Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1866-06-21
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Essst Of the Turnip Crop on the

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Essst Of the Turnip Crop on the
sou.
M,ssrs. Etaers:--lt is somewhat
IIs;;nraIar how many and dlnerent
sn;5;ons prevail among farmers in
rs,s,ioz 20 the effect Of .culhvsting
or sais;og different crops OF the soil.
Among the different crops that are
Taised there is perhaps IS much
diversity of opinion in relation to
the effect of the turnip crop as any
one. g Since I commenced raising
turnips / have freqdentiy heard At
!, said that the turnip wonld poison the
land, that other crops would not DO
well after it, and that after raising
it.afew wears the turnip itself would
not do well on the same farm on
which it had been raised. Now j.
: nv ova experience / have proved
: ali these assertions, Is well as many
Others, tc be entirely without foun--
datiou. and l have no doubt that In
most ofthe instances in which crops
that succeeded crop Of turnips have
failed. the failure was to be attribu-
ted TO other causes than the turnip.
i believe that it Is admitted at the
present time that one of the flInda-
mental principles of agriculture is'
that those crops which have the
smallest and ,fewest. leaves, with the
largest number of roots, draw the
most of their nourishment from the
soil. and but little from the atmos-
phere, and consequently they ex'
haust the soil on which they grow
much more than the opposite class
of plants which have many. and large
leaves. with but few and small roots,
which are supposed to obtain a
much larger proportion of their food
from the atmosphere, and less from
the soil: If this principal Is cor
rect one, then the turnip must be one
of the least exhaustive crops to the
soil that is raised. Whether other
cultivated crops will do as well after
turnips as before, cannot say, as
nv turnip crop is the last cultivated
crop I put on my land before seeding
down to grass. | have raised tur-
uips two years in succession on the
same land with good success. After
the turnip. crop I SOW spring grain
and seed down grass. | have soWn
rye, oat. and barley, and all these
crops have succeeded well, and /
have never failed of getting good
catch of grass, and good crops of it,
for several successive years after it,
as good as have ever obtained after
any crop. Whether the turnip will
fail to do well, or grow on the same
farm after q series of years, my ex-
perience of more than twenty years
has failed to prove. 1t rather goes
to disprove it, as my last crop was
equal in every respect to any crop I
- have ever raised. 1t seems to me
that the increasing and successful
cultivation which this crop is reveiv-
ing in this country and Canada, and
the long and successful experience
which It has had in England, are suf-
fcient to set at rest all the objections
which have been raised against this
crop, and to commend it to the favor
able consideration of the farmers of
this country.
Setting aside the depredations of
insects. and the effects of weather,
which no farmer can avoid, ] think
that msst of the failures in raising
this crop have arisen from the select.
ions of unsuitable soil, the want OF
sufficient manure, and the lack of
careful cultivation, and under these
unfavorable circumstances no one
need to expect to raise good crops
of any kind. While on the other
hand. if the same judgement, care
and skill is used in the cultivation of
this crop that is used in the cultiva-
ton of other crops, there can be no
reason why the same degree OF sue
cess cannot be attained as with other
crops. The turnip requires q dry
mellow soiE an abundant supply of
manure, with clean and careful cult
ystion, and with these requisites sup
piled, crops can be relied on, and
failure in proportion as they are dis
regardedi-CulnVatOE