The Chautauquan, Vol. 05, March 1885Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Science
The Chautauquan, Vol. 05, March 1885
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Chautauqua Institution -- Periodicals; Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle -- Periodicals
The remarks made under the subject of cabbages concerning the free use
of manure need not be repeated here. Turnips grow freely upon a rich and
mellow soil, kept clean of all weeds. They do not require as fertile a
soil as cabbages, and when the earth is very rich, there is sometimes
an excessive growth of tops, without a corresponding development of the
roots. It is not necessary to say that cabbages are grown for their many
thick leaves, while turnips are raised for their roots. Plants as a whole
have many places for the storing up of nourishment. Sometimes it is in
the stems, as in the potato; in other cases the leaves or roots serve as
a store-house of accumulated substance. The plant makes these deposits,
to be drawn upon at some future time, either for further growth of the
same plant or for the early development of another. The root crops, for
example, are naturally plants of two year’s duration. The first season
is spent in gathering and storing up substance in a large root. During
the following year the starch, sugar, oil, etc., is withdrawn and used in
the production of a flower-stalk, upon which the crop of seeds is finally
borne, and after this the plant dies.
Turnips are mainly grown as a second crop, following early potatoes, etc.
The soil should be made fine and rich before the seed is sown. Rutabagas
may be sown from the 15th of June until the 15th of July. Yellow Stone,
Aberdeen, White Cowhorn and Strap-leaved Red-top are sown in the order
named, and from July 15th to the 1st or 10th of September. The seed is
sown in drills, wide enough apart to admit of horse cultivation. The
thinning of the plants in the row is of great importance. This work is
best done with a hoe, the workman chopping out the turnips and leaving
the plants about four to six inches apart in the row. In garden culture
the rows need not be so far apart. It is very essential to keep the weeds
down and the soil frequently stirred. The harvesting is simple. When
growth is completed the roots are pulled, then the tops cut off and the
turnips placed in root cellars or pits.
Turnips have an important place in a carefully planned system of farming.
The root crop is a means of securing a large amount of most wholesome
food for live stock, and at the same time it cleans the soil from weeds
and prepares it for the growth of succeeding crops.
The leading insect enemy of young turnip plants is the Turnip-fly. If the
seedlings can be protected until they get a good start in life there is
no further trouble. Equal parts of wood ashes and land plaster scattered
over the young turnip leaves is a good remedy. Air-slaked lime is also
employed in the same manner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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