I904-] 



Storing Turnips. 



399 



carting is necessary, the roots being simply thrown together by 

 hand. The size of the heaps should be regulated by the size of 

 the flock consuming them, the object being to provide a day's 

 supplies in each heap. Thus, with a flock of 200 sheep getting 

 20 lb. per head per day, about 35 cwt. would be daily required, 

 and this would approximately represent the contents of each 

 heap. The troughs would be moved each morning to a fresh 

 heap, and thus the field would be evenly manured. Should the 

 turnips in these heaps be required within a few weeks of storing, 

 they are usually only covered by the tops, kept in position by a 

 few spadefuls of soil, but for longer storage a covering of straw 

 and soil is necessary. Turnips seldom go wrong in such heaps, 

 which have the additional advantage of being quickly formed. 

 They are specially useful for roots that are intended for con- 

 sumption by sheep in spring on the land where the crop was 

 grown. 



4. Laying two rows in one, and ploughing in, is an excellent 

 method of storing roots on light dry land. Under this system 

 the roots are not only well protected, but they are also placed 

 under conditions that admit of their growing considerably if the 

 winter is mild. The method of procedure is as follows : — The 

 row is divided into four equal length?, and a worker is assigned 

 to each. An ordinary single mould-board plough opens a deep 

 furrow close to the first row, throwing the soil outwards. The 

 first worker then proceeds to lay the roots (with tops and tails 

 attached) of the two adjoining rows into the furrow, and the 

 plough on returning throws the earth back on the roots, leaving 

 only the tops of the leaves exposed. Other two rows are 

 then similarly dealt with, and so the work proceeds across the 

 field. In spring, when required, the roots are lifted by ploughing 

 up, dry weather being selected for the operation. 



5. If labour is scarce or work is pressing, considerable pro- 

 tection may be given to growing roots by merely running the 

 double mould-board ridging plough between the rows. In this 

 way the roots, if not very large, are fairly covered, though not 

 so thoroughly as under the previous method. 



6. "Planting," as it is called, is practised locally in the North 

 of England, and is regarded as the best way of preserving 

 turnips for the use of lambing ewes. The turnips grow con- 



