TURNIP THINNING

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 November 1943, Page 6

TURNIP THINNING

CONTESTS HELD IN SCOTLAND Turnip-thinning competitions, which are practically unknown in New Zealand, are now held in various parts of Scotland. An account of a contest held in a western county of Scotland has been received by a Dunedin business man, who has an extensive knowledge of farming, and he suggests that the idea is one which might well be followed in Otago. Fifty competitors, including 25 men, s°ven women, three youths—seven of them under 14—and eight members of the Women’s Band Army tools part in the contest. Their work was watched with critical eyes, as this was the first competition of the kind held in the district. The various prizes including championships, were for the men and women’s sections, youths under 18 years, youths under 14 years, members of the Women’s Land Army, the man coming the longest distance, the oldest man, and the youngest boy. The competitors had to thm two drills, each of 300 yards and, although most of them were finished in two and a-half hours, some of the men completed their allotted stretches within an hour. Three of them astonished everyone by thinning 300 yards in 25 minutes, and there was no sign of “scamping.” An unusual feature was that all the entrants, with the exception of four, singled by hand, a method which is practically never seen in this country, where hoes are generally used.