190 



CULINARY OR KITCHEN GARDEN. 



yellow stone, the last probably the type from 

 which the third has been obtained. The yellow 

 Preston, or Liverpool Preston, and the yellow 

 Altringham, are both much grown in the north- 

 west of England. We consider them good, but 

 coarser in growth and delicacy of fibre than 

 those we have described above. , 



White Dutch— One of the oldest in cultiva- 

 tion, and most esteemed for early crops; round 

 and much flattened; leaves medium-sized. While 

 young, it is juicy and of excellent flavour, but 

 apt to become spongy and dry when too old, 

 particularly in dry seasons. In perfection when 

 from \\ to 2\ inches in diameter; after that 

 size it is next to useless. It will not keep either 

 in the ground or in pits through the winter, 

 compared with the following. 



White stone— Shape of the bulb much more 

 globular than the last, and firmer in texture and 

 rather stronger in foliage. According to the 

 Messrs Lawsons' description in " Vegetable Pro- 

 ducts of Scotland," div. hi. p. 14, " it is not, 

 however, so well adapted for early spring- sow- 

 ing, being more apt to run to seed, and has 

 acquired the name of early from the circum- 

 stance of its arriving soon at maturity when 

 sown at a late period of the season. A care- 

 fully selected and improved variety of this is 

 known in some parts of England by the name of 

 mouse-tail turnip ; and, in addition to this, some 

 seed-catalogues present us with the names of red- 

 topped, mouse-tailed, and we think we may add 

 the name of snowball also. It is sometimes also 

 called the white garden stone. 



Early six-weeks. — Bulbs of an irregular globu- 

 lar shape, produced for the most part above the 

 surface of the ground. It arrives soon at per- 

 fection — hence the name ; a good- tasted turnip, 

 soft, and not adapted for winter use. We sow it 

 as an intermediate crop during summer, for the 

 supply of young tender turnips. It is known as 

 the autumn stubble, early dwarf, and early ball. 



Stone globe. — A well-shaped globular bulb, 

 produced generally almost under the surface, 

 which circumstance, together with its hardiness, 

 renders it the best winter-keeping sort. Its 

 leaves are stronger than any of the above, and 

 of a much darker colour. 



The French turnip or navet. — Of an oblong 

 fusiform shape, from 3 to 6 inches in length, 

 about 1 inch in diameter at the top ; dull, semi- 

 transparent, whitish colour ; possessed of pecu- 

 liar qualities, for which it is esteemed in French 

 cookery. Vide Uses, p. 184. 



Swedish turnips, we have remarked, p. 183, are 

 grown in gardens, particularly in cold and ele- 

 vated places, with a view to afford a supply dur- 

 ing spring, when other sorts are consumed ; as 

 also for the purpose of placing the bulbs in a 

 warm dark cellar in November, and succes- 

 sively in small lots till February, to produce a 

 substitute for sea-kale, or to make an addi- 

 tional dish in resemblance of it. For the former 

 purpose, a rather scarce and not often grown 

 variety is the best — namely, Thorpland globe 

 swede — on account of the symmetry of its form, 

 which is of a beautiful globe shape, without the 

 least appearance of neck, and also on account of 

 its being smaller in size than any other variety 



in this section. We are aware that the prevail- 

 ing opinion is that the larger the swede the 

 more tender the fibre is, and altogether better for 

 the purposes for which they are generally grown. 

 This may in field culture be quite correct; but we 

 have found this variety superior, in our estima- 

 tion, for culinary purposes, when grown in garden 

 soil, and not sown till the beginning of July. 



Diseases and insects. — The turnip is attacked 

 by a multitude of insect enemies, of which 

 Athalia centifolia of some, A. spinarum of others 

 (the turnip saw-fly, black caterpillar, blacks, 



Fig. 65. 



TURNIP SAW-FLY AND GRUB. 



canker, black palmer, nigger or black grub), 

 fig. 65, is one of the worst. It is called saw- 

 fly, from the use and appearance of the instru- 

 ment with which it deposits its eggs. This is 

 placed at the extremity of the abdomen of the 

 female, on the under side, and is so constructed 

 that it combines the properties of a saw and 

 auger. The following excellent description is 

 given by Mr Curtis, in " British Entomology," 

 vol. xii. folio 617, as quoted by Mr Stephens in 

 the "Book of the Farm:" — "Head wider than 

 long ; deep black, with three ocelli in the centre ; 

 eyes oval ; antennae black above, and for the most 

 part dull yellow beneath; labrum and pulpi 

 light yellow ; thorax black above, with a trian- 

 gular space in front ; the scutellum, and a spot 

 behind it, reddish orange ; the collar, which is 

 rather long and slender, black on the sides and 

 yellow in the middle ; abdomen rather short, 

 entirely orange yellow, inclining to red, with a 

 small black spot on each side of the first seg- 

 ment ; legs likewise orange yellow; the tarsi 

 paler, approaching to whitish ; the tip of the 

 tibiae, and of each of the tarsal joints, black; the 

 tibiae, with two spines at the apex and the joints 

 of the tarsus, each with a very slender lobe be- 

 neath ; extremity of the ovipositor black ; wings 

 yellowish at the base ; the costa and stigma black. 

 Length, 3 to 3^ lines, exclusive of the antennae. 

 Antennae short and somewhat club-shaped, nine 

 or ten jointed in the male, but generally with 

 the appearance of eleven joints in the female ; 

 the radical joint slightly thickened at the extre- 

 mity ; the second shorter and oval ; the third as 



