Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/393

Rh HOOT CROPS.] AGRICULTURE 3(37 of them into the middle of the interval by a one-horse plough, and then to level this down by a turn of the horse- hoe. A great improvement on this practice is to use Tennant s grubber instead, adjusted for drill work in the manner already described. By thus using a strong imple ment drawn by two horses, the soil in the intervals betwixt the rows can be stirred a foot deep if required, without any risk of hurting the young plants, and this, too, is accomplished by a single operation. A second hand-hoeing is then given, which usually completes the after culture. The nature of the soil will generally determine the mode of consuming the crop. On all loose, dry soils, feeding off by sheep is the most profitable plan; whereas on deep, strong loams, it is advisable to withdraw the whole produce, and have it eaten by cattle, as, unless in very favourable weather, when even a fourth is fed off by sheep, the extra manuring does not compensate to the after crops for the injury which they usually sustain from the treading and poaching. On the poorest class of light soils the whole crop should, if possible, be consumed where it grows by sheep; but on those of a better description, a third, a half, or two-thirds n y be withdrawn for the feeding of cattle, according to circumstances. Whatever the proportion left on the ground, care is to be taken to regulate the intervals so as to distribute the treading and droppings of the sheep as equally as possible over the field. The management of the turnip crop so as that it may be supplied to the live stock in the best possible condition during the entire season, is a point of the greatest import ance. The portion that is to be used as cattle food is removed from the ground as soon as the crop is suffi ciently matured, and before the time when drenching rains and severe frosts may ordinarily be looked for. The best way of preserving turnips is by storing in broad flat heaps, not exceeding 20 inches deep, on some dry and sheltered situation, open to the sun, and covering them with a good coating of straw. It takes less labour to put them together in this way, and less straw to cover them; and being less exposed to frost and parching winds, they retain their juices much better than when stored in long narrow heaps. The pulling of swedes preparatory to stor ing is much facilitated by passing under them a sharp share, and so cutting across the tap-roots without displacing the bulbs. The thatch of the corn-stacks that are thrashed in autumn is usually reserved for covering turnip heaps. After 1st November it is well to make diligent use of every favourable hour in thus securing the turnip crop. The portion to be fed off by sheep must necessarily be treated in a different manner. What is to be used after Christmas can be very readily defended against frost by earthing up in the drills with the common plough. But as what is to be consumed by the young sheep must be pulled and trimmed at any rate, in order to be sliced, the best way is to throw the tuwiips into heaps at regular distances, and cover them with a thin coating of earth. By this means the turnips are kept from running to stems, and the sheep get them clean and fresh, whatever the state of the weather. 1 The same end is secured by opening a trench by a bout of the common plough, into which the turnips from two drills on either side are laid in regular order with their tops uppermost, and the earth turned over upon them by reversing the course of the plough. When wanted for use they ars again unearthed by means of the plough. The feeding qualities of turnips are so seriously impaired by exposure to frost, even when they 1 During the unusually wet winter of 1852-53 a large quantity of turnips and swedes intended for cattle food was stored in this way. The trimming and storing was carried on every dry day, and the carting postponed until the occurrence of frost or drought admitted of its being done without injury to the land. escape actual destruction, that the expense of securing them by one or other of these methods is always amply repaid. In very mild winters, again, storing is equally effective in preventing the virtues both of the turnips and the soil from being wasted by the pushing of the seed stems. The turnip is liable in the early stages of its growth to the attacks of various insects. The most formidable of these enemies is the turnip beetle, which frequently settles upon the plants as soon as they appear above ground in such numbers as totally to destroy the whole of them. The best way of guarding against these nimble adversaries is to endeavour, by careful preparation of the soil, liberal manuring, and thick seeding, to secure a thick plant and rapid growth; for whenever the rough leaf is expanded the risk from this quarter is over. From time to time the young turnip plants are assailed by the larvae of certain butterflies and moths, which sometimes appear in such num bers as to cause serious alarm, but ordinarily their attacks occasion but a slight check to the growth of the crop. A far more formidable evil is the disease called &quot; fingers and toes,&quot; which, although long known, seems to be steadily extending, and has been wider spread and more virulent since 1851 than in previous years. This truly formidable disease sometimes shows itself by the time that the plants are ready for thinning, but more usually it is about the stage when the second hoeing is given that unmistakable indications of its presence are observed. The crop appears in high health, and is making rapid growth, when suddenly, under hot sunshine, numbers of the plants are seen to droop with flaccid leaves ; and examination being made, it is found that the disease has already made serious progress. In some cases it is chiefly confined to the tap-root, which is distorted with knobby excrescences. In others, the roots present a thickened, palmated appearance, giving rise to the popular name for the disease, &quot; ringers and toes;&quot; while in others the lateral roots expand into glandular-looking tubers, which frequently appear partially above ground at distances of several inches from the central stem. For a time all these forms of the excrescences present a smooth healthy looking skin, yielding no trace of the presence of insects of any kind, cither externally or internally. By-and-by the skin cracks over the excrescences, which speedily assume a gangrenous appearance. Indeed, the whole symptoms pre sent a striking analogy to cancer in the animal system. By the time that the healthy plants are approaching near to maturity, the most diseased ones have usually lost all resemblance to turnips, and there remains on the land a substance like rotten fungus. In very bad cases whole acres together are found in this state, with here and there a sickly distorted turnip still showing a few green leaves. At other times a few only of the plants are wholly destroyed; the field, to a casual observer, looking not much amiss, though a closer inspection proves that the general crop is of stunted growth, with few plants entirely free from the disease. Such partially diseased roots are not absolutely rejected by sheep, but they are evidently unpalatable and innutritions, while the crop as a whole is more speedily consumed than its general appearance would lead one to expect. When this disease appears on farms that have previously been exempt from it, it is usually confined for a year or two to small patches, which, however, in the absence of remedial measures, steadily and rapidly extend, not only on the recurrence of a turnip crop on the same fields, but over the other parts of the farm. Indeed, there are not wanting indications of its being propagated by contagion; as, for instance, when tainted roots are carted into pastures, and the disease shows itself most in those places where they have been consumed, when, in course of rotation, the field comes afterwards to bear a turnip crop. When they are consumed by cattle in fold-yards, the dung