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