Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-06-25

and try to make q little improve
ment each year, and in few years
you will make decided progress.
al 64 w. .rss1 I
.9EsI .ss Turuap Culture. So als
@An Ontario, N. Y, correspond
ent of the Country Gentleman,
writes as follows; rl3 tel hls.
American farmers do not gener,
ally appreciate the value of root
crops as a means of restoring fer
tility and cleanliness to over
cropped and weedy soils. Perhaps
SO long as Indian corn can be pro
dneed on the gre&t prairiesy of the
West at acheap rate, with little la
Dor, they will not grow roots, and
so long as that is the case, their
public will continue to prefer fat
pork TO juicy mutton, and Fexas
gristle to well-fed beef, but already
many Of the most Intelligent and
enterprising farmers are beginning
to see the advantage of growing
turnlps, mangels, beets, etc, both as
means of preparing the soil for
grass and to furnish food for stock,
on which they can grow rapidly and
arrive at early maturity to greater
advantage than when fed exclusive
| ly on dry provender The excuse
generally made is that the climate
is unsuitable for turnips, but We in
Canada have the same or nearly so,
and yet grow roots, turnips espe-
clslly, to great extent, and find it
profitable to do so. There are two
kinds of roots that are called by
the name of turnips, namely: the
turnip proper, having a round and
rather flat bulb, either white or yell
low An color, and rough light green
leaves; and the Swedish turnip or
ruta baga, which has solid, vel
low and rather oval or eIongatd
bulb, and smoth dark green leaves.
The former is the kind most gem
orally grown in Great Britain for
winter pulling or feeding to stock
on the ground, and it is usually
grown as supplementary crop at
ter beans, or on the stubbles after |
grain harvest, but is not so well
adapted for storing as the Swedish |
turnip, and therefore not much |
grown here in comparison with |
Swedes. s.f-..r r.-
The land should be well prepared |
by repeated plowings and harrow
ings before the drills are to be laid
out. AT this point there are two
diverse methods in favor among |
farmers, namely: the ridge and |
fiat drills. The former is usually |
followed where fresh unfermented |
long manure is to be applied to the
crop, and consists in throwing the
land into ridges twenty to twenty
six inches apart with pillow, filling
the burrows with long manure
spread evenly in, at the rate of
twelve TO fifteen wagon loads or
twenty five cart loads per acre,
then covering the manure by split
ting the ridges again with the pillow,
leaving ridges over the manure.
The drills so made are then to be
somewhat compressed and fiattened
with a roller, and the seed sown
along the centre of each, either with
a turnip drill or by hand, as may |
be most convenient, and covered
lightly, not over quarter inch in
depth. About two pounds per acre
will be necessary. Even more may
given where the fly is likely to take
good part. Where short well
composted manure can be had, it
is best to apply it to the soil at as
heavy rate as the grower can af-
ford; pillow or cultivate it in lightly, ]
harrow the land to a fine filth, /
then SOW the seed in drills on the
fiat surface, taking care 10 run them
perfectly straight and evenly apart.
Cover by rolling with a very light
roller, which will compress the soil
about the seed, and leave the sur
face smooth and free from clods.
From the 2eth june to the Sth July |
is about the right time 10 sow, saJ
the last thing before hay making |
begins TO become general.
As soon as the young plants show
above the soil, dust finely Stacked
lime, superphosphate, or a mixture
of SCOT and ashes, along the drills
in the early morning while the dew
in on, or immediately after rain
shower. This will keep off the fly |
and stimulate theplants into rap
id growth. When they are grown
in fiat surface drills, they can be
planted nearer together, say 10 or
90 inches, and if the land is rich,
or the manure well compOsted and
Incorporated with the soil, ought to |
produce heavy crop of nice medi-
um sized bulbs, which are always
to be preferred to those that are
larger and coarser. When the drills |
are too closely grown, it is, how
ever, difficult to have them cultiva-
ted in any other way than by re-
peated hand hOeings as done in En-
gland, as an ordinary scaritier or
drill hoe will not work well in such
a crop. The ridge system is there
fore the most generally adopted
here, and has one advantage, and
not a small one either, in that the
work Of destroying the weeds can
be commenced early, before hand
hoeing becomes necessary to thin
out the turnips. ....
The first hand hoeing is usually
done to the fat drilled crop as soon
as the turnips are large enough to
be distinguished from the weeds,
and the thinning ont as soon as the
plants are strong and well estab-
lishcd. After the thinning out is
done on either the fiat or ridge sys-
TEN, the cultivation is directed to-
ward destroying weeds, keeping the
soil mellow and permeable to at
mospheric influence The more
| tla sco,i6ar or drill cultivation can