Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1900-09-21
FARMER AND Pl .ANTER.
ROOT CROPS ON THE FARM.
Tcrnips and Rutabngns should he
Grown Much More Extensively
than They Are.

During July, August and the early !
part OF September, the truckers, fam
lily gardeners and dairymen CT the
south will plant their crops o' turnips
and rutabages, two vegetables which |
are largely used throughout the south,
and yet which should be grown much !
more extensively than they are. 1t is
crop which usually finds rendy sale
in the towns and cities, SO that the
market gardeners find it prof liable to
plant the crop on Il considerable scale,
in places where they can obtain To-
cal market.
For this crop. as for all others, pure
and reliable seed should be obtained
from honest seedsnen. Every year we
find in the catalogues Of unreliable
dealers, exaggerated representations,
eXtravagant claims and eXorbitant
prices for some so-called new and SUI
pcrior sort. Such claims should he re-
garded with suspicion as the much
prfised variety usually proves to be
some old sort under a new name, or,
worse still, degenerate and utterly
worthless variety.
For table use and market, the Pur-
pie Top Strap Leaf and the White Flat
Dutch are among the hest of the flat
varieties. OF the globe-shapcd kinds,
the Purple Top Globe, Pomeranian
White Globe, Golden Ball and Snow
ball are all excellent sorts. The White
Egg, pure white, egg-shapcd turnip
is one of the finest for table use, being
strong flavor or bitter tgste. New
land is considered best for turnip cul-
ture, but first-class crops can be raised
on old land if it is properly prepared.
The practice of cow-penning land
| which is to be used for turrips is very
common in the south, and is an excel
lent means of fertilization, and the
trcading and iirming of the sandy soil
is also an advantage. This crop is q
comparatively light user of nitrogen,
and in fact on land which is rich in
nitrogen, this element rcay well be
omitted from the fertilizer, us too
much of it will make the crop woody,
and unfit for use, and also tends to
produce tops, instead Of roots. A good
fertilizer formula is as follows:
Nitrogen ............3 per cent
Potash ....................8 per cent.
Available phosphoric acids per cent.
| lTe;,,, tl,;e for,,,,,l, fr,,,,, Ann q, con
Ecrnds per acre, drilled in, will be suf-
licient. Soggy land should not be used
for turnip crop, and low muck land,
as II lie, will not produce turnip fit
for table use, though satisfactory
enough to grow crop fer stock feed.
Turf ip seed is sown at time in the
south when the summer heat is most
trying on seed termination, and when
the hot sunshine is apt to follow close
upon the heavy beating showers of the
rainy season, and when insect life is
ost plentiful and active. On account
of these causes the planter often fails
TO secure a good stand, and the failure
is frequently laid to the fault of the
|
trouble is due to some ere OF the
causes mentioned above. The "turnip
flea" tiny insect, hardly large enough
to be seen, frequently destroys an en-
tire planting of ttunips before the
plants have appeared above ground,
and no trace is left to show what
caused the failure OF the seed 10 show
up above ground. THIS is one of the
most common causes of failure in OBJ
tanning stand of plants from sum-
mer sowings. Again, the young plants
are frequently destroyed before they
have shown above ground by being
scalded, the result of hot sunshine on
the Garth after shower. Again, hot,
dry spell, following the termination Of
the seed is very apt TO bake the start
iEg plants, and so prevent II stand. The
writer of this article has shown four
sowings to be- made from a pound of
turnip seed without obtaining stand,
and at the end of the fourth planting
the planter was positive that the seed
was utterly worthless. He made fifth
sowing, however, and got n perfect
stand, thus showing that the seed
were all right, and that his four fail
ures had been due TO some unknown
cause. probably one or more of those
an eady mentioned. Considering the
season at Which this crop is sown in
the south, and the usual climatic con
dtions which prevail at the time OF
sowing, the planter must not think II
strange if he does net Obtain perfect
stand in every instance.
Sow the seed in drills 20 to "a
inc hes apart. covering the seed from
one-half to one inch deep, and firmine
the soil. When the plants are well up
they should be thirned out from five
to- ten inches apart, according to va
riety. Cultivate often enough to keeT
the ground in good mellow condition
and free froni weeds. 1t cftcn happens
that more turliips are raised than car
be marketed to advantage when tht
crop is sold. BY storing properly, they
can be kept for a considerable tim,
ard used as wanted, or held until thu
price has advanced. In the centra
south, a common method of storing j!
10 pile them in the field, after pulling
them, being very careful not 10 breal
or cut off the roots, CT to bruise or GU
tie t,irnip. Cover the piles with dirt
from 1S inches to two feet deep, to pre-
vent the turnips from freezing. Whcl
! piling them in this way, about an incl
of top should be left on each one. They
will stand through the winter in thi
way, and in the spring the pile SHOULD
he opened, and the tops and root
trimmed off close. They should theI
be stored in cellar or potato bank
between layers of straw. II desired
they can be stored in this way in tn
fall, without piling them in the fell