The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-07-17
Miscellaneous
= TTPNTP AND RUTABAGA CROPS.

lilly gardeners, and dairymen of
~ south will plant their crops of
.Irnins and rutabagas, two vege-
.'blos which are largely used
sLro7chout the South, and yet
-bich should be grown much more
artensively than they are. Tt is a
ron with usually finds a ready sale
the towns ard cities, so that the
market gardeners find it profitable
- nlant the crop on a considerable
sca1e. in places where they a OBJ
+,in a local market.
For this crop, as for all others,
orre and reliable seed should be OBJ
t.ined from honest seedsmen. Every
roar we find in the catalogues of I'M
raIiable dealers exaggerated repre-
santations. extravaganza claims, and
avorbitant prices for some so-called
new and superior sort. Such claims
sbould be regarded with suspicion, as
the much-praised variety usually
nroves to be some old sort under a
new name, or, worse still, a degen-
crate and utterly worthless variety.
For table use and market, the Pur-
nile Top Strap Leaf and the White
Flat Dutch are among the best of
the fiat varieties. Of the globe
shaped kinds, the Purple Top Globe,
Pomeranian White Globe, Golden
Ball. and SNOWFALL are all excellent
sorts. The White Egg, a pure white,
egg-shaped turnip, is one of the finest
for table use, being very sweet, ten
der and free from any strong flavor
or bitter taste. New land is consid-
cred best for turnip culture, but
frst-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 turnips is very COM
mon in the South, and is an excel
lent means of fertilization, and the
treading and frming of the sandy
soil is also an advantage. This crop
is a comparatively light ser of
nitrogen, and in fact on land which
is rich in nitrogen, this element may
we'll be omitted from the fertilizer,
as 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 acid 8 per cent
Using this formula, from 400 to
500 pounds per acre, drilled in, will
be sufficient. Soggy land should not
be used for a turnip crop, and low
muck land, as a rule, will not pro-
duce turnipS fit for table use, though
satisfactory enough to grow a crop
Tor stock feed. Tue fertilizer formula
given above can be made up from
the materials and quantities named
IN this table.
NITRoGEN-Lbs. per acre-25O to
400 pounds cotton seed meal, or $50
to 25O pounds dried blood, or 100 to
l55 pounds nitrate of soda, or rs to
l25 pounds suIphate of ammonia.
PoTAsH-Lbs. per acre-5OO to 800
pounds kainit, or 80 to 125 pounds
nitrate of potash, or 80 to 125 pounds
SuIphate of potash, or $50 to 24O
pounds sulphate of potash and mag
neSia.
PHosPHORIC ACID-Lbs. per acre
auto $50 pounds acid phosphate, or
'0O to $50 pounds dissolved bone.
Iurnip seed is sown at a time in
Ie South when the summer heat is
most trying on seed termination,
and when hot sunshine is apt to fol
u" close upon the heavy beating
Suo"erS OF the rainy season, and
"nen insect life is most plentiful and
active. On account of these causes,
Tue planter often fails to secure a
good stand, and the failure is fire.
quently laid to the fault of the seed,
wen more often than not, the
trouble is dUe tO some one of the
cause mentioned above. The 'tur-
up lea, a tiny insect, hardly large
lno0Sh to be seen, frequently de-
@'IoyS an entire planting of turnips
'5''re the plants have appeared
1--we ground, and no trace is left to
'D'" what caused the failure Of the
,'" TO show up above ground. This
= one OF the most common causes of
.o''0re in obtaining a stand of plants