158 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



Turnip. — The turnip is essentially a cold weather plant and 

 does best when most of its growth is made during the autumn. 

 It is grown to some extent in the spring, but there is very little 

 call for it until cool w^eather. 



Figure 75. — White Strap Leaved Turnip, 



Culture. — The turnip needs to be grown very rapidly to have 

 the best quality. The best soil for it is a friable, rich, sandy 

 loam, free from fresh manure; sod land that has been recently 

 broken up is excellent for this purpose, but on old land, i. e., 

 that which has been cultivated for several years, or where there 

 is fresh manure, the roots are often wormy. When grown for 

 early use some quick maturing kinds should be planted as early 

 in the spring as the soil can be worked in rows fifteen inches 

 apart. The seed should be sown rather thickly and the seedlings 

 thinned out two or three inches apart after all danger from the 

 flea beetle has passed. (This insect is the same as that which 

 attacks the cabbage.) Turnips grown for late use generally 

 come in as a second crop after grain, strawberries, early pota- 

 toes, cabbage or other crop that is off the land by the first of 

 August, since after this time a good crop of many varieties of 

 late turnips will mature before winter, though some of the large 

 kinds need to be sown earlier i:i the season. The seed is some- 

 times sown broadcast just before a shower or else it is harrowed 



