THE TURNIP CULTIVATES ITSELF 
ready has a good supply of food laid up in this root. It 
can feed on that and set about the serious business in the 
life of every plant, which is that of making seed to carry 
life on to future generations. 
The plant that it develops looks quite different from 
the bunch of leaves of the first year. It is a tall stalk 
bearing a spray of flowers at the end. This stalk devours 
the turnip in the ground just as effectually as its fellow 
that was put in the cellar was eaten by the family. By 
the time the seeds are ripe, the root is a mere shell. 
There are a good many plants that have this two-year 
method of life and store up food in a fat root for the sec¬ 
ond season. The radish, which is closely related to the 
turnip, both being members of the mustard family, is one. 
The carrot, which is a member of the parsley family, is 
another. The beet, which belongs to the goosefoot fam¬ 
ily, is another. Onions and garlic, which belong to the lily 
family, do a similar thing, though they have a different 
sort of storage, in a bulb built up of layers. 
So this two-year system of storage of food below the 
ground is not a peculiarity of any particular breed of 
plants, but a resort of many of them in many families. 
57 
