PARSNIP 



1516 



PARTHENON 



ers, but the lea\<- :nv usually picked before 

 blossoming time. Several kiiuls of parsley are 

 grown in gardens, the favorite variety being 

 the one with curled leaves. The seed, which 

 germinates very slowly, should be sown as soon 

 ground can be worked. Seed should be 

 covered with half an inch of dirt, pressed down 

 compactly. The growing plants should be 

 thinned until they are six inches apart in the 



and be kept free of weeds. If leaves 



-ired for garnishing through the winter, 

 plants may be transplanted to window boxes. 

 Some housewives put parsley leaves in paper 



i.-ing them away to dry, and use them 

 later with other herbs in soups. 



This fragrant herb was well known to the 

 ancients. In the stories of Hercules its leaves 

 are mentioned as forming one of his garlands 

 of victory, and the Greeks used parsley wreaths 

 both on festive occasions and at their funerals. 

 Because the plant was so slow in coming up, 

 they had a common saying that the seed had 

 to go to Hades before the young shoot could 

 appear above ground. There is an old English 

 proverb of like import "Parsley seed goes to 

 the Devil and hack again nine times before 

 it comes up." 



PARSNIP, pahrs'nip, a familiar garden plant 

 of the parsley family, native to Europe and 

 Asia, and cultivated extensively in America 



able vegetable. It grows from two to 



Carbohydrates, 13.5 



Protein, 1.6 



COMPOSITION OP A PARSNIP 

 As a heat producer inn-snips average well with 

 nmst vegetable*, but tlicir Iu-| value is low only 

 .ilnrifs per pound ( set- ( '.\i.. >F:IE). 



three feet in height, bearing attractive, fernlike 

 leaves and bright yellow flowers. The edible 

 portion is the long, white, tapering root, which 

 has a sweetish flavor, agreeable to most people. 

 The roots of the wild parsnip are somewhat 

 sharp in taste, but cultivation has made them 

 more delicate and increased their size. Parsnips 

 thrive in rich, deep soil. In the latitude of 

 New York the seed is sown in April, and cov- 

 ered with earth half an inch deep. After the 



plants come up they should he thinned until 

 about six inches apart. If neiilected they run 

 wild and become troublesome \\eeds. 



The parsnip is distinctly a winter vegetable, 

 whether used a< a table food or as fodder for 

 cattle. The quality of the roots is improved, 

 rather than injured, by frost. Those for im- 

 mediate use are generally taken up in October 

 or November and stored in damp sand or 

 earth; the others may be left in the ground 

 until needed. Parsnips are appetizing when 

 boiled, baked, stewed with meat, fried or made 

 into fritters. They have about the same nutri- 

 tive qualities as carrots, which they resemble 

 (see CARROT). 



PARSONS, pahr' s'nz, KAN., a city in La- 

 bette County, in the southeastern corner of t In- 

 state, twenty-three miles north of Oklahoma, 

 thirty-seven miles west of Missouri and 137 

 miles southwest of Kansas City. It is on the 

 Neosho River and on the Missouri, Kansas & 

 Texas and the Saint Louis-San Francisco rail- 

 roads. An interurban line extends to Inde- 

 pendence and Coffeyville. The area of tin- 

 town is foursquare miles. Its population, which 

 was 12,463 in 1910, was 15,468 (Federal estimate) 

 in 1916. 



Interesting features of the city are Forest and 

 Glenwood parks; the Missouri, Kansas & Texas 

 general office and station building, which was 

 constructed in 1904 at a cost of $1,000,000; the 

 Federal building, Carnegie Library, railroad 

 Y. M. C. A., Masonic Temple, Elks' Theater, 

 the State Hospital for Epileptics (which has 

 600 inmates) and Mercy Hospital. Parsons 

 has an important wholesale and jobbing trade. 

 large locomotive, boiler and car shops, brass 

 and iron foundries, flour and feed mills, grain 

 elevators, creameries, nurseries and garment 

 factories. In the vicinity natural gas is found 

 and is used for heating and lighting. Parsons 

 was founded and incorporated as a third-class 

 city in 1871, and as a second-class city in 1873. 

 It adopted a modified commission form of 

 government in 1911, with a mayor and four 

 commissioners. 



PARTHENON, pahr' the non, a temple of an- 

 cient Greece, one of the most famous relics 

 of antiquity, and generally considered the most 

 perfect building ever constructed. It stood on 

 the Acropolis at Athens, and was dedicated to 

 Athene (Minerva), patron deity of the Athe- 

 nians. No other temple was quite so sacred. 

 The building was about 228 feet in length, 101 

 feet in width and sixty feet in height, and was 

 constructed throughout of most carefully se- 



