roots and also to keep the rain from them. 
Or the pit may be made only eighteen inch¬ 
es deep, or even less. The roots are built 
up above the ground to form a sharp-pointed 
ridge. This is covered with four inches of 
straw over which the earth is banked to the 
depth of twelve or fifteen inches. This 
keeps out both rain and cold. Chimneys, 
for the escape of heat and moisture, are 
made along the ridge every few feet. A 
splendid way to make them is to insert 
drain tile. They should be closed in ex¬ 
tremely cold weather; and where the clim¬ 
ate is severe the covering of straw should be 
six, or even eight, inches thick. 
Turnips. 
BY N. J. SHEPHERD. 
worst enemies to the crop, are dry weather 
and the fly. They do not grow well if the 
dry weather is continued, but a few warm, 
moist days will give them a good start. As 
to varieties, there are a large number, I 
usually sow the old Purple Top Strap Leaf 
and consider it as good as any. The White 
Globe, Egg and several other varieties are 
good, depending more upon the soil and 
season than upon the variety to determine 
whether the crop is profitable or not. 
Slight frosts do not hurt them and they 
will continue growing until late in the fall. 
They make a good feed for all kinds of 
stock and are easily stored and kept all 
winter, so that any surplus you may have 
after supplying your family and the market 
can be used profitably for this purpose. 
When Men are at tlieir Best. 
New laud if well prepared ahead is the 
best for this crop, but old land which is 
reasonably rich and irfgeod condition will 
answer. The soil if possible should be sandy 
loam, made as loose and mellow as possible; 
1ow t land that will retain moisture is also 
preferable to ridge land. I always like to 
plow my turnip patch early in the spring; 
again about the middle of June and then 
again about the middle of July when I 
want to sow the seed. I prefer sowing after 
a rain rather than just before. Prepare the 
land by plowing and harrowing fine until 
in as good a condition as possible, sow the 
seed broadcast, two pounds to the acre 
being the. usual quantity sown. If sown 
directly after a rain no harrowing is nec¬ 
essary, but unless this is the case they should 
be either harrowed or brushed in. Seme 
sow in drills, using a less quantity per acre, 
but on common land this is not necessary 
as they require little or no cultivation, and 
if a good crop is raised the price is low and 
too much expense cannot be afforded the 
erop. 
I always mix a few winter radishes with 
the seed and find it a profitable plan. The 
middle or last of July is the best time to 
sow the seed if the weather is favorable so 
that they will germinate, but they can be 
sown as late as the middle of August and 
yet yield a profitable crop ; so that if the 
first crop fails you can sow again. The 
Dr. Beard states that from an analysis of 
the lives of a thousand representative men 
in all the great branches of the human fam¬ 
ily, he made the discovery that the golden 
decade was between forty and fifty; the 
brazen between twenty and thirty: the 
iron between fifty and sixty. The superi¬ 
ority of youth and middle life over old age 
in original work appears all the greater 
when we consider the fact that all the posi¬ 
tions of honor and prestige—professorships 
and public stations—are in the hands of the 
old. Reputation, like money and position, 
is mainly confined to the old. Men are not 
widely known until long after they have 
done the work that gave them their fame. 
Portraits of great men are delusions; stat¬ 
ues are false! They are taken when men 
have become famous, which, on the aver¬ 
age, is at least twenty-five years after they 
did the work which gave them their fame. 
Original work requires enthusiasm. If all 
the original work done by men under forty - 
five w’as annihilated, they would be reduced 
to barbarism. Men are at their best at that 
time when enthusiasm and experience are 
almost evenly balanced. This period, on 
the average, is from thirty-eight ;o forty. 
After this the law is that experience in¬ 
creases, but enthusiasm decreases. Of 
course there are exceptions .—Christian 
Intelligencer. 
