(4) Color of flesh. The flesh is generally white or yellowish. Both colors are found in common turnips, rutabagas and hybrids.
The varieties of turnips used in the garden give too low yield for stock-feeding, although they are sometimes sown broadcast after an early crop of potatoes, peas or other crop. For the latter pur pose the Golden Ball, Pomeranian White Globe, Cowhorn or Mammoth Purple Top are frequently sown. For sowing for a main crop some of the cattle turnips grown in Great Britain are recom mended, such as Imperial Green Globe, Purple-top Mammoth, Devonshire Grey Stone, Red Paragon, Red Globe, some of which yielded at the Cornell Experiment Station in 1904 at the rate of twenty five tons per acre in four months after sow i n g. Among hybrid turnips well- known varieties are Fosterton Hybrid, Aberdeen Yel low, Carter Lightning a n d Commonwealth, Garton Pioneer, Dale Hybrid. Among ruta bagas, there are many strains of the Monarch or Elephant, t h e Im proved Purple-Top, the Long Island Purple-Top, the Large White rutabaga, Green-top, Bronze-top.
Unfortunately, in turnips, as in mangels, the aim in the development of varieties seems to have been to select for non-essentials. It matters little whether a rutabaga is purple-topped or green topped. It does matter whether it yields twenty five tons of roots containing 8 per cent of dry matter or twenty-five tons containing 12 per cent, and it is on this line that future efforts in the development of varieties must be concentrated. As mentioned in the case of mangels, the only method practicable for the improvement of turnips and the selection of "mother roots" for seed production seems to be to take out a core or plug from each individual root, determine the amount of dry matter in the same and retain only those roots which are rich in dry matter. When varieties are valued and catalogued on their performance record, as fast horses and dairy cattle now are, it will be easier to give advice as to the variety which should be grown.
Culture 9f turnips.
Land.—The best soils are free-working learns, rich in organic matter and in good tilth. Common tur nips will thrive on the lighter loams, and the ruta bagas will give higher yields on the medium to heavy loams. although, if well supplied with mois ture and manure, good crops may be grown on light friable soils. Stiff clays are unsuitable because of the difficulty in securing a fine seed-bed, which is essential ; and light, sandy and gravelly soils are objectionable because the yield is low. The root system of turnips is mainly in the surface soil, and the moisture supply at this point in the sandy soils is likely to fail.
Climate.—Climate is of more importance than soil. For perfect development a damp, rather dull climate seems to be best. Unless the rainfall is well distributed throughout the growing period, the plants are likely to receive a check from which they may never recover.
Preparation of the land. [See Mangels.]—Empha sis must be laid on the necessity of thorough prep aration of the land and securing fine tilth. Phos phatic fertilizers with barnyard manure are gener ally profitable. 400 to GOO pounds of acid phosphate p.r acre being applied in addition to ten tons of farm manure per acre.
Seeding turnips. —Large, plump seed produces very strong plants. Two and one-half to five pounds, average four pounds, of seed per acre is usually sown in the case of rutabagas and hybrids ; and two to four pounds, average three pounds, per acre in the case of common turnips, when the rows are twenty-seven inches apart. Less would do if we could be sure that the flea-beetles would not kill many of the plants. The seed should be sown at a depth of one-half to three-fourths inch, usually the former, but in a dry season the latter may be better. It can readily be sown too deep. The re sults obtained during the past two years at Cornell University show that sowing on May 11 gave over 100 per cent better yield than sowing on June 12.
young plants come up about four days after sowing and are ready for thinning in three or four weeks. The stand of a root crop has great influence on the yield, and to secure more plants per acre it has been urged to make the rows closer. This, however, eliminates the use of horse power machinery, necessitating hand labor and rendering the crop unprofitable. In the case of rutabagas, 26,000 to 30,000 plants must be grown per acre, and with common turnips rather more. Twenty-seven-inch rows are better than twenty four-inch, and thirty-inch rows are easier to culti vate than twenty-seven. Some of the distances advocated are considered below : As with mangels, it is recommended that the effort be made to secure the maximum yield per row, and the use of thirty-inch rows with plants seven to eight inches asunder in the row is suggested. The common turnips may be left five or seven inches asunder. Some of the advantages of wide rows are better air circulation among the plants, which aids in checking fungous diseases, and fewer rows to cultivate and to thin, with a consequent saving in labor. The object is to produce roots at the least cost per bushel. Intertillage should be given every seven to ten days until the foliage meets in the rows.