TURNIP. 
this method is adapted for only the Swedish and 
the hard hybrid varieties,—as all the white 
kinds and some of the softish yellow ones pos- 
sess too much water to be preserved for any 
length of time; and another method is often 
practised with the latter, by what is called plac- 
ing. The tap-roots being taken off, the bulbs 
with the leaves are placed close together in the 
position in which they grew, upon some dry 
place, near to where they are to be consumed ; 
and in this way they will keep longer than if 
they had been left in the field, as they are not 
so apt torun toseed. But even the placing sys- 
tem has its objections; for if a tract of dry 
weather set in, the turnips, from being merely 
on the surface, become soft and shrivelled, and 
not so palatable to the cattle, and will even con- 
tinue so for a considerable time, although the 
weather should be rainy, until the fibres begin 
to take hold of the soil; and another objection 
is, that if the turnips are not placed near the 
steading, the destruction from game, hares, 
wood-pigeons, &c., is very great, particularly if 
the turnip be Swedish. In order to remedy 
these objections, a third method has been adopted, 
which has been found to answer every purpose 
intended. The turnips are brought from the 
field, without either topping or tailing, to a piece 
of dry ground near the straw-yard; then a man, 
with one horse in a plough, makes a straight 
furrow; the turnips are placed in the furrow, 
quite close together, till the whole is filled from 
end to end; then the man with the plough 
moves round to where he commenced, drawing 
another furrow quite as close to the turnips as to 
enable him to cover them; and so on alternately 
—the men making the furrow and covering the 
turnips, while the women and girls lay in the 
turnips. By this method the turnips keep as 
fresh, preserving all their natural juices, and are 
as well relished by the cattle, as though they 
were taken direct from the field. The Report 
of the Harleston Farmers’ Club for 1839, affirms 
that the best method of preserving roots during 
the winter is by clamping them, both as regards 
protection from frost and maintaining their qua- 
lity, and that the following is a very effectual me- 
thod of making the clamps :—Select a convenient 
and dry situation, and pack the roots carefully, 
with their crowns outside, in a row about six 
feet wide at the bottom and terminating in a 
narrow ridge at the top ; then dig a trench com- 
mencing immediately at the edge of the roots, 
two feet wide and one deep, turning the mould 
from the heap; thatch the latter carefully with 
straw, commencing in the trench, so that all the 
rain may drain off the heap into it. The clamp 
may be left two or three weeks in this state, 
that the evaporation from the roots may escape. 
The mould already taken out of the trench is 
then to be laid on the straw, commencing at the 
bottom of the thatch and covering the heap 
twelve inches thick throughout, finishing with a 
023 
sharp edge. Half the trench originally made 
will, of course, by this plan, be filled up with 
straw and mould; the other half will remain as 
a channel for the water falling off the heap; and 
as sufficient mould will not have been raised 
from the original excavation, it will be advis- 
able, in procuring more, to make the channel 
made round the heap a few inches deeper, as 
well as wider. If the roots are stored late in 
the season, and the probability of frost setting 
in renders it necessary to cover the heap with 
mould as soon as it is made, it would be better 
to leave the top uncovered for a week or ten 
days longer, that the heat may escape. There is 
no objection to the roots being wet and dirty 
when they are clamped; the tops should be cut 
off, but not too close to the crown; the roots and 
fibres should be left on. 
The Diseases and Accidents of Turnip Crops.— 
The extensive and constant cultivation of the 
turnip has fostered the rapid increase of its na- 
tural enemies; and after all the expense, labour, 
and precautions of even the most skilful culti- 
vator, he sometimes sees his crop seriously in- 
jured or entirely destroyed. He can apply at 
best only palliative remedies; yet he has much 
in his power; and, when science and discovery 
shall become more thoroughly blended with agri- 
cultural practice, he may hope to acquire means 
of preventing or obviating every form of disas- 
ter. The chief of the many diseases and acci- 
dents of the turnip are fully discussed in the 
articles Turnip- Fry, AnsBury, Wr1re- Worm, 
Apuis, and Stue; and, for the sake of connected 
view, they may here be briefly noticed in the 
group. 
The turnip flea-beetle, Haltica nemorum, is one 
of the worst enemies, and attacks the turnip 
plant in its seed-leaf state, and often destroys a 
crop, and even the second and third sowings. 
Various steps have been taken in order to pre- 
vent its attacks, and several steeps for the seed 
used, but without success. Top-dressings of a 
saline and astringent character have been ap- 
plied, but have failed. Machines even have been 
invented; but none have succeeded. The only 
directions which can be given are, to sow plenty 
of seed, to use stimulating manure in order to 
excite the plants to vigorous growth in their 
first stages, to secure a sufficiency of moisture in 
the soil at the time of sowing, and especially to 
keep seedlings in turnip-fields clear of charlock, 
which nurses the flea—The black caterpillar 
larva of the Athalia spinarum also preys upon 
the leaves in a more advanced stage, appearing 
on the plants when they are about three weeks 
old.—Another disease to which the turnip is 
liable is vulgarly called fingers and toes. About 
a month after the plants have made their ap- 
pearance, they begin to flag their leaves, and in 
a few sunny days literally die by acres together. 
On examination, the fibres of the roots are found 
enlarged, and the roots covered with tumours 
