Page "Turnip" Paragraph 23

The first thing to be done in this process is to run a horse-hoe, called a scraper, along the intervals, keeping at such a distance from the young plants that they shall not be injured ; this operation destroys all the annual weeds which have sprung up, and leaves the plants standing in regular stripes or rows.

The hand hoeing then commences, by which the turnips are all singled out at a distance of from 8 – 12 inches, and the redundant ones drawn into the spaces between the rows.

The singling out of the young plants is an operation of great importance, for an error committed in this process can hardly be afterward rectified.

Boys and girls are always employed as hoers ; but a steady and trusty man-servant is usually set over them to see that the work is properly executed.