Book I. PARSNEP. 651 



and make successive sowings thence till the 20th of April, for main crops. Add smaller sowings twice in 

 May, for plants to draw young late in summer : also sow a few at the commencement of July for a later 

 succession of young carrots in summer and autumn. Lastly, in the beginning of August, two separate 

 small sowings may be made, for plants to stand the winter, and afford young roots early in spring, March 

 and April." 



3719. Culture. " When the plants are up two or three inches in growth, in May and June, they will 

 require thinning and clearing from weeds, either by hand or small hoeing. Thin from three to five 

 inches' distance such as are designed for drawing in young and middling growth. But the main crop, 

 intended for larger and full-sized roots, thin to six or eight inches' distance. Keep the whole clean from 

 weeds in their advancing young growth. Some of small and middling growth will be fit for drawing in 

 June and July ; large sizeable roots, in August and September ; and those of full growth, by the end of 

 October." (Abercrombie.) 



3720. Preserving during luinter. " Carrots are taken up at the approach of winter, cleaned, and stored 

 among sand. They may be built very firm, by laying them heads and tails alternately, and packing with 

 sand. In this way, if frost be excluded from the store-house, they keep perfectly well till March or 

 April of the following year. Some persons insist that the tops should be entirely cut off at the time of 

 storing, so as effectually to prevent their growing ; while others wish to preserve the capability of veget- 

 ation, though certainly not to encourage the tendency to grow." 



3721. To save seed. Plant some largest best roots in October, November, or the last 

 fortnight of February, two feet apart ; insert them a few inches over the crowns. They 

 will yield ripe seed in autumn, of which gather only from the principal umbel, which is 

 likely not only to afford the ripest and largest seed, but the most vigorous plants. A 

 considerable quantity of carrot-seed for the supply of the London seedmen is raised near 

 Weathersfield, in Essex ; and much is imported from Holland. 



3722. Insects. Carrots, when they come up, are apt to be attacked by insects like the 

 turnips ; the most approved remedies for which are thick sowing, in order to afford both 

 a supply for the insects and the crop ; and late sowing, especially in light soils, thus per- 

 mitting the grubs to attain their fly state before the seed comes up. 



Subsect. 5. Parsnep. — Pastinaca sativa, L. (Flor. Dan. t. 1206.) Pent. Dig. L. 

 and UmbellifercE, J. Panais, Fr. ; Pastinake, Ger. ; and Pastinaca, Ital. 



3723. The parsnep is a biennial British plant, common in calcareous soils by road-sides 

 near London. The wild variety is figured in English Botany, t. 556. The garden- 

 parsnep has smooth leaves, of a light or yellowish-green color, in which it differs from the 

 wild plant, the leaves of which are hairy and dark-green ; the roots also have a milder 

 taste : it does not, however, differ so much from the native plant, as the cultivated does 

 from the native carrot. 



3724. Use. The parsnep has long been an inmate of the garden, and was formerly 

 much used. In Catholic times, it was a favorite Lent root, being eaten with salted fish. 

 " In the north of Scotland," Neill observes, " parsneps are often beat up with potatoes 

 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 prepared from the roots, brewed along with hops. Parsnep wine is also made in some 

 places ; and an excellent ardent spirit, distilled after a similar preparatory process, to 

 that bestowed on potatoes destined for that purpose. 



3725. Varieties. There is only one variety in general cultivation in Britain ; but the 

 French possess three, the Coquaine, the Lisbonaise, and the Siam. 



The Coquaine, Dr. Maculloch informs" us 

 {Ceded. Hort. Mem. vol. i. p. 408.), is 

 much cultivated in Guernsey and Jer- 

 sey. The roots run sometimes four feet 

 deep, and are rarely so small in circum- 

 ference as six inches, having been known 

 to reach sixteen. The leaves of this 



variety grow to a considerable height, 

 and proceed from the whole crown of 

 the root 

 The Lisbonaise does not extend to so great 

 a depth as the coquaine ; but the root 

 is equally good in quality, and what is 

 lost in length is gained in thickness. 



The leaves are small and short, and 

 only proceed from the centre of the 

 crown 

 The Siam has a root of a yellowish color, 

 not very large, but tender, and more 

 rich in taste than the other varieties. 



3726. Soil. The soil most proper for the parsnep should be light, free from stones, 

 and deep. It should be dug or trenched before sowing at least two spits deep ; and the 

 manure should either be perfectly decomposed, or, if recent, deposited at the bottom of 

 the trench. 



3727. Seed estimate, and solving. Sow in the end of February, or in March, but not later than April; 

 and for a bed five feet by twenty, the plants to remain thinned to eight inches' distance, half an ounce of 

 seed is the usual proportion. Having prepared either beds, four or five feet wide, or one continued plot, 

 sow broad-cast, moderately thin, and rake the seed well into the ground. 



3728. Culture. When the plants are about one, two, or three inches high, in May or June, let them be 

 thinned and cleared from weeds, either by hand, or by small hoeing ; thinning them from eight or twelve 

 inches' distance. Keep them afterwards clean from weeds till the leaves cover the ground, after which no 

 further culture will be required. The roots will be pretty large by the end of September, from which time 

 a few may be drawn for present use : but the parsnep is far best at full maturity, about the close of 

 October, indicated by the decay of the leaf. The root will remain good for use till April and May 

 following. 



3729. Preserving during winter. The parsnep is not so liable as the carrot to be hurt by frost, if left in 

 the ground. But it would be proper, in the beginning of November, when the leaves decay, to dig up a 

 portion of the roots, and to cut the tops off close, laying them in sand, under cover, ready for use in hard 

 frosty weather. The rest will keep good in ground till they begin to shoot in the spring : then, in February 

 or March, dig them up; cut the tops off; and, preserved in sand, the root will remain till about the end 

 of April. 



3730. To save seed. " Transplant some of the best roots in February, two feet asunder, 



inserted over the crowns ; they will shoot up in strong stalks, and produce large umbels 



of seed, ripening in autumn." (Abercrombk.) 



Ss 4 



