1865.] KITCHEN-GARDEN PLANTS. 37 



garden soil, acquires all the characters of the cultivated form ; and 

 that when the garden-plant escapes into uncultivated ground, it 

 speedily reverts back to its originally wild and degenerate condi- 

 tion. Parsnips appear to have been very early reclaimed from a 

 wild state, for Pliny tells us that parsnips were cultivated on the 

 banks of the Rhine, and were brought from thence to supply the 

 tables of the Roman emperors. 



The stem of the parsnip is herbaceous, upright, and furrowed ; 

 the leaves pinnate, sheathing the stem at the base, and composed 

 of oval, slightly lobed and incised leaflets. The flowers are small, 

 yellow, and disposed to umbels, the fruit dividing into two seed- 

 like pieces, as is usual with umbelliferous plants. The root of the 

 wild plant is spindle-shaped, sweet and mucilaginous, but never- 

 theless somewhat woody, and with a slight degree of acrimony 

 which it loses by cultivation. In the wild plant the leaves are 

 downy, but when cultivated they become smooth. 



The parsnip is one of the hardiest plants of the kitchen garden, 

 as it remains uninjured in the severest weather ; indeed, by many, 

 the parsnip is not esteemed until it has been frost-bitten. There 

 is generally a great consumption of parsnips in Catholic countries 

 along with the salt-fish eaten during lent. 



The Carrot (Daucus carota, L.) — The wild form of this plant 

 is found plentifully in Europe and in Great Britain, where it is 

 indigenous,' and in the United States where it has been extensively 

 naturalized. Although the large root is wanting in the wild 

 variety, yet there is little else to distinguish it from the cultivated 

 species ; for the leaves, flowers, and even the fruit of the wild car- 

 rot are exactly similar to that of the cultivated plant. 



The carrot is a biennial, with a stem rising to a height of two 

 feet, leaves compound pinnatifid, flowers white, succeeded by rough 

 hispid seed-vessels, the supporting stalks of which are inflected in- 

 wardly, so that the cluster of compact umbels does not look unlike 

 a bird's nest. The root of the wild plant is white, dry, woody, 

 and strongly flavored. Cultivated, the root becomes succulent, 

 and of a red-yellow or pale straw color, showing, in a remarkable 

 way, the improvement which may be effected by cultivation. 



The carrot was cultivated at a very early epoch even by the 

 Greeks and Romans. The cultivated garden variety has been most 

 probably derived from the wild form. It is difficult to say how 

 its nutritive character was discovered. We know, however, by the 

 experiments of M. Vilmorin, that the wild carrot sown in good 



