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TURNIP CULTURE.
Editors Southern Cultivator :—lt is hardly neces
sary to descant upon the value of the turnip. A bushel
a day, with a little meal, will make ample food for a cow,
keeping her in good flesh and fine flow of milk. As
feed for sheep, they are equally as good. I have hereto
fore remarked upon the high value placed on this crop
in England: By feeding large quantities of roots to
stock, immense hordes manure are accumulated, thus
rendering two fold benefit, by sustaining both animal life
and keeping the soil in a high state of fertility.
To grow turnips we//, the soil should be very rich in
vegetable fibre; hence, the former custom, of “covvpen
ning” a “new” lot during the spring and summer previous
to sowing in turnips. But, as it is not always practicable
to clear fresh land each year, I propose the following
system, wjiicli will obviate that necessity: Commence
early in the spring, say in February for this latitude, (85
deg. N.) and thoroughly prepare your ground by plowing
and subsoiling. This is the beginning of a system of
green manuring, to be continued until the middle of July,
when the last green crop should be turned under. I
would sow the first crop in oats and follow with corn,
mustard or peas;in short, whatever I found to yield the
greatest quantity of matter at the smallest cost of seed. —
The green manure crop should never be allowed to get
too rank to handle well with a one horse steel plow, ag it
is considered unadvisable to plow green crops under to
a great depth. If the last crop grown is not too heavy
to go under easily, it may be allowed to stand until you
are ready for sowing.
The first manure saved, after all is cleared out of the
pits in the spring, should beset apart for the turnip crop.
Begin a short time before you sow (first ten days in Au
gust, for the Johnny J2eb ) Ist of September, for summer
turnips ) and haul out at least sixty tons to the acre,
spread from the carts or waggons as you go. Never
dump manure in heaps. Provide proper long handled
shovels and pitch forks for the purpose of moving and
managing.
The manure being out and spread, watch your oppor
tunity for sowing. The ground being first shaded by a
green crop and the manure, it is not unlikely that it will
turn up moist, no matter how dry the season ; but, if
there are any appearances of rain, delay your operations
until after the shower. Never sow small seeds before a
rain, but in the moist earth after. This is important,
bear it in mind. If the shower does not come and the
earth is moist, go ahead without fear, being careful to
observe the direction to roll the ground hereinafter giv
en.
Commence breaking in the afternoon ; plow narrow
lauds and sow at once, before much moisture has time
to evaporate. Your rows should not be more than two
hundred feet long and the “lands” not over twenty feet
wide. Continue' the operations of sowing as long as you
can see, and delay further work until the next afternoon.
The sowing should be in drills, by all means. Stretch
a strong line from one end of the row to the other; let a
hand start at each end with a marker (crook an old bayo
net and “fix” it an a light staff, or have an iron hook
made for the purpose) and make shallow drills, say an
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR.
inch deep ; pass along and sow the seeds at once, cover
ing with the foot as you return. The land should be so
perfectly pulverized with the harrow, as to make the cov
ering with the foot an easy matter. Follow after the
covering with a small home made roller—a log of hard
wood, fifteen inches long and twelve inches in diameter,
made round and arranged to revolve, will pack the dirt
sufficiently on the seeds. If, after a good shower, oper
ations may be continued through the entire day, but tbe
rows must be short, the lands narrow, and the immediate
sowing and rolling attended to before described. I
omitted to say in the proper place that the drills should
be about fifteen (15) inches apart. Within forty eight*
hours, if the seeds are fresh, the young turnips will ap
pear. Before sunrise, in the morning, pass along the
row with a bucket of unleachcd ashes, and dust the drills
lightly. This can be done very rapidly and should not
be neglected. It will drive the fly at once and give your
crop a good start, being a good manure. In a short time,
in your highly enriched ground, weeds will begin to ap
pear—hoe them out clean. After all danger of the fly is
over thin to a stand, leaving the plants fifteen inches
apart.
Following these directions, from the beginning to the
end, as to spring subsoiling, manuring, &c., you will have
an almost solid pavement of turnips—four pound
bulbs, average. If stable manure is not at hand this sea
son, use instead, for an acre, twelve hundred (1200
pounds Peruvian Guano, with a couple of hundred pounds
of salt, and one hundred pounds of plaster, added ; or one
ton (2000 pounds) of good super phosphate. Homeo
pathic doses of manure, for this crop (or any other, in
my opinion) will not be satisfactory. Concentrate your
efforts on a small area for several seasons—the plowing,
sowing, weeding and thinning are sooner done.
Invest tbe extra money, you would expend for labor, in
cultivating four or five acres, in an additional quantity of
manure, and put it on ,rii acre—that’s the principle.—
Make it your beacon light and never lose sight of it.
1 have used cow manure but six weeks dropped, for
this crop and had a beautiful yield. Last sensor, I notic
ed my finest turnips, on two certain plots of groin, i, each
of which had borne a crop of English peas, in the spring.
The pea vines, with a large quantity of grass and weeds,
were turned under and allowed to thoroughly ro' before
sowing time.
With the manures I have mentioned, even without pre
vious green manuring, a yield of one thousand bushels to
the acre may be looked for. The farmer must determine
for himself, whether it will pay ; whether turnips, at ten
cents per bushel are desirable.
At this time, I approach the subject of varieties, with
some degree of delicacy, in as-much as I have appeared
before the public, in the capacity of seed grower—an of
fice I had no idea of assuming until it became absolutely
necessary for self protection. Last season I substantial
ly advised the sowing of a native, called the seven tops;
then I had no interest in the matter further than the pub
lic good. Since then, I have had no cause to change my
opinion. Parties may do as they like.
For the spring salad or greens patch, sow half an acre
in seven tops, broad-cast, on any good land, without