Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1868-07-24

never found any difficulty in growing
satisfactory crops OF all the varieties OF
turnips, They are not nearly SO nourish-
ing as the potato, but the yield Is tour or
five times greater. They are valuable to
feed to mich COWS along with hay, Indian
meal and oil oak good for fattenlng bull
locks and swine, md exceedingly profit
able for sheep, whether one is making
mutton or wool, or raising lambs. We
have found them valuable for nome con-
sumption, and to not like to be without
them, even if we have plenty OF beets and
carrots.
The old method, inherited from our
English ancestors, no doubt, was TO yard
sheep at night for several weeks upon the
piece of ground to be sown to this crop.
Just before the 25th of July the ground
was plowed and narrowed very thorough
ly, and sown with wood ashes. The tur-
nip seed was sown broadcast, and put IN
with a garden rake, or brush harrow.
The crop had no cultivation, and yielded
from four hundred to eight hundred bush
els to the acre. The soil usually selected
was a sod or fresh clearing. Upon new
ground, the turnip is usually of fine quail
ity, and the yield large. The yarding of
sheep is a good preparation OF the soil,
but the broadcast sowing is discarded by
the best farmers No crop pays better for
sowing in drill, for thinning, and for fire.
ouent cultivation, until the leaves are in
the way of the cultivator. The drills
should be from fourteen inches to two
feet apart, according to the size of the va
riety sown, and the object for which they
are raised, with sufficient space left be-
tween the roots for hoeing. Some of the
strap-leafed varieties make short leaves,
and the "Cow-horn" grows quite high
out of the ground with a long tap-root.
These may be set in the thickest drills,
and quite close together in the drill.
Though the hoe is quite necessary in the
first wedding of the crop, nearly all the
cultivation may be done with the harrow
and cultivator, and the aim should be to
use horse power as much as possible. This
is essential to cheap turnips. After the
leaves cover the ground, the crop may be
laid by" The ruta- baga is much more
solid than the common white turnip, and
requires longer time to grow and richer
soil. 1t is frequently sown in June, but the
first week in July is early enough, on
warm, loamy soils, especially if the crop is
raised for food. The turnip is frequently
grown upon ridges, and the manure placed
in the centre of the ridge, and covered
with the plow.
By the sea-shore it is common practice
to use rock weed, freshly gathered, for this
crop, bony fish, or the refuse after the
oil is pressed out. Fish guano and super
phosphate of lime are among the best
manures for turnips, whether applied
broadcast and narrowed in, or directly to
the ridges. 500 pounds to the acre of the
superphosphate, or half ton of the guano,
will be good dressing. If the ruta-bagas
are raised for market, they should not be
allowed to grow too large. Roots from
three to five inches in diameter sell much
more readily than those of twice the size.
They are easily kept in pits, or upon the
surface of the ground, covered with straw
and earth. The strap-leafed turnips are
raised at very small cost, by sowing among
corn at the last cultivating-say the first
week in August. If the corn is cut up by
roots early in September, the turnips have
the ground the rest Of the season, and fire..
quently make 400 or 500 bushels to the
acre on good soil. Let us have cheap
turnips this year.-American Agricadtur5st