1120 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GABDEN PLANTS 



BADISH 



visable to give them a good dusting with 

 a mixture of lime and soot early in the 

 morning, while the dew is still upon the 

 ground. 



Thinning out ttc. — When the young 

 plants have made 4 or 5 leaves it is time 

 to go over the rows with a small hoe, not 

 only to destroy the weeds, but also to thin 

 the seedlings out pretty freely, leaving 

 4-6 in. space or even more between the 

 plants. A second thinning out is fre- 

 quently necessary, in which case the 

 plants should be left about a foot apart. 

 By leaving the plants crowded they 

 become stifled with growth and pro- 

 bably infested with vermin, so that the 

 crop becomes a failure. In the event of 

 dry weather the plants will receive much 

 benefit from good soakings of water. 



Storing. — When fit for use the roots 

 should be taken up as required. Surplus 

 quantities may be stored in cool dry and 

 airy sheds free from frost. If the weather 

 is not too severe, and the soil in which 

 the Turnips are growing is dry and warm, 

 the roots may be left in the soil, and 

 pulled as wanted. A good plan for stor- 

 ing is to make heaps on a raised piece of 

 ground, having a layer of Htter or bracken 

 beneath and all round the Turnips. The 

 whole may then be covered with a layer 

 of dry soil. Where dry airy sheds exist, 

 however, it is scarcely worth while storing 

 Turnips out of doors. The leaves or tops 

 should be out off, but not the roots at the 



Enemies do — The Turnip is subject 

 to the attacks of many insects, beetles c&c, 

 more so, perhaps, than any other Cruci- 

 ferous crop. One of the worst pests is 

 the Turnip Ply or Plea (Altica nemorum), 

 a lively and voracious little beetle which 

 attacks the young leaves as soon as they 

 appear above the soil. The caterpillars 

 of the Turnip Sawfly (Athalia spvnariim) 

 called ' Niggers ' or ' Black Palmers ' attack 

 the leaves at a more advanced stage, and 

 may be recognised by their dull yellow 

 colour, and dense whitish short hairs. 

 The caterpillars of the Turnip Moth 

 (AgroUs segetuni) are also very destruc- 

 tive in autumn, the more so as they are 

 rarely seen. They live beneath the sur- 

 face of the soil and usually feed at night 

 time. They bore into the fleshy roots of 

 the Turnip in autumn and take refuge in 

 the holes they make. A closely related 

 pest is the caterpillar of the Heart- 

 and-Dart Moth (Agrotis exclamationis) 



which destroys the plants in a similar 

 way. 



BemeMes.- — Once any of these pests 

 have taken a fair hold of a crop, it is a 

 somewhat difficult matter to check them. 

 The attacks of the Turnip Plea and 

 Turnip Sawfly may be counteracted by 

 dusting the plants more or less heavily 

 with lime and soot early in the morning 

 when the dew is still on the foliage, or 

 late in the evening, when the pests will 

 probably be feeding. The same remedy 

 and hand-picking by candlelight seem 

 to be the best means of destroying the 

 caterpillars of the Turnip Moth and 

 the Heart-and-Dart Moth. Watering the 

 plants with briny water is also more or 

 less effectual. Where a Turnip crop 

 suffers a good deal from any of these 

 pests, it is unwise to grow a second crop 

 on the same piece of land, as similar 

 results are almost sure to follow — as it is 

 practically impossible to kill aU the larvae 

 or chrysalides of the pest. While they 

 are fond of the Turnip, and other Cruci- 

 ferous crops, perhaps, and attack them 

 fiercely, they are, however, more or less 

 harmless to other crops, such for instance 

 as Peas and Beans. 



Por other diseases see p. 1113. 



VAEIBTIBS OF TURNIP 



Among the best varieties may be 

 mentioned Extra Early Mila/n, a dis- 

 tinct strap-leaved variety which is fit 

 for use early ; Early Purple - topped 

 Mu/nich, also a distinct and early variety ; 

 Early Snowball, a fine variety with a 

 white, sweet, and tender flesh ; Early 

 White Stone, keeps well; andi Early Strap- 

 leaf White Stone, an early variety of fine 

 quality. Por late use Veitch's Bed Glohe 

 is an excellent variety. 



RADISH (Eaphanus sativus). — As 

 far as structure is concerned the Radish 

 resembles the Turnip in that the swollen 

 fleshy portion is really a stem which 

 gradually passes downwards into the real 

 root. 



The Radish is supposed to have come 

 originally from Southern Asia, but no 

 wild plant has yet been found that can 

 with any certainty be regarded as its 

 progenitor. The wild Badish or White 

 Charlock {B. Baphamistrum), which pro- 

 duces white or pale yellow flowers from 

 May to September, and is more or less 

 common in our cornfields, may possibly 



