1906. J 



Quality of Swedes. 



285 



of better quality than the large one, even of the same variety, 

 and this is in agreement with the investigations at Cambridge 

 above-mentioned, where it was found that there was a tendency 

 for the weight of the root to fall as the dry matter rose. There 

 as, therefore, on the whole, more food-material in a small turnip 

 than in an equal weight of a large one, and it would seem that 

 quality rapidly deteriorates with size, and manures of a forcing 

 nature act prejudicially to quality. Greater variations in the 

 quality of any one variety were often found than in that of 

 different varieties. The chief cause of this, as far as could be 

 observed, was the varying weights of crops, or rather size of 

 roots. While the average weight of the bulbs was under 4 lb., 

 on several farms it was very much over this. Quite a number 

 of bulbs of the larger-growing varieties were more than 12 lb. 

 in weight. On Greenburn six bulbs were found to scale with- 

 out the shaws just over 18 lb. each. In fact, all the varieties 

 produced a somewhat exceptional growth on this farm. The 

 analysis showed a corresponding drop in the quality. 



The Sheep-Feeding Experiments previously referred to 

 indicate that the object should be to grow as large a weight 

 of feeding material as possible, and the present experiments go 

 to prove that this depends more on quality than on quantity. 

 Since a higher percentage of feeding material is found in the 

 medium-sized root, the aim should be to raise the medium size 

 in preference to the over-swollen but popular bulb. 



Another of the College's experiments has shown that this can 

 be attained by limiting the plant's growing area, which can be 

 accomplished in three ways : the usual width of drill may be 

 reduced, or a narrower hoe may be employed, or the two 

 methods may be combined. Objection may be taken to this on 

 the ground of its reducing the crop, but the experience of those 

 accustomed to weigh this crop disproves this. The appeal to 

 the weighbridge has shown that the heaviest weights are pro- 

 duced by a narrow drill. Some use 26-inch drills, while others 

 sow as closely as 24 inches, while at the same time many employ 

 a 6J-inch hoe, which is considerably smaller than the one 

 commonly used. The effect of this on the number of roots 

 raised per acre is very striking. If two acres of 27-inch wide 

 drills are taken, and one of these acres is hoed with an 



