TURNIP 



733 



in the drills when opened for the 

 reception of the seed. 



The Soil most suitable for 

 Turnip culture is a rich, friable, 

 sandy loam, on which medium-sized 

 roots of excellent quality may be 

 produced without the aid of much 

 manure ; and the fresher the soil 

 the better flavour the crop, — for 

 which reason preference is always 

 given to those grown on arable land 

 after corn crops, as the kitchen- 

 garden soil is frequently too rich in 

 decayed vegetable matter, and has 

 to support a much greater variety 

 of tap-rooted plants, which extract 

 the elements necessary for their 

 growth from the soil. For this 

 reason the main crop for winter 

 use should be grown in a similar 

 manner to main crops of Potatoes, 

 outside the kitchen-garden proper; 

 ' and if fresh land be available every 

 year, the results will be all the 

 better. In light dry soils well- 

 decomposed manure must neces- 

 sarily be supplied ; for if the young 

 plants lack nourishment sufficient 

 to ensure a healthy growth, insect 

 plagues invariably attack them in 

 dry periods, and the crop will be 

 hard and stringy. But perhaps the 

 most difficult soils to deal with are 

 stiff, cold, retentive ones, for without 

 a good seed-bed successful results 

 are well-nigh hopeless. Under such 

 circumstances it is a good practice 

 to draw deep drills the required 

 distances, and fill them up with 

 light rich soil, wood-ashes, bone- 

 dust, or guano, in which to deposit 

 the seed, whereby the young plant 

 gets quickly into rough leaf, and 

 grows out of the reach of insects. 

 In dry soils Turnips are often, in 

 hot seasons, not only of inferior 

 quality, but it is also difficult to get 

 the seeds to germinate freely and 

 regularly, and to induce the young 

 plants to make a sufficiently rapid 



growth to escape the ravages of the 

 fly. 



Culture in Market-Gardens. 

 — The earhest sowing of Turnips is 

 made in the end of January or early 

 in February, in pits or frames, or 

 on hot-beds without frames ; and 

 main sowings are made broadcast 

 on a field about the end of February, 

 or in March, to be succeeded by 

 another sowing made in April. 

 After the plants come up they are 

 thinned, and the surface soil is at 

 the same time loosened by means 

 of small hoes. The largest roots 

 are first drawn for market ; thus the 

 plants get thinned, and those that 

 remain have more space for develop- 

 ment. For early crops, when grown 

 in brick pits, 2 or 3 ft. of rough 

 fermenting material is cast into the 

 pit and firmly trodden down, and 

 on this is placed a few inches in 

 thickness of garden soil, which is 

 also made firm. The seeds are 

 then sown broadcast, and afterwards 

 the frame is kept close and moist 

 until germination has taken place, 

 when plenty of air is admitted on 

 every favourable opportunity. If 

 the seedlings come up too thickly, 

 they are thinned out to 3 or 4 in. 

 apart. Frame Turnips are never 

 large ; the aim is to grow them 

 quickly to the size of a hen's egg, 

 when they are tender and of good 

 flavour, and to market them at 

 once. The method of growing 

 them in hot-beds without frames is 

 to cast out trenches 18 in. deep, 

 6 ft. wide, and of any length, and 

 firmly fill them with manure ; over 

 this a coating of soil is placed, and 

 rolled or beaten solidly with the 

 back of a spade 5 the seed is then 

 sown, slightly covered, and finished 

 off by rolling again ; hoops made 

 of hazel sticks are then fixed over 

 the beds, so that they can be covered 

 with mats, and in the event of hard 



