56 



Farming of Northamptonshire. 



turnip-farms. The ewes Lave, previously to the lambing season, 

 a daily supply of swedes. In the consumption of the swede crop, 

 the most prevailing custom is to get the turnips up, to cut off the 

 roots and tops, and to place them in heaps, covering them over 

 with straw and a slight covering of mould. The advantage of 

 this plan is, the more economical consumption of the crop, and 

 the teeth of the sheep are not injured by the hard state of turnips 

 during frosty weather. When given to the sheep from the heaps, 

 they are cut with a " Gardner's turnip-cutter," and placed in 

 troughs, from which the sheep will eat them with great avidity. 

 A full crop of swede turnips v/ill carry from 12 to 16 sheep per 

 acre for 20 weeks ; and if a liberal supply of corn, bay, or chaff 

 is added, 20 sheep per acre may be kept for that period. 



The principal kinds of swede turnips grovvn are " Skirving," 

 " Matson," and purple-top. There has also been of late years a 

 great variety of hybrids introduced. 



In addition to the turnip-crop, mangolds and cabbages are like- 

 wise grown on some portions of the fallow, the land receiving the 

 same mode of cultivation as for the turnip-crop. The mangold 

 being sown in April, the land does not often get more than one 

 or two spring ploughings. The seed is generally dibbled or 

 drilled in rows, 20 to 24 inches apart, and, when the plants are 

 up, they are singled out by hand, and kept free from weeds by 

 repeated hoeings either by hand or the horse-hoe. In November 

 the roots are generally stored in long pits, covered over with 

 straw and earth, until the spring, when they are very valuable 

 for milking-cows or lambing-ewes. It cannot be considered good 

 food for stock before March, and is even better in April ; cattle 

 and sheep should be gradually accustomed to it, being more re- 

 laxing than turnips, and requiring a liberal supply of dry food to 

 be given with it. The yellow globe and the long red are both 

 grow^n, but the yellow globe the most extensively. Cabbages are 

 planted by hand in rows about 30 inches apart, and the plants 

 about 30 inches asunder in the rows. They require good deep 

 soil, which should be in high condition. The drum-head winter 

 plants are mostly grown, and are very valuable to draw off for 

 breeding ewes, or to give to lambs in autumn with a supply of 

 corn and hay. Spring plants are also cultivated, and planted to 

 come in after the winter cabbages are consumed. 



Second Year, Barley. — After the turnips are consumed the 

 land receives one thin ploughing; barley being a slight-rooted 

 plant, and the manure of the sheep forming the principal sup- 

 port of this crop, it is not considered advantageous to bury it 

 very deeply. Barley-seeding commences, in favourable weather, 

 in March, and is continued into April, in order to keep the 

 sheep at turnips as long as practicable ; but the more general 



