On the Best Mode of Storing Turnips. 



231 



the turnips are to be removed from the land, they are drawn in 

 the following manner. A man takes three rows of turnips, which 

 he draws and places on the ground just where they grew ; two 

 other men, one on either side of the fore-man, follow close after, 

 each drawing his three rows, and placing them on the row already 

 made by the man who precedes them ; by this means nine rows 

 are placed in one, which, being continued throughout the field, 

 leaves about nine feet of clear space ; in that space the carts pass, 

 and the turnips after being topped and bottomed are thrown into 

 them and carted to the place prepared for their reception. 



The manner of cleaning the turnip is simple, and is performed 

 by women and boys, each being supplied with a knife about a foot 

 long and two inches in breadth : they take the turnip by the top^ 

 and carefully paring off all the side shoots, remove the tap root 

 at one cut in an oblique direction ; by then taking the turnip in 

 the hand they cut off the top in the same manner, taking care 

 not to cut. either the tap root or the top too near the bulb, for by 

 so doing it is very apt to rot. I have frequently observed that 

 most of the turnips which have rotted in the caves or piles have 

 been those the roots and tops of which have either been cut off too 

 close to the bulb, or removed in a careless manner, by cutting 

 or rather breaking them off at right angles, which often bruises 

 the part, and appears to cause its decay from the injury thus 

 received. 



The tops and roots are either eaten on the ground, or removed 

 to another field for that purpose, as may be most convenient ; if 

 the land is about to be ploughed down for wheat, and the weather 

 is dry, the former is generally practised, for by consuming it on 

 the land the cattle by treading the ground render it firmer and in 

 a better state for a wheat- crop, particularly in some parts of 

 Devon and Cornwall, where the soil is of a light loose nature, 

 lying on a subsoil of granite or light killas. These modes of 

 storing and cleaning having answered beyond my expectations, I 

 have no desire to adopt others in their place, nor to recommend 

 new ones, feeling assured that, if those recommended be carried 

 into practice by the farmer, he will also feel satisfied with the 

 results. 



i 



VOL. II. 



R 



