68 BEGINNER'S BOOK OF GARDENING 



August. The earliest sowing should be made in a 

 warm, sheltered situation, though not with full exposure 

 to the sun. A little seed may be sown in February, 

 Carter's Early Forcing being a good variety for this 

 purpose. The ground should be kept covered at night 

 by straw covers or dry litter. For second crops 

 Snowball and White Gem are good, and these should 

 be followed by Red Globe and Matchless. For early 

 autumn Turnips, Red Top, Mousetail and Veitch's Red 

 Globe are excellent, whilst for mid-winter. Orange Jelly, 

 Golden Ball and Chirk Castle are very hardy. The 

 soil for Turnips is preferably a light sandy loam, well 

 enriched with manure, some months before the crop is 

 to be sown. The soil should be as fine as possible 

 before the seed is sown. Seed should be sown thinly, 

 one ounce being sufficient for a drill of a hundred and 

 fifty feet. It should be sown about one inch deep, and 

 from six to twelve inches should, in the final thinning, 

 be allowed from root to root. The drills should be 

 about fifteen inches apart. It is necessary to keep the 

 crop free from weeds, and water should be given in dry 

 weather. Hoeing between the rows is very advantage- 

 ous, and early thinning should be practised if good roots 

 are to be obtained. Most growers are afraid to thin 

 their Turnips sufficiently. They should bear in mind 

 the Norfolk proverb, ''No man should hoe his own 

 turnips." 



In order to preserve Turnips in winter the ground 

 should be kept covered with leaves or litter directly 

 frost sets in. It is a good plan to take up at any rate 

 a portion of the crop at the commencement of winter 

 and place them in a deep drill with their leaves only 

 above ground. Turnips stored in this manner are far 

 better than those which are packed up in a heap and 

 allowed to ferment. 



