HOW TO WHITEN LINEN.— CULTURE OF TURNIPS.—NO. 4. 
299 
should be dug half a spade deep, turning the top of 
each spit clean to the bottom, in order that all weeds 
on the surface may be buried a proper depth to rot. 
Care must be observed, from year to year, to kill all 
caterpillars which may devour the leaves of the 
young trees, and carefully to destroy the eggs of 
the borer ( Saperda bivattata), that are deposited 
near the ground in the stem of the tree. If the 
borer perforate the wood, which may be known by 
a wound or excrescence in the bark, it may easily 
be reached by a pliant wire and crushed to death. 
The trees will be greatly benefited by rubbing 
their trunks with a ley of wood-ashes, or strong 
soap-suds, which will invigorate their growth and 
tend to ward off ail insect attacks. 
How to Whiten Linen. —Fruit-stains, iron- 
mould, and other spots on linen, may be removed 
by applying to the part, previously washed clean, 
a weak solution of chloride of lime or of soda, 
oxalic acid, or salts of lemon, in warm water, and 
often it may be done by merely using a little lemon- 
juice. The part which contained the stain, or spot, 
should shortly after be thoroughly rinsed in clear, 
warm water (withoul soap), and immediately dried 
in the sun. 
Linen that has acquired a yellow or dingy color 
by careless washing, may be restored to its former 
whiteness by working it well in water to which 
some strained solution of chloride of lime or of soda 
has been added, observing to well rinse it in clean 
water, both before and after the immersion in the 
bleaching liquor. Never attempt to bleach un¬ 
washed linen, and avoid using the liquor too 
strong, for in that case the fabric will be rendered 
rotten. 
CULTIVATION OF TURNIPS.—No. 4. 
Properties and Uses. —The chemical ingredients 
of which the turnip is composed, whether of the 
flat-bulbed or globe varieties, Swedish, or hybrid, 
vary, in their proportions, according to the soil, cli¬ 
mate, season in which they are planted, age of the 
plant, and the application of artificial manures. ' 
* The proportion of water in the bulbs and leaves 
is lafiy variable, that of the bulbs ranging from 86 
to*92^ per cent., while that of the leaves varies 
from 70 to 90 per cent. The excess of water 
is attributable to the use of artificial manures, 
as the superphosphate of lime, guano, &c., which 
may cause three or four tons of turnips to 
grow upon an acre, but the increased crop may even 
be less valuable than the smaller produce, the ex¬ 
cess of weight being more than counterbalanced by 
the greater proportion of water. Experience has 
proved that, by the use of artificial manure, the ap¬ 
parent increase of water (wet weight) in the turnip 
may be 35 per cent., while the real increase of solid 
matter (dry weight), may be only 14 per cent. It 
has been further proved by experiments that a very 
small deviation in the per centage of water alters 
materially the value of the crop in feeding proper¬ 
ties, so much so that ten tons of one crop may con¬ 
tain as much solid food as twenty tons of another. 
The per centage of mineral matter in the bulbs 
and tops of turnips is also very variable. The 
turnip-bulb, in its ordinary condition, may contain 
from T 4 5 8y to p er cent., of mineral matter, 
while the ash, given by the tops, contains in almost 
all cases twice, and in many cases three times as 
much mineral matter as the bulbs, varying from 
l T Vo t0 2 tV!T P er cent - 
Little or no connexion appears to exist between 
the amount of mineral matter and the variety of the 
plant. The flat-bulbs, Swedes (ruta-baga), and the 
intermediate varieties, the hybrids, are in no way 
distinguished from each other by the quantity of 
the mineral ingredients they contain ; nor do the 
soil and manures appear always to influence the 
turnip in these respects, as one sample grown on a 
chalky soil, manured with 20 single- horse cart-loads 
of fermented farm-yard manure, almost spent, and 
seed-drilled in 1 cwt. of bones dissolved in k cwt. 
sulphuric acid, with 20 bushels of ashes per acre, 
and another sample grown on dark mould with a 
subsoil of yellow clay, manured with 10 bushels of 
soot, and 10 bushels of pure cow-dung, mixed with 
20 bushels of ashes, and 1 cwt. of bones with 56 
lbs. of sulphuric acid, a very great similarity in the 
quantity of ash was observed both in the bulb and 
in the top, and in other cases, a difference may be 
seen in the mineral contents of two rurnips of dif¬ 
ferent varieties growing in the same field with the 
same manure. But the evidence, on the whole, is 
in favor of the conclusion that the mineral matter 
is regulated more by the soil and manure than by 
the variety, although the distinctive character of 
the root is never set aside. 
The composition of the ash of different specimens 
of turnips will be seen by the following tables 
which we copy from a recent volume of the Jour¬ 
nal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England :— 
I» 
w 
Mean 
>f the six 
pecimens. 
! 
1 
00 OO H Oi a 'O rH Ol 
r-i 03 00 i-i 03 CM O H OB • 
HH 00 
99.93 
FQ 
£ 
PS 
& 
Green-top 
White. 
0.592 
m so cm co oo oo 
osooaoaot-CMcoin rr 
‘ fS cm' to cm' o' oo '.iff 1 ; 
—1 i-H 
99.94 
r -4 
o 
K 
Skirving’s 
Swede. 
00 
GO 
o 
Mr-OTHtOTUCCOOlt' 
50 vO W M Tf « h 05 L' 
rn - ci ^ ai h ci o d ^ a ; 
i—i i—l i—i CO 
99.94 
W 
s 
H 
O 
Dale’s 
Hybrid. 
0.725 
CM--<cMvni>eocoo3--i® 
Ht-WOODOiOCO^M 
HOr-ioiodHOffitdTiH . 
Hn H CO r-t 
| 99.93 
m 
H 
Pi 
<{ 
P* 
00 nd 
■a-e 
1.09 
cModi-JcMcocMosood® : 
i—( i—. CO i—i 
I 99.94 
ft 
o 
P K 
pi 
fi 
fc 
& 
W 
s 
Skirving’s 
Swede. 
o 
COI>CO0DeOt^i-'0O’-HCT3 
rH lO 03 M 00 M r-1 
o UO r-j -Tji CO © go co cm I 
99.98 
o 
z; 
jf-S 
gg 
0.75 
03^co^cQaot--®iffiin 
coco—. i> ac- cm •'tf m r- ® 
C$aScOO^CO'®COT^I> 
i—i —• i—i CM i—i 
CO 
03 
03 
£ 
o 
03 
H 
M 
t/3 
o 
Ph 
S 
o 
O 
Variety. 
03 
bo • 
cd 
03 Xi 
03 tfH 
Ph ° 
Silica . . . 
Phosph. Ac. . 
Sulph. Ac. 
Garb. Ac. 
Lime 
Magnesia. 
Perox. Iron . 
Potash 
Soda . ‘. 
Ohio. Sodium. 
Chlo. Potass. . 
Total 
