MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JULY 18 
VARIETIES OF TURNIPS. 
Last week we gave an extract from Da¬ 
vid Landreth & Son’s circular upon the 
preparation of ground for and culture of the 
turnip. Here is what the same gentlemen 
say of varieties : 
In England turnips are divided into two 
distinct classes—those designed for stock 
feeding, and those for table use. They are 
also divided into rough-leaved, and smooth- 
leaved. The smooth-leaved embraces those 
of which the Ruta Baga or “ Swede ” is the 
type, and of which the purple-topped, yel¬ 
low-fleshed variety may bo taken as the best 
representative, The rough-leaved sorts are 
generally white-skinned, and wbite-fleshed ; 
some purely white, others with green or 
purple crowns ; though there are several 
rough-leaved varieties with yellow flesh. 
These rough-leaved sorts are again subdi¬ 
vided into cattle and table turnips ; though 
in tlx- usually limited culture iu tnis country 
such distinction is of little consequence. 
The purple-top Yellow Ruta Baga, or 
“Swede/’ is perhaps the most important 
root eultivated for stock food ; its rapid ma¬ 
turity, large bulk to a given area, nutritious 
quality and sanitary properties commend it 
as eminently worthy of culture. 
It has become a practice in the sale of Ruta 
Baga seed to create varieties ; and in an 
English catalogue before us there arc no less 
than twenty-one sorts enumerated ; the dis¬ 
tinctions in a majority of cases ure ideal. 
Last year we tested, side by side, twenty-two 
sorts, so called, imported for the purpose. In 
some of them, the purple tint of the crown 
was more marked than in others ; some were 
green-topped, some ol' deeper yellow flesh, 
but the general aspect was similar, as they 
stood in the ground. Unfortunately, the 
premature severity of the autumn caught 
them ur.ripe, and the test was not wholly 
complete. We propose to renew the experi¬ 
ment the present, souson. 
White-fleshed Rut,a Baga. This mainly 
differs from the “ Swede” in color—lor table 
use, some families prefer it to the yellow. A 
sub-variety, knowu as Hanover, bweet Qei- 
mau and Long French, hos been much 
talked of, but we have not discovered its 
special value for the table. As a stock vari¬ 
ety it is worthless, abouuding in liber. 
Pomeranean White Globe. This is a free- 
growiug, rough-leaved sort, useful for both 
table and stock, and may be highly com¬ 
mended for both purposes. We have suc¬ 
ceeded in establishing a strap-leaved varia¬ 
tion and now offer it to the public as on 
acquisition of value. Turnip cultivators need 
not hesitate to sow it, whether the purpose 
be for stock, market, or family use ; it is not 
quite so rapid in growth as the flat varieties, 
may bo expected to come in as a succession in 
autumn, and is admirable for table use in 
early winter. In Bliort, the “ Pomoranean 
Globe” is eminently valuable, and supplies 
every want of a white-skinned turnip, more 
robust in habit than the early Dutch. It 
eclipses the “Norfolk” and the “Stone.” 
Amber Globe, of which we also offer of 
our own introduction a strap-leaved variety, 
is au Americanized foreign turnip, almost 
indispensable, we think, in every rural home¬ 
stead. The flesh, when the turnip is in 
growth, is very slightly tinged with yellow, 
which grows darker as the root matures ; it 
is as solid as a ruta baga, and if-topped very 
closely, so as to effectually arrest sprouting, 
they may be kept until lute in spring, as good 
a 3 when first pulled. The flavor is milder 
thau that of the ruta bagft, therefore by 
some more esteemed. On the whole, this is 
the best type of the yellow, rough-leaved 
sorts, and supplies every want in that direc¬ 
tion. “Scotch yellow,” “yellow Aber¬ 
deen,” “yellow bullock-heart” and along 
list of such, occasionally found in the cata¬ 
logues of seedsmen, are all secondary to the 
Amber Globe. [Since this article was origin 
ally written, our experience with the Yellow 
Aberdeen, or Scotch Yellow, induces us to 
place a higher estimate on it. It Is au ex¬ 
cellent keeper, solid, sweet, and in every 
respect desirable ; still our preferences are 
for the Amber Globe.] 
Early Flat Dutch (strap-leaved). This is 
the popular early turnip for table use. It 
might be difficult to sum up the volume of 
seed of this variety (which also originated on 
our own grounds) that we have distributed 
in a series of years. It has made its way over 
the entire continent ; has been exported to 
India and Australia, aud some yeans back, 
strange to say, was returned to us from 
Europe, under the auspices of the Patent 
Office, as an English variety ! For autumn 
and early winter use, this and the purple top 
variety, are highly popular, but as they be¬ 
come over ripe with age and keeping, lose 
somewhat of their Bucculence, and need to 
be succeeded by Pomeranean Globe or the 
Amber Globe. 
The Flat Purple-Top (strap-leaved) is so 
nearly akiu to the Early Dutch, differing only 
io the color of the crown, that, its appearance 
with that exception, quality and habit, may 
be said to be identical ; both are of remark¬ 
ably quick growth, the bulb sets flat upon 
the surface of the earth, Hie foliage sparse 
in comparison with size of bulb. 
The Seven-Top Turn Ip of the South. This 
the hardiest of all sorts, may be left standing 
in the open ground during winter in any 
Climate. It yields in the spring abundant 
foliage for boiling with cured meats, which 
muBt necessarily be relied upon in warm 
climates, and the antiscorbutic character of 
the turnip top is well recognized. The bulb 
of this variety Is of but little value, Indeed is 
worthies* in comparison with others herein 
described. 
To enumerate only the sorts, nominal and 
otherwise, printed in some catalogues would 
occupy a page. We see no advantage in 
such extension, and shall here close our list. 
He who seeks only the better sorts need look 
no further/ 
Jiulustiftnl topics. 
DECISION OF CHARACTER, 
PEANUT HAY. 
A Hickman, Tenn., correspondent of the 
Department of Agriculture, says;— The 
peanut has been our principal crop since the 
war until laBt year, (1873,) for which I esti¬ 
mate the crop at S0,000 bushels. The hay 
saved is worth to the farmer about half the 
market price of the pea. It is very nutri¬ 
tious and, when carefully gathered and 
cured, all kinds of stock will eat It greedily. 
The pea digging time commences In the lat¬ 
ter part, of September, and continues until 
about the 1st of November. The Implement 
used ts something like a subsoil plow ; a fur¬ 
row is run on each side of the row, loosening 
the vine without turning it. A boy or girl 
follows the plow, after the second furrow is 
turned, catches the top of the vine and turns 
it bottom upwards, exposing the pea to the 
sun, where it lies from one and a-haif to 
three days, if clear weather. An 8->oot stake 
is then driven into the ground sufficiently 
deep to prevent the wind from blowing it 
down. The vines are gathered and packed 
around the stake, pea inside, iu which posi¬ 
tion the pea will remain all winter without 
injury. Those who have barns or sheds, 
under which to pick off the pea, commence 
hauling these Hinall stacks as soon as their 
other farm duties will permit, and then com¬ 
mence* the picking season. Ab the pea is 
picked off the vine is carefully housed for 
the stock. Those who have no barns or sheds 
let the stacks remain in the field and pick off 
the pea, restacking the hay as leisure or the 
weather will permit. They subsequently 
haul the hay as it is needed. The average 
yield per acre is about 1,300 pounds ; in a 
wet season the yield!* greater. The hay is 
fed alone. It will increase Lhe milk of a cow 
threefold. 1 know of many instances where 
cows have been kept lo pood beef condition 
and giving an abundance of milk all winter. 
A neighbor informed me that he wintered IB 
head of beef cattle on his hay, (pea hay,) 
feeding nothing else, and drove them to 
market last spring, receiving a fair price, 
though uot eo much as he would have real¬ 
ized had they been fed on grain.” 
_- -- 
HELD NOTES. 
Cabbage Poisoning the Ground .—Can you 
tell me why it is the cabbage “poisons” the 
ground for other crops t Inc’oted you will 
find a spur of corn, which looks rather cu¬ 
rious. Last year we had cabbage on part of 
the lot that we planted with sweet corn 
this year and right across it, but where the 
cabbage grew nearly every hill of corn is 
colored like the inclosed, some more and 
some less, and on the rest of the lot it is a 
natural color and larger size. The ground 
was manured pretty well this spring with 
manure and leached ashes. 1 have noticed 
before a difference in the growth of corn 
after turnips. Can any one tell me the cause ? 
j —A. S. Nast, Westport, Conn. 
Red Rust-proof Oafs.-The Department 
of Agriculture Report for J une says : Al¬ 
most the only variety of oats successfully 
grown in the South is the Red Rusl proof, 
which has been cultivated in a single locality 
without rusting. The testimony is general, 
almost universal, to its exemption fron-».ust. 
In a few coses some signs of rust are re¬ 
ported.” 
Every man, with au average capacity for , 
discriminating between different circum- , 
stances in business, should weigh every as- , 
pect in his own mind without being influ¬ 
enced, excepting so far as facts speak plainly 
for themselves, and then arrive at a decision. 
Supposing a man to have a capital of say 
fcX),000, and he consults with relatives and 
acquaintances—we will say nothing about 
friends, as they are all tainted in someway, 
or if honest may' be unwise. He should tell 
them what his tastes are, and if it should be 
agricultural pursuits that accord with his 
ideas, and In them lie thinks there will be 
amusement, he ought to thoroughly acquaint 
himself with the different departments; 
learn the profits attached to each; he should 
likewise find out all the advantages of stock 
farming, und the greater profits which dif¬ 
ferent Climates admit of being gained in 
consequence of less shelter and attendance 
being necessary, &c.; then he ought not to 
let any one influence him with persuasion or 
aught but undeniable facts. 
Many, through indecision, are drawn by 
designing kindred into purchasing a portion 
of their land, from which the fine wealth of 
fertility, which ages bad accumulated, has 
been extracted by crop after crop of com 
and grain; and as an Inducement for the 
possessor of the money to part with it to 
them, will tell what a number of bushels 
have been harvested per acre, which would 
be the reason the writar of this would not 
buy at t U, unless It was clearly proved ma¬ 
nure hod been returned to replace the plant 
food which was used in producing the corn 
and grain. 
Any man of sound common sense may 
know very well that a man having part of a 
farm to sell parts with it because it is not 
good for much; and if it ever was good land 
the goodness was all lost to the purchaser; 
and it shows, too, that the man selling is one 
on whose opinion no reliance can be placed, 
for he can have no knowledge worth impart¬ 
ing or he would not want to sell, unless he 
was a very old man uud wished to retire 
from business. AU the laud for sale near 
good markets is either good for little or the 
seller is devoid of the practical knowledge 
required in an agriculturist, and it requires 
a purchaser to have perception very clear 
that he may discern how it is the farm does 
not pay the vender to hold it, either to farm 
himself or rent. 
Some people have such an imperfect 
knowledge of agriculture that they imagine 
they can start a stock raising establishment 
with about $10,000—a sum not sufficient to 
rent a first-class farm in England, aud only 
enough to buy native animals and graze 
them on Government and unfenced prairies, 
with a homestead lot to secure them on at 
night and to Uve on and shelter and feed in 
winter. 
A gentleman not long since advertised for 
information respecting price and location of 
lands on which he could found a domain 
somewhat similar to the estates belonging 
to the country gentlemen in England, such 
as baronets, &c. He was descended from 
one of the English nobles, who named some 
of the eastern shore cities aud counties. He 
was overwhelmed with offers and informa¬ 
tion of all k nds of places, but be had not the 
decision necessary to choose which to look 
at first, and was so confused with the mass 
of recommendations that ho never went to 
sea one. Another capitalist, also a scion of 
the British aristocracy, wished to establish 
on a fine estate of about 3,000 aeies a breed¬ 
ing establishment—No. 1 horses, cattle and 
sheep; but he wished for a water frontage, 
with a residence commanding a view of the 
same, and with no intersection of public 
roads, so that if he chose he could make the 
place entirely private. This gentleman, too, 
must have looked decision and become dis¬ 
gusted with the contradictory advice given 
him, for he failed to get such a place as he 
wanted; yet iu this wonderfully diversified 
scenery, in this country of mountains, val¬ 
leys and undulated regions there are scores 
of tract* of laud which have every requisite 
desired, and it only required decision of 
character to obtain exactly what was want¬ 
ed. The next trouble to indecision is the 
mistake arising probably from advising with 
gentlemen who literally know nothing about 
English parks and scenery. a. w. f. 
say is too true. It is a perfect Impos tion 
the way the seed venders (as they are called) 
are imposing on the fanner and others of 
the country—sending seeds into the market 
that hav * been kept over from year to year, 
knowing very well that the seeds are no ac¬ 
count whatever. The game they practice is 
equal to Bheep stealing—taking the farmers’ 
and others' money out of their pockets 
knowingly without compensating them in 
retnrn for their pay. I know of a half dozen 
instances in my immediate neighborhood 
where farmers, as well as myself, have been 
“ roped to "in purchasing seed. Most of the 
seed thut were purchased here were from 
D. M. Ferry & Co. of Detroit, Mich. The 
seeds after buying them were not. only 
worthless, but kept a great many back from 
having an early garden on account of the 
seeds not coming up that were first, planted. 
I think it is time this importation should be 
stopped. Farmers very often are compelled 
to purchase seeds, and when they do they 
expect to get good seed for their money, 
that will grow and produce something in¬ 
stead of getting “pebbles,” as I call them. 
Please give this space in your valuable paper 
and oblige a subscriber. 
Colton, Henry Co., O. W. H. Merriam. 
"DEAD SEED8.” 
The sermon on “Dead Seeds,” by Jacobus 
Blanc, published in Rural, I am sorry to 
<$ho 
CONTROLLING SEX. 
You say to James S. Jackson, in your 
issue of the 4tli Inst.J ames S. Jackson is 
not advised to pay $ r » nor even five cents for 
a secret whereby the sex of a calf can be 
controlled. If there is such a secret it has 
not yet been told.” 
On this subject you ere entirely mistaken. 
There is such a secret, and the sex can be con¬ 
trolled. About ten years ago Sillimans Jour¬ 
nal copied from a German paper, the exper¬ 
ience of a German farmer for a series of 
years, which demonstrated the fact beyond 
question. 
About seven years ago following the hints 
in Silliman’s Journal, I commenced my ex¬ 
periments and kept a record, and my record 
will show that the entries I made u year iu 
advance (or nine months) as to the sex of the 
future calf were in every case verified. 
Regarding it Of much importance to fann¬ 
ers, I sent a copy of this record to you about 
four years ago, but you treated it as a bogus 
production. 
Now, if James H. Jackson will write me un 
the subject, he will get the desired informa¬ 
tion without cost.—R. L. Dorr, Danavtlle, 
Lit'. Co., A’. Y. 
Perhaps we are mistaken, but we still 
doubt, notwithstanding the strong averment 
to the contrary of our correspondent. We 
are well aware that Prof. M. Thury of the 
Academy at Geneva lias formulated a law 
like this 44 If you wish to produce females, 
give the male at the first sign of heat : if you 
wish males give him ut the end of heat.” 
We know, too, that there is concurrent tes¬ 
timony to sustain the so-called “ law.” In 
Switzerland, France and in this country men 
have testified to their success in thus con¬ 
trolling the sex. But there have been more 
than exceptions enough to prove the rule if 
we may take the testimony to the contrary 
to be as reliable as that in favor of the law. 
Besides this is no secret. It lias been again 
and again published iu this country. Mr. 
Thuby baaed this law upon the following 
observed facts, viz.:—That the queen bea 
lays female eggs at first and male eggs af' 
terwurda ; that with hens the first luid eggs 
give females and the last mule products ; 
that young bulls that meet the female at the 
first sign of heat, generate heifers more fre¬ 
quently thau old bulls who ore exhausted 
aud do service later ; that mares shown the 
stallion late in their period, drop horse colts 
rather than fillies. 
Now, these may be facts and the law may 
be valid ; but there has not yet. so far as we 
have seen, been a sufficient number of ex¬ 
periments to establish the law. Our corres¬ 
pondent says he sent us a copy of the record 
of his experiments four years ago and that 
we treated it as a bogus production. M e 
do uot find that we have printed anything 
from him on this subject. It is not our habit 
to treat a statement of facts as bogus, nor do 
we undervalue them. The experiences of 
any m»n upon practical subjects we are gri 
to print. If his article was returned to him 
it was for other reasons than that we re¬ 
garded it bogus. We shall be glad to print 
evidences from any source in favor of or 
against the theory that the sex of animals 
can be controlled. 
