PARSNIPS. 371 



PARSNIPS. 



THE parsnip is a delicious table vegetable, especially in the early spring; besides, it is 

 excellent for feeding stock, being nearly equal to the carrot in nutritive value. It is 

 relished by cattle, sheep, and swine, but is thought to be not as good for horses as 

 carrots. The leaves furnish fodder for cattle whether green or dry. In its wild state the 

 roots are fibrous, small, and strong flavored, but cultivation has changed it into a root of fine 

 texture, good size, and most delicate flavor. 



Varieties. There are but few varieties of the parsnip; the principal are the Early 

 Eound French, an early variety of delicate flavor, the Long Smooth, or Hollow Crown, with 

 long, smooth roots, tender and sweet, the tops of which are small with a red tinge at the 

 crown, which rises from the center surrounded by a slight depression. It is very hardy and 

 keeps through the winter well without any protection. The Student is a new variety of fine 

 quality, improved from the wild parsnip by Prof. Buckman of the Royal Agricultural College, 

 Cireucester, England, which has met with much favor. 



Cultivation. The soil for parsnips should be heavier than that for carrots, this crop 

 thriving best in a deep, rich soil, and, unlike the latter, favors that in which clay predomi 

 nates. The soil for all root crops should be deeply tilled, and finely pulverized. The culture 

 given should be similar to that for carrots. All fresh manure for fertilizing should be 

 avoided, being injurious to the crop, and, as is recommended for carrots, the best lands are 

 those that have been heavily manured the previous season. &quot;When farm manure well fer 

 mented is used, it should be made very fine. The seed should be sown in drills from fifteen 

 to eighteen inches apart, scattered sparingly, and covered from half an inch to an inch with 

 finely pulverized soil. Soaking the seed a day or two in tepid water before planting will 

 cause them to germinate more quickly. The sowing should be early in the season, as they 

 require considerable time to mature, and will bear the frost well. When the plants are about 

 two or three inches High, they should be thinned out, leaving them from six to eight inches 

 apart. The soil should be kept free from weeds, and frequently stirred. Keeping them in 

 the ground during the winter improves them. If the roots are small in the autumn, and a 

 light snow falls before the ground freezes, they will frequently continue to grow, and some 

 times nearly double their size before spring. They should be taken out of the ground before 

 commencing a spring growth, for if not, -the quality of the crop will be greatly injured. A 

 few may be harvested and stored like other roots in the fall, for use during cold weather. 

 An ounce of seed will sow about two hundred feet in drills, and from four to five pounds 

 will be required to the acre. The seed is cultivated the same as for carrots. 



ARTICHOKES. 



THIS is a crop that produces an immense yield with comparatively little culture, and, 

 when once established in the soil, will continue to grow abundantly for successive years, 

 with little care. The quality of the tubers is inferior to that of the potato, which 

 they resemble, but as this crop yields so abundantly, growing freely on poor soils and with 

 but little attention, it is a profitable one for culture. The tubers are used for feeding stock, 

 especially swine, which will fatten upon them when freely fed, or allowed to do their own 

 harvesting by being turned into a field, and thus considerable labor in gathering the crop 

 saved. In such cases, enough will be left in the ground to reproduce for successive seasons. 

 They are much in favor with the pork-producers of the West. Milch cows, sheep, and in 



