TURNIP
Brassica Rapa
The Turnip is not a difficult garden crop; indeed, the simplest
management will produce an ample supply, and any fairly good ground will
suffice for it. But whatever is worth doing is worth doing well, and a
gardener may be pardoned for
taking an especial pride in producing a
sufficiency of handsome and tender Turnips. The great point is to insure
a succession through a long season, or, say, the whole year round, for
Turnips are always in request, and at certain periods of the year
delicate young roots are greatly valued for the table.
The finest Turnips are grown in deep, sandy loam, kept in a high state
of cultivation. Useful Turnips may be grown on any soil, but a handsome
sample of the finest quality cannot be produced on heavy clay or thin
limestone. In common with other fast-growing plants of the cruciferous
order, Turnips must have lime in some form, and in many gardens it will
occasionally be necessary to give a dressing of lime in addition to the
ordinary manure. Superphosphate, bone, and old plaster or mortar from
destroyed buildings, are all valuable in preparing the soil for this
crop.
Times of Sowing.--An early crop of small bulbs may be grown by sowing
in January on a very gentle hot-bed as prescribed for early Radishes,
and it may be well to add, that in an emergency white Turnip Radishes
may be made to take the place of Turnips, both to flavour soups and to
appear as a dish in the usual way. Fast-growing Turnips may be sown on a
sheltered warm border in February and March, to be carefully watched and
protected when unkind weather prevails. In April and May sowings should
be made consistently with the probable wants of the household, but the
May sowings should comprise two or three sorts in the event of hot dry
weather spoiling some of them.
The principal sowings for autumn and winter supplies are made in June
and July, but seed may also be sown in August. Ground from which some
crop, such as Peas, has just been cleared generally needs little
preparation beyond breaking the surface with a hoe, followed by a good
raking. Thin the plants early and let them stand finally at six to nine
inches apart in the rows. For late crops seed is often sown broadcast,
the roots being pulled as they mature.
General Culture.--It is advisable to sow Turnips in drills on a fine
tilth, and it is an advantage to have a sufficiency of some stimulating
manure near the surface to hurry the growth of the young plant, for the
danger of fly belongs to the seed-leaf stage. Generally speaking, the
Turnip fly does but little harm in gardens; but where it is much feared,
the seed should be sown in prepared drills to encourage a quick growth.
Draw the drills twelve to fifteen inches apart, three inches deep, and
about the same width, and almost fill them with rotten manure, or with a
mixture of earth and guano, or wood ashes; cover this with a little fine
soil to prevent injury to the seed; then sow, and lightly conceal the
seed with earth as a finish. If the ground is sufficiently moist, growth
will commence almost immediately, and the plant will come up strong, and
very quickly put forth rough leaves. In the general management more
depends on timely and judicious thinning than upon any other point. If
Turnips are not well thinned, so that each plant can spread its green
head unimpeded by the leaves of a neighbour, a good growth cannot be
expected; and thinning by the hoe should be commenced as soon as the
rough leaves appear. The operation must be repeated until the plants are
at a suitable distance, and then comes the process of singling, which
should be done by hand. It will be found that in many cases two or three
little plants stand together looking like one. There must be only one
left at each station, and that should be the shortest. The distances may
vary from four to ten inches, according to the vigour of the variety and
the kind of Turnips required. An easy and profitable plan is to allow a
certain number of bulbs to swell to supply young Turnips, and, by
drawing these, leave room for the remainder of the crop to attain its
proper size for storing.
The Turnip likes a light soil, but does not well endure the occasional
dryness to which light soils are subject. This fact accounts for many
failures of the crop in a hot dry season, for sunshine suits the Turnip,
but it must have moisture or suffer deterioration in some way. If,
therefore, the soil becomes dry, and there is no prospect of rain, the
Turnips should have water, not simply to moisten the surface, but to go
to the roots, for frequent watering is not good for the crop, as it
tends to spoil the beauty of the bulbs, and promotes a rank leaf-growth
which is not wanted. An occasional heavy watering in dry weather will
also do much towards the repression of the many enemies that beset this
useful root--the jumpers, the grubs, the weevils, and the rest of the
vermin will be routed out of their snug hiding-places in the dusty soil
when the watering takes place, and the death of many will follow. But so
long as the soil is fairly moist at the depth the roots are ranging,
there is no need for watering, and the time it would consume may be
utilised for other work.
Lifting and Storing.--On the approach of winter a certain portion of
the Turnip crop should be lifted and stored. In doing this the tops must
be cut off, not too close, but just leaving a slight green neck, and the
roots should be rather shortened than removed; at all events, to cut the
roots off close is bad practice: when so treated the bulbs do not keep
well. Any rough storage answers for Turnips, the object being to keep
them plump by excluding the atmosphere, and at the same time render them
safe against frost. The portion of the crop left in the ground may be
lifted as wanted in the same way as Parsnips, but this should be done
systematically, so that the ground which is cleared may be dug over and
ridged up before winter. Those that remain will be in a piece, and will
give a good crop of spring greens, after which they may be made use of
as manure by putting them at the bottom of a trench.
Some of the foes that war against the Turnip crop are alluded to at
greater length later on. Happily, the gardener has many friends that are
insufficiently known to the farmer, not the least important being the
starlings, song birds, and occasionally (but not often) the sparrows.
Where the cultivation is good and small birds abound, the Turnip crop is
pretty safe, and the general routine of culture sketched above will
certainly promote, if it does not absolutely secure, its safety. The
worst foes of the Turnip in the field are the fly and the caterpillar;
but in the garden, and more especially the old garden, anbury is the
most to be feared. When this happens the cultivator may rest satisfied
that the soil is in fault, and this may be owing to a bad routine of
cropping. Wherever anbury appears, whether on Cabbages or Turnips or any
other cruciferous plant, there should be worked out a complete change in
the order of cropping, taking care not to put any brassicaceous plants
on the plots where the disease has occurred for two or three seasons,
and allowing at least one whole year to pass without growing any of the
cruciferous order upon them. In the meantime, for other crops the land
should be well trenched and limed, and generously tilled. The result
will be profitable crops of other kinds of vegetables and a refreshing
of the soil that will enable it to carry brassicaceous plants again,
with but little risk of the recurrence of anbury. Good cultivation is
the only panacea known against the plagues that assail our crops. This
does not surely secure them, for the elements are capricious and beyond
our control; but where good cultivation prevails the failures are few,
and even unfavourable seasons do not utterly obliterate the benefits of
past labour.
Swede.--There are several advantages in growing Swedes as one of the
garden crops. They are hardy in constitution and prolong the supply of a
wholesome vegetable. In districts where Turnips are unsatisfactory,
Swedes prove successful, and are appreciated for their delicacy of
flavour when grown from stocks which have been carefully selected for
the purpose. The culture is in all respects the same as for Turnip. The
date of sowing depends on the district. In the north it is safe to sow
at the beginning of May, but in the midlands and southern counties of
England the end of May or beginning of June is early enough.
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