ESCULENT-ROOTED PLANTS. — THE TURNIP. 



185 



ground is in a very bad state, they will 

 require no further care after thinning 

 with the turnip-hoe, fig. 64, as the season 

 of weed-growing 

 Fig. 64. will have about 



^r=^^^^^^^ ceased ; besides, 

 Pit their leaves cover- 



xS| ing the ground will 



turnip-hoe. tend to keep weeds 



down. All the 

 other crops should be sown in drills, 1 

 inch in depth, and at a distance between 

 according with the variety, as some have 

 very small leaves, like the Maltese, while 

 others have them larger, like the Robert- 

 son's yellow-stone, &c. For the former, 



1 foot is sufficient, thinning out the plants 

 to 6 inches apart ; while for the latter, 

 18 inches between the rows, and 10 inches 

 from plant to plant, will be a proper al- 

 lowance when thinned out for the last 

 time. In all crops there is an evident 

 mistake in too close cropping, and in few 

 more so than in the turnip. These dis- 

 tances would be ill adapted for field culti- 

 vation, where bulk of crop is the object 

 aimed at : the case, however, is different 

 in garden culture, where no turnip should 

 exceed the diameter of 4 inches; and from 



2 to 3 inches is a better size. The ground 

 should be in a highly-enriched state, that 

 quick growth may be induced. It is of 

 vast importance, in securing a good braird, 

 and also a means of escaping the fly, that 

 vegetation should be rapid. This natu- 

 rally ensues when the seed is sown imme- 

 diately before rain ; but as this cannot be 

 at all times calculated upon, the drills, if 

 the ground is very dry, may with advan- 

 tage be well soaked with water before 

 sowing, using soft rain or river water in 

 preference to cold spring-water, that the 

 temperature of the soil may not be low- 

 ered ; and for this purpose it is advisable 

 to drill and water early in the morning, 

 and to sow towards the afternoon, for, if 

 the day be warm, the soil will have regained 

 its former temperature. It is well also 

 for this crop to mix guano and salt with 

 the water, to the extent of a pound- weight 

 of each to 25 gallons of liquid. The seed, 

 also, may be steeped for six or eight hours 

 in soft tepid water before sowing ; and if 

 soot or flowers of sulphur be mixed in 

 the water, both will adhere to the seed, 

 and render it less palatable to birds. In 

 drilling, as for carrots, the drill-rake 



should be used for opening them equi- 

 distant, speedily, and of uniform depth ; 

 and the drill sowing and covering ma- 

 chine (see section Potato) will be found a 

 great economiser of labour. The ground, 

 after sowing, should be left quite open, 

 and by no means scratched over with a 

 rake, as if it were a border of mignonette 

 in a highly-dressed parterre. The agri- 

 culturist rolls his turnip-ridges down 

 after sowing, to break down the hard 

 clods of earth, and render the process of 

 singling more easily effected, as well as 

 more completely to cover the seed in the 

 drills. The gardener has seldom the same 

 reason for doing this, as his soil is pre- 

 sumed to be sufficiently pulverised by 

 previous working; and it can only be 

 where his soil is strong and lumpy, and, 

 even then, when it is sufficiently dry 

 that the roller may mellow down the 

 clods, that he is justified in the operation. 

 The evil of finely raking kitchen-garden 

 ground is sufficiently obvious : it prevents 

 the admission of heat and air to the roots 

 or seeds ; in many cases renders it crusty 

 and hard on the surface, so as to prevent 

 the young plants breaking through it, and 

 in fact completely stultifies every argument 

 in favour of keeping the ground open and 

 pervious to the elements. Many persist in 

 raking garden ground from an idea of neat- 

 ness and orderly appearance ; but the best 

 appearance such ground can have is a 

 total absence of weeds, and a loose, open, 

 pervious surface. There are no garden 

 grounds kept in higher order than the 

 market-gardens round London, in many 

 of which a rake is scarcely to be found, 

 and seldom employed unless in breaking 

 in the ground previous to planting or 

 sowing — rarely otherwise. In ground 

 subject to the disease called Anbury, or 

 Finger-and-toes, which is occasioned by 

 a small species of Cynips (vide paragraph 

 Diseases and insects), the usual means 

 may be adopted at sowing; for, should 

 they do no good, they can do no harm, 

 and most of them will advantage the crop, 

 as manures, sufficiently to repay the la- 

 bour. These are, sowing the ground with 

 soot, salt, guano, spirits of tar, lime, soap- 

 boilers' waste, or any cheap alkaline sub- 

 stance : these are best spread over the 

 ground before drilling, as that operation 

 greatly favours their thorough amalgama- 

 tion with the soil. 



