 robbed of its richness to a very considerable extent. 



For the vpinter supply, the July-sown, matured crop 

 is best taken up and stored away beyond the reach 

 of frost. The best way to do this is to draw each 

 bulb, cut off the leaves and their foot-stalks, but do 

 not injure the root-base, then clamp them in the open 

 ground precisely as Potatoes are clamped ; they keep 

 longer fresh and tender thus treated than in any other 

 way. Many varieties are offered in seed form. 

 Early Stone is excellent for the first spring sowing. 

 For general garden crops the American, or " Strap- 

 leaved," is not excelled. For deep soil the Long 

 White or Cow -horn variety is well adapted. 



Excellent varieties for general culture are: — Early 

 Red American (Strap-leaf), Milan Strap-leaf, Black 

 Stone, White Globe, Green Top Stone, Early Snow- 

 ball, and Early Paris Market (oblong). 



Vegetable Marrow {CucurUta Fepo ovifera). 

 French, Courge a mcmger ; German, Kiirbiis ; Spanish, 

 Calabasa Tontanera. — The peculiar fruiting plant, 

 which has gained so much popularity in this country, 

 especially in towns, known commonly as Vegetable 

 Marrow, is properly a Gourd, owing its English 

 name to some fancied or real merit the fruits possess 

 when cooked. In America they are known by the 

 name of Squash ; the ripened fruits often receive 

 also the name of Pumpkin, and are utilised by the 

 lower classes as pie-fruit, &c. 



