Science and Practice in Farm CultivationBuckman, James
Science
Science and Practice in Farm Cultivation
Buckman, James
Agriculture
_Anbury_ is an affection to which only the different sorts of turnips
are liable, in which case it differs from finger-and-toe, with which it
has been very much confounded, as this latter occurs in all kinds of
roots; namely, turnips, carrots, mangel-wurzel, &c., as well as both the
common and Swedish turnips.
[Illustration: _Fig. 11_ (Fig. 8 repeated). Finger-and-toe Carrot. Half
natural size.]
As a sample of an extreme case of finger-and-toe—_digitate_ root,—we
repeat the following figure of a Belgian carrot, in which it will be
seen that the forks gradually taper to the extremities; in fact, the
whole, instead of being a succulent fleshy tap or _fusiform_ root, in
which case it could readily be stored, is divided in fingers-and-toes,
which are liable to break off, and this renders the product next to
useless. Now, this affection may occur in any soil, as it is the result
of a degeneracy in the stock of the plant; but in the affection now to
be described the case is wholly different, as here the bulk of the swede
(fig. 12) is affected with rough, cancerous knobs, whilst the rootlets
support irregular knobs of a like kind, which have more the aspect of
suspended rows of ginger than fingers-and-toes.
Roots so affected soon rot, and have a fœtid odour, so that they are not
only useless themselves, but communicate canker and decay to the whole
store. In the putrid mass will be found maggots and flies and beetles of
different kinds; but as yet naturalists are not agreed as to whether the
nodules of disease are caused by insects, or whether these creatures are
merely attracted by the fœtid matter. We are, however, inclined to the
belief that some insects are connected with the diseased appearance in
the first place, whilst others afterwards step in to fatten upon the
decaying matter, induced by the first lot; but still it must be
confessed that the subject requires much more attention than it has yet
received, in order to settle these important questions.
Still it may be observed that one point has been universally admitted;
namely, that anbury only occurs to any extent in sandy soils, where
there is an absence of lime, a good dressing of which mineral is the
best safeguard against this affection. Still, in soils that are liable
to anbury, we should not recommend the continuance of turnip-growing, or
at least not so frequently in the rotation as has hitherto been the
case, and more especially as the soils which produce anbury to the
greatest extent are just those best adapted for parsnips and carrots,
which, if not wholly, may occasionally be very profitably grown in the
place of the turnip.
[Illustration: _Fig. 12._ Swede affected with Anbury. Nat. size.]
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