354 BRAS 
narrower (iem; the leaves more tender and longer. Na¬ 
tive of Germany and Swedeq. 
6 . Brallica napus, or wild cabbage, rape, or navew : 
root caulefcent, fufiform. Root biennial; ffein foiiiewhat 
branched, cylindrical, fmooth, from a foot to two feet in 
height ; root-leaves lyrate, alnipft fmooth, divided into 
deeply pinnate lobes, which are again irregularly indented 
or (nutated on the edges; flem-leaves fmooth, glaucous, 
feffile, (tem-clafping, of an oblong hearr-fhaped figure, 
very (lightly toothletted on the edges. Calyx yellowifl[i- 
green, Ipreading as in finapis. 
There is a variety of this fpecies, the roots of which, 
when cultivated, may be eaten, but have a (Ironger tafte 
than the turnip. Under the title of rape, or cole-leed, it 
is much cultivated in the Ifie of Ely, and fome parts of 
England, for its feed, (from which the rape-oil is drawn,) 
and for feeding cattle. What remains after the oil is ex- 
prelfed, is called oil-cake or rape-cake. It is a very effi¬ 
cacious manure, and is fold from four to fix pounds a ton. 
It is not this, but the lint-cake, or refiduum of flax-feed 
ufed in making lint-feed oil, that is ufed in fatting beafts. 
Linnaeus fays that it grows wild an the fandy fhores of 
Gothland, Holland, and England. With us it is found 
among corn,-and on ditch banks. 
7. Braffica rapa, or turnip : root caulefcent, orbicular, 
deprefled, flefhy. The turnip, now fo common in culti¬ 
vation, is fufficiently known by its round fleffiy roots. 
Thefe, however, vary exceedingly in form, fize, and co¬ 
lour, in a cultivated (late, in which only we are apt to 
view them. The leaves which arife immediately from 
the root are very large, of a full green colour, rough, and 
jagged or gaffted almoft to the mid-rib. From the midft 
of thefe, early in the fecOnd feafon of its growth, fprings 
a ftalk, four or five feet high, in good ground reaching the 
human ftature. The leaves on this are very different from 
the root-leaves; being oblong, pointed, embracing the 
ftem, fmooth, and glaucous. The flowers are yellow, and 
placed on long, flender, fmooth, peduncles. The filiques 
or pods are cylindric : and the feeds are of a reddifti brown 
colour, not unlike thole of cabbage. 
The variations of turnip are chiefly in the roof, and- 
arife from the different foils, fituations, and modes of cul¬ 
tivation. The varieties enumerated by Mr. Miller'are, 
x. The round red or purple-topped. 2. The green-topped. 
3. The yellow. 4. The black-rooted. 5. The early 
Dutch. He allows that thefe may be varieties acciden¬ 
tally obtained from feeds, although he has fown them (e- 
veral years,, and has always found them to retain their dif¬ 
ferences. The yellow' turnip feems molt unlikely to have 
been an accidental variety, becaufe the roots are yellow 
within, whereas the others have white fled), notwithftand- 
ing'they are of different colours on the outfide. He thinks 
that -the' long-rooted turnip is a diftinfl: fpecies; the form 
of the ! root-, and its manner of growth, being totally dif¬ 
ferent from thofe before enumerated. The roots are fome- 
times as'long as thofe of the parfnip, and' nearly of the 
fame (hape. This only feems to have receded lefs from a 
(fate of nature, wherein the root only fwells out a little, 
is of a ftringy texture, and has fomething of acrimony in 
the tafte. 
The general ufe of this root for the table and feeding 
of cattle is well known : and it has bet-11 a conliderable 
improvement of light lands, particularly in the county of 
Norfolk, whence other counties have derived tire culture. 
The red-rooted turnip was formerly more cultivated in 
England tlianat prefent; but, fince the large green-topped 
turnip lias been introduced, all fkilful farmers prefer it to 
the others, becaufe the roots grow to a large lize, and con¬ 
tinue much longer good : it alfo grows above ground more 
than any of the others, which renders it preferable for 
feeding cattle; and, being the-fofteft and fweeteft, even 
when very large, it is molt efteemed for the table. In 
very fevere winters, however, this is in greater danger of 
(uttering by froft than thofe wdiofe roots lie deeper, efpe- 
cially if the ground be not covered with fnow 5 for, when 
SICA, 
the roots are alternately frozen and thawed, they rot foon- 
er than thofe which are more covered, and lefs tender. 
Roots of this fort, which were more than a foot in diame¬ 
ter, have been found as fweet and tender as any of the 
fmallelt roots. 
Pliny among the ancients, and Tragus among the mo¬ 
derns, fpeak of turnip-roots as weighing each forty pounds; 
Amatus of fome amounting to fifty or (ixty ; and Matthio- 
lus of many exceeding fifty pounds, and of fome approach¬ 
ing to an hundred. Yet we are told that four pounds is 
now reckoned an extraordinary weight fora turnip-root in 
Italy, and that they ufually weigh only from a quarter to 
half a pound. Whether the old accounts be exaggera¬ 
ted, or the modern produce mifreprefented, or the culture 
now negletffed, we cannot afeertain. The greateft weight 
we are acquainted with in England is thirty-fix pounds. 
At Stow, in Gloucefterffiire, a farmer produced four tur¬ 
nips weighing an hundred-weight; and offered to produce, 
from a ftmall given fpace, eighty turnips which fliould 
weigh a ton. 
The next in goodnefs to the green-topped is the red or 
purple topped turnip, which will alfo grow large, and be 
extremely good for fome time ; but the roots will become 
ftringy much fooner than the others. The long-rooted, 
the yellow, and the black-rooted, turnips, are now rarely 
cultivated except for the fake of variety, none of them 
being fo good for the table or feed as the red and green 
topped forts. The early Dutch turnip is chiefly fown in 
the fpring, to ftupply the table before the others can be 
procured ; and, when drawn off young, this fort is tole¬ 
rably good ; but, if the roots be left to grow large, they 
become ftringy, rank, and unfit for ufe. The French 
turnip is not much cultivated in England ; but in France 
and Holland it is in great efteem, efpecially for ’Coups, in 
which, being (mail, the roots, are boiled whole : thefe 
mult alfo be ufed while young, otherwife they are rank 
and ftringy. 
Turnip-roots'are reputed to relax the bowels, and to 
fweeten the blood ; to be hurtful to pregnant and hyfteri- 
cal women, and to all who are fubjeft to flatulencies. 
The juice well fermented affords by diftillation an ardent 
fpirit. The rind is acrimonious. The tender tops boiled 
are frequently eaten in the fpring as greens with meat. It 
is not many years fince the practice of Cowing turnips for 
feeding cattle, has been of general ufe ; how it happened 
that this improvement (hould have been fo long negledled 
in every part of Europe is not "eafty to determine ; fince it 
is very plain, that this piece of hufbandry was known to 
the ancients. For Columella, in treating of the feveral 
kinds of Vegetables which are proper for the field, recom¬ 
mends the cultivating rapa in plenty ; becaufe, fays he, 
thofe roots which are not wanted for the table will be 
eaten by the cattle. , Yet turnips have not been generally 
cultivated in the fields till lately ; nor is the true method 
of treating them pratTifed even now in fome diftant coun¬ 
ties. Whatever (kill the ancients might poffefs in the 
culture of turnips, it cannot be a matter of furprife if it 
were negletffed in the confufion confequenf upon the fall 
of the Roman empire. It is however certain that it was 
pradlifed as far back as we have any records in the I.ow 
Countries, and in fome parts of Germany. This moft 
hfc-ful root indeed jft>es not feem to have found its way into 
England, for the purpofe of feeding cattle, till aboilt the 
middle of the 17th century. Sir Richard Wefton, in his 
“ Difcourfe of Hufbandrie ufed in Brabant and Flanders,” 
1645, affirms that turnips were then cultivated for feeding 
kine in many parts of England. He adds, however, that 
“ there is as much difference between what groweth in 
Flanders and here, as is between the fame thing which 
groweth in a garden and that which groweth wild in the 
fields.” Mr. Worlidge, who wrote in 1668, fays, that flies 
are the greateft enemies to turnips. And Mr. Ray, in 
1686, informs 11s, that they are fown every w'here in fields 
as well as gardens, for the fake of their roots, in England, 
as well as in foreign countries. Mr. Lille alfo mentions 
