UMBELLIFERZ. 
Lent root, being eaten with salted fish. ‘ In the north of Scot- 
land,” Mr. Neill observes, * parsnips are often beat up with po- 
tatoes and a little butter; of this excellent mess the children of 
the peasantry are very fond, and they do not fail to thrive upon 
it, In the north of Ireland a pleasant table beverage is pre- 
pared from the roots, brewed along with hops. Parsnip wine is 
also made in some places ; and they afford an excellent ardent 
spirit when distilled after a similar preparatory process to that 
bestowed on potatoes, destined for that purpose.” The following 
are the varieties :— 
1 Common parsnip, large swelling parsnip, swelling parsnip. 
~The leaves are long; roots generally from 20-30 inches long, 
and from 3-4 in diameter. 
2 Guernsey parsnip, Jersey parsnip, panais long of the French, 
panas cogune of Guernsey.—The leaves are somewhat stronger 
and taller than those of the common sort. The roots are also 
larger and more perfect, about 3 or 4 feet long. 
8 Hollow-crowned parsnip, hollow-headed parsnip, panais 
Lisbonaise of Guernsey.—In this variety the leaves are shorter 
and not so numerous as in the common parsnip; the roots are 
oblong, about 18 inches long, more swollen at the top, and not 
tapering gradually, but ending rather abruptly, about 4 inches 
in peter at the shoulder. 
urnip-rooted parsnip, panais rond, Siam parsnip.—The 
leaves of this sort are ed do not exceed 12. or ones 
the roots are from 4-6 inches in diameter, funnel-shaped, taper- 
ing very abruptly, with a strong tap-root, the whole being from 
12-15 inches long. The shoulder is broad, and grows above 
the surface of the soil. The flavour of this parsnip is superior, 
and when dressed is of a yellower colour than the other varieties, 
: Soil_—The soil most proper for the parsnip should be light, 
ree from stones, and deep. It should be dug or trenched 
before sowing, at least 2 spits deep; and the manure should 
either be perfectly decomposed, or if recent, deposited at the 
bottom of the trench. 
_ Seed estimate and sowing.—Sow in the end of February, or 
in March, but not later than April, and for a seed-bed 5 feet by 
20, the plants to remain thinned to 8 inches’ distance, half an 
eri of seed is the usual proportion. Having prepared either 
eds 4 or 5 feet wide, or one continued plot, sow broadcast, 
moderately thin, and rake the seed well into the ground. 
he Suliure— When the plants are about 1-2 or 3 inches high, 
cith ay or June, let them be thinned and cleared from weeds, 
eaa by hand or by small hoeing, thinning them from 8 to 12 
= ve distance, Keep them afterwards clean from weeds, till 
= €aves cover the ground, after which no further culture will 
erat The roots will be pretty large by the end of Sep- 
ie from which time a few may be drawn for present use: 
Oct ia Parsnip is far best at full maturity, about the close of 
‘Ober, indicated by the decay of the leaf. The root will re- 
main good for use till April and May following. 
a ome during winter.—The parsnip is not so liable as the 
8 ot to be hurt by frost if left in the ground. But it would 
Proper in the beginning of November, when the leaves decay, 
layi 18 Up a portion of the roots, and to cut the tops off close, 
Scie them in sand, under cover, ready for use in hard frosty 
ies er. The rest will keep good in the ground till they begin 
vas ee in the spring: then in February or March dig them up; 
ie tops off; and, preserved in sand, the roots will remain 
Sound till about the end of April. 
2 fe a save seed.—Transplant some of the best roots in February, 
Pi ede, inserted over the crowns ; they will shoot up in 
pais on S, and produce large umbels of seeds, ripening in 
Gi teld culture of the parsnip.—The parsnip has been partially 
troduced of Jate years as a field plant, and is nearly equal to 
339 
the carrot in its product of nutritive and saccharine matter. 
Its culture as a field plant has chiefly been confined to the island 
of Jersey, where it attains a large size, and is much esteemed 
for fattening cattle and pigs. It is considered rather more 
hardy than the carrot, and its produce is said to be greater. It 
may be sown either in autumn or spring, and its seeds admit 
of drilling by machinery. The plants, when they come up, are 
more easily recognised than carrots, and therefore their culture 
is on the whole more simple, less dependent on manual labour, 
and therefore more suited to farming. For the rest their cul- 
ture is the same as that of the carrot. The variety best suited 
for the field is the Large Jersey, the seed of which should be 
procured from the island, as that of the garden parsnip sold by 
seedsmen never attains the same size. The quantity of seed 
required for sowing in drills is from 4 to 5 lbs. per acre, and 
for broad-cast 6 or 8 Ibs. It must always be new, as two year 
old seed does not come up freely. It may or may not be 
prepared by steeping, but it requires no earth or sand intermixed 
with it, as it passes freely through the same drill that will sow 
tares or pease. The time of sowing is generally about the 
middle of February; but some sow in September, in which case 
the seed does not vegetate till early inspring. This last method 
is obviously against the culture of the soil, which must thus 
remain a year in a consolidated state. The manner of sowing 
is generally in drills 15 or 18 inches distant; but some sow 
broad-cast and harrow in the seed ; and in Jersey, parsnips and 
beans are generally cultivated together. The beans are first 
dibbled in, and afterwards the parsnip seed scattered over the 
surface and harrowed. It is acknowledged that a good crop of 
both plants is never obtained ; and therefore, though this mode 
may be found to answer in the mild climate of Jersey, it is not 
to be imitated in other places. Drills or broadcast, without any 
intermixture of plants, are the only adviseable modes. The 
after culture of the parsnip is the same as that for the carrot, 
with this difference, that the parsnip, when sown broad-cast, is 
generally thinned out to 12 inches at an average, plant from 
plant, and when in rows 18 inches apart, to 9 inches in the row. 
The produce of the parsnip is said to be greater than that of 
the carrot, and the economical application the same. In the fat- 
tening of cattle it is found equal if not superior, performing 
the business with as much expedition, and affording meat of 
exquisite flavour, and a highly juicy quality. The animals eat 
it with much greediness. It is reckoned that thirty perches, 
where the crop is good, will be sufficient to fatten an ox 3 or 
4 years old, when perfectly lean, in the course of 3 months. 
They are given in the proportion of about 30 pounds weight 
morning, noon, and night; the large ones being split in 3 or 4 
pieces, and a little hay supplied in the intervals of those periods. 
And when given to milch cows with a little hay in the winter 
season, the butter is found to be of as fine a colour and as 
excellent a flavour as when feeding in the best pastures. In- 
deed, the result of experiment has shown that not only in neat 
cattle, but in the fattening of hogs and poultry, the animals 
become fat much sooner, and are more bulky than when fed 
with any other root or vegetable ; and that, besides, the meat 
is more sweet and delicious. The parsnip leaves being more 
bulky than those of carrots may be mown off before taking up 
the roots, and given to cows, oxen, or horses, by whom they 
will be greedily eaten. Their produce in nutritive matter is 
99 parts in 1000, of which 9 are mucilage and 90 sugar. Ge- 
rarde says, that a very good bread was made from them in his 
time. They afford as much spirit as the carrot. The parsnip 
being more hardy and luxuriant than the carrot, is less liable 
to the mildew and worms; but equally so to become forked if 
the soil be not deep and well ulverised, and if the manure be 
not minutely divided and equally distributed. 
xx 2 
CV. Pastinaca. 
