AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
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AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHY , THE MOST USEFUL . AITO THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN.-Nl aamoiotr. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ALLEN & CO., 189 WATER ST. 
VOL. XII.—NO. 7.] 
m~FOR PROSPECTUS, TERMS, fyc., 
SEE LAST PAGE. 
FINGER AND TOE IN TURNIPS. 
This disease of the turnip crop has not, as 
yet, made sufficient progress in this country to 
attract general notice, though in many parts of 
Great Britain it has already begun to enlist a 
degree of attention second only to the potato 
rot. We have, however, heard of some fail¬ 
ures of the turnip crop, which, from the imper¬ 
fect description given, we are inclined to think 
have resulted from the reproduction in this 
country, of the disease familiarly known abroad, 
as the “ Finger and Toe.” Indeed, we shall not 
be surprised to find this disease already under 
considerable headway among us ; and that the 
reason of its being unknown is, that turnips 
having been considered a kind of uncertain crop, 
the failures have not been traced to any partic¬ 
ular cause, but have been classed under the 
general result of “ a bad season,” or “ bad seed.” 
Be this as it may, it will not be uninteresting 
or unprofitable to devote a little space to an in¬ 
quiry into the general phases of this disease, as 
brought out by the special investigations of the 
Agricultural Society of Scotland. We shall 
not attempt to give any thing more than the 
results obtained by the committee having this 
subject in charge. The partial report occupies 
some 22 pages of the quarterly journal of the 
above-named Society. 
The committee commenced the investigations 
by sending out to a large number of turnip 
raisers in different parts of Scotland, a circular 
containing more than twenty questions, as to 
the variety of turnip most affected, the nature 
and treatment of the soil, rotation of crop pre¬ 
viously, the weather, time of sowing, kind of 
manures, time of appearance of disease, &c. 
Many of the answers to these questions were 
conflicting, as will be seen further on. A mi¬ 
nute examination of the numerous specimens 
sent in to the committee, indicated three well- 
marked varieties of the disease. 
In the first, the bulb is much deformed, hav¬ 
ing lost its naturally rounded form, and in place 
of the usual plain tap-root, it either branches out 
into a large number of small fibrous roots, or 
presents a mass of excrescences on the lower 
part, thi’ough or among which, bunches of i 
fibres are seen to pass. In some cases, especi¬ 
ally in the earlier stages of the disease, there is : 
merely a thickening of the main tap-root, or a 
small excrescence on one side; in others there 
is either a large bunch of small roots, or a group 
of protuberances, so that the entire bulb is con- ! 
verted into an irregularly modulated mass, often I 
NEW-YORK, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 1354. [NEW SERIES.—NO. 33. 
of the most grotesque and extraordinary form. 
It is not uncommon to see a fibre run a dis¬ 
tance of six or eight inches, and then swell into 
an excrescence as large as a bean or filbert. 
These are broken off in pulling the turnip, and 
on this accountare not observed, unless carefully 
looked for. These excrescences are similar in 
texture to the healthy bulb, though generally 
harder and more woody. In the later stages of 
the disease, these excrescences change to a 
pulpy mass of decomposing matter, and form 
a nest for the eggs of insects. 
In the second form of the disease, the bulb 
retains its ordinary form, but on its sides are 
seen one or more spots, vai’ying from one to 
four inches in diameter. They resemble 
warts, presenting a rough and irregular surface, 
though generally but little raised above the 
level of the skin. On cutting the turnip noth¬ 
ing remarkable is seen in the earlier stages of 
the disease, but later decomposition is found to 
have commenced, and that part under the dis¬ 
eased surface is found to be soft, discolored, and 
putrid. 
The third form of the disease—which has only 
been observed in the swede variety—is character¬ 
ised by a wart-like excrescence on the bulb, hav¬ 
ing a brownish appearance; and when cut into, 
it is found that the bulb for a considerable 
depth has become completely dry, consisting of 
a light spongy mass, of a brown color. 
The first form of the disease is by far the 
most common, and corresponds with the des¬ 
cription of that observed in this country. The 
second form isless frequently seen, and the third 
form is believed to be rare. 
Dr. Andeiison, chemist to the Highland Agri¬ 
cultural Society, and the chief acting member of 
the committee, instituted a large number of 
anatyses, both of the healthy and diseased 
bulbs, grown in the same field, and of the dif¬ 
ferent soils where the crop was most subject to, 
and most free from, the attacks of the disease. 
The result of these chemical examinations indi¬ 
cated nothing worthy of notice in the composi¬ 
tion of the roots. The diseased bulbs contained 
less water than the healthy, owing to their 
harder and more woody texture. In most cases 
of comparison, however, the ash of the healthy 
bulbs contained a larger percentage of chloride 
of sodium (common salt.) 
The chemical examination of the soils showed 
pretty conclusively, that their composition has 
no effect upon the development of the disease. 
We may now allude to the answers given to 
the schedule of questions addressed to practical 
turnip raisers. 
1st. Variety of turnip affected. — A dozen 
gentlemen were of opinion that all varieties 
were equally liable to the disease. A greater 
number, however, state that a difference is ob¬ 
servable, and that the white globe appears to 
be the most commonly and most severely af¬ 
fected. Next to this, the purple top yellow, 
green top globe, and hybrids, are most com¬ 
monly affected. In general the swedes suffer 
less than others, though two gentlemen found 
this variety the worst. The committee, from all 
they can gather from various sources, conclude 
that the varieties which are the softest, and 
which cannot be kept long, are most liable to 
the disease. They think exceptions may be ex¬ 
pected, which we are yet unable to account for; 
and that where the disease occurs with much 
virulence it may attack all varieties equally. 
2 cl. The nature of the soil, course of cropping 
for the last seven years, and rotation of crops 
previously .—The general conclusion drawn from 
the numerous reports, is that the disease makes 
the greatest ravages in light soils. With two 
or three exceptions, clay soils were generally ex¬ 
empt. The mechanical state of the soils appeared 
to exert considerable influence. Though light 
soils are most subject to its ravages, yet on head¬ 
lands, waggon paths, and other places where the 
ground was compressed, the turnips were most 
diseased. In one place where mud was thrown 
out along a ditch in cleaning, the whole crop 
was destroyed. 
No connection could be traced between the 
disease and the previons rotation of crops upon 
the soil. 
3 d. Date of sowing, and weather before and 
after .—From the instances narrated, no conclu¬ 
sion can be drawn in regard to the influence 
of the weather at the time of sowing. A ma¬ 
jority, however, suffered most from late sown 
crops, though this effect may have been modi¬ 
fied by the particular season in which these 
observations were chiefly made. 
4:th. Manures — lcinds, quantities, state of time 
and mode of application .—Fertilizers of almost 
every kind, and in different states of prepara¬ 
tion were tried, yet little satisfactory informa¬ 
tion is supplied. Well-rotted farm-yard manuro 
produced less disease than the same kind of 
manure in a raw state. In many cases, rape- 
dust acted as an antidote, though this also 
failed in several instances. It appears on the 
whole, that the disease was worst where guano 
was the sole manure. Where guano was mixed, 
as it is always better it should be, with super¬ 
phosphate of lime, the disease was not worse 
than with other manures. 
5 th. Date of appearance of disease .—Its first 
appearance was observed at various periods, 
from June to September, perhaps more fre¬ 
quently after the occurrence of dry weather. 
G th. Effect of repetition of turnips on same 
soil .—The reports are so contradictory under 
