TURNIP. 



ridge or drill. In the great turnip diftria of Norfolk, and 

 moil of the fouthern parts of the country, it is the moll 

 prevailing pratlice to fow this fort of crop in the broad-caft 

 manner on the level furface : while in the large turnip dif- 

 trifts of Northumberland and Berwickftiire, where this kind 

 of huftandry has undergone confiderable improvement, and 

 in moll of the more northern parts of the ifland, it is more 

 common to have recourfe to the drill mode, depofiting the 

 feed in rows, either in hollows or ridges mollly raifed by 

 one bout of the plough, or in drills on the level furface ; at 

 the diftances of from twenty-four to thirty inches in the 

 former cafe, as tlie circumllances of the land and the inten- 

 tions of the cultivator may be, and from ten to twelve or 

 thirteen inches in the latter. 



Thefe different general methods may each of them pro- 

 bably be had recourfe to with propriety, fuccefs, and benefit 

 under different circumllances and qualities of the foil. As 

 on the light, mellow earthy, deep fandy, gravelly, and other 

 fimilar forts of land, which are apt to part with tlieir 

 moifture too quickly, and confequently liable to become too 

 dry and parched for the healthy perfcA growth of the 

 turnip, it may be the betl and moil fuccefsful pradlice to 

 fow in the broad-cail or drill mode on the plain or level fur- 

 face, as by fuch means, the moillure which is necelTary for 

 the crop, may be more effeftually prefcrved in the land for 

 the fupply ol the plants. And on the contrary, where the 

 lands are of a fomewhat more heavy quality, and not fo much 

 difpofed to part with their moifture, but to retain it in a 

 fort of llagnant (late, the ridged-up drill method may be the 

 moil fuitable and advantageous, as by the mellownefs and 

 finenefs of mould which it affords, and its tendency to keep 

 it dry and preferve the plants from being hurt by the reten- 

 tion of too much wetnefs about their roots, the growth and 

 fecurity of the crops will be much promoted. It has a 

 fuperiority too in fome cafes in other ways ; as on foils 

 which are rather thin in the ftaple, this plant, in confequence 

 of its long tap-root (landing in need of a good depth of 

 mould, can feldom be grown in a perfeft or beneficial man- 

 ner, by ridging up the land confiderable advantage may be 

 gained in providing a more fuitable depth of cultivated foil 

 for the plants to grow in, and a better bed for putting in 

 the feed, as the operation has been found to more than 

 double the common depth of mould in fome fuch cafes. 

 The plants in this way grow more llrongly, and befides, by 

 the manure being confined to the ridges on which they 

 grow, are lefs expofed to the atmofphere, and not demanded 

 in fo large a quantity, in confequence of which more land 

 may be employed in raifing this fort of crop ; while by its 

 concentration, and the feed being placed more immediately 

 upon it, the nourifhment and means of fupport to the plants 

 .may be more fully and effetlually fupplied, and a larger 

 produce, of courfe, be afforded. This mode of lowing may 

 be beneficial too in affording the means of more eafily arid 

 readily getting up the crops, as food for (lock in particu- 

 larly fevere feafons, when eaten off very early in the wmter 

 months. It is of importance alfo in feveral other circum- 

 llances, as the hoeing, working, and cleaning of the land 

 between the rows of the plants can be eafier, better, and 

 more perfedlly executed, lefs expert perfons can be em- 

 ployed in much of the work, and from the earth or mould 

 being laid up to the plants by the ufe of the plough or 

 fome tool of that kind, the roots of the crops are better 

 proteded and preferved from the effefts of fevere frofls and 

 other caufes of injury. They can be raifed in this way hke- 

 wife on land that has been lefs prepared and is lels dry, as the 

 tops of the ridges are preferved by it in a proper ilate, and 

 the crops are moftly more abundant in this manner of fowing. 



Different objeftions have, however, been made by fome 

 to the ridged or raifed drill method of putting in tlie feed ; 

 but the principal of thofe that appear to have any fort of 

 weight or importance are, that in confequence of the roots 

 oi the crops, in fuch cafes, being more elevated or ftandintr 

 fngner, they are, on .iccount of being fo much expofed, lefs 

 capable of (landing the feverity of the winter feafon ; and 

 that larger fpaces or diftances are allowed than are necelTary 

 for the roots to attain a proper fize in, confequently that 

 the quantity of produce on the acre will not be fo great. 

 Notwithftanding the latter fuppofition, it is probable, how- 

 ever, that from the nourifhment or food of the plants being 

 fo greatly increafed, and the growth of the crops thereby 

 rendered fo much more healthy and ftrong, the amount of 

 the produce muft be increafed rather than diminifhed. 

 Different ftatements and calculations would indeed feem to 

 (hew this to be the cafe, and that even a greater weight of 

 turnip is raifed on wide intervalled ridges than thofe that 

 are narrow within certain limits. 



It has been contended too, in oppofition to the raifed 

 mode of fowing, that there is difficulty in reftoring the land 

 to the level ftate again, and that the ground in the intervals 

 becomes unprodufiive in confequence of the want of 

 manure ; but by forming the ridges in a fuitable and proper 

 manner, according as the nature of the foil may be, all 

 thefe inconveniences may readily be removed. In this in- 

 tention, it has been advifed to form the ridges in diagonal 

 and other diretlions over the fields, keeping the lands dry. 



It is further objeftcd to the raifed praftice of fowing, 

 that in lands of the more heavy turnip kinds, which have 

 little irregularity of furface for taking away moifture when 

 in excefs, though larger crops of this root may often be 

 produced, the grounds are fo much injured by being poached 

 in getting them off, that the crops of grain or other kinds 

 which fucceed them, are leffened in a far larger proportion 

 than is compenfated by the greater value of the turnips. 

 In fuch cafes and circumftances, it is advifed, as more bene- 

 ficial, to form the land into large ridges, fo convex as to 

 throw the wetnefs quickly into the furrows, as about fifteen 

 feet in width, that a cart may be eafily paffed along tliem 

 without prefling the earth in and obftrutling the furrows 

 on the fides, the feed, where the land is difpofed to throw 

 up weeds of the annual kind, being fbwn in the drill manner 

 on the furfaces without being railed, as by that means the 

 work of hoeing may be rendered more eafy and convenient : 

 but where this is not the cafe, and where the feed is put in 

 at a late period, or the land much infefted with the grub, it 

 may be preferable to have recourfe to the broad-caft mode of 

 fowing, as being more certain, from the plants being left fo 

 much clofer to each other at the firft lioeings, as to admit of 

 thinnincr out and removing the bad and unhealthy ones m 

 the fucceeding operations of the fame fort. Befides, they are 

 fuppofed to have the advantage of growing more ftrongly, 

 from the ftielter being more complete, and from the ground 

 being lefs ftirred about them in their early growth, before 

 their tap-roots are fufficiently fixed in the foil to fupport 

 them perfeftly. 



It would, however, appear from the fuccefs which has 

 attended the fowing and raifing this fort of crop in the 

 ridged-up or other drill mode in different diftrifts, and from 

 the greater facility and cheapncfs of performing the neceffary 

 after-culture, that it is, in many inftances, the moft bene- 

 ficial manner of fowing ; but that the nature of the ridges 

 or drills, and the diftance of the rows, muft often require to 

 be varied according to the quality of the foil, and many 

 other circumftances. See a paper in the fccond volume ot 

 " Communications to the Board of Agriculture,' tor the 



com- 



