180 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



smaller, and 450 of the Belgian or white, per acre ; but 

 with extra cultivation, 1,000 bushels of the last have been 

 raised. 



THE PARSNEP (Fastinaca sativa). 



The parsnep is frequently cultivated as a field crop, and it 

 is nearly equal to the carrot in its value. The soil may be 

 heavier for par sneps than for carrots, and they will even 

 thrive on a strong clay, if rich, well pulverized and dry. 

 Large crops can only be obtained on deeply fertile and well 

 pulverized soil. They should be sown early, as frosts do 

 not affect them, and they require a long time to come to ma- 

 turity. Drilling, at a distance of 20 inches apart, is the 

 proper mode of planting, and they should be thinned to a 

 space of six or eight inches. It requires four or five pounds of 

 seed per acre, which must be of the previous year's growth, 

 as older does not readily vegetate. No preparation of the 

 seed is necessary. The subsequent cultivation is similar to 

 that of carrots, and they will generally yield more under the 

 same circumstances of soil and tillage. They are little sub- 

 ject to disease or enemies. 



The best variety for field culture, is the Isle of Jersey. 

 The gathering should be deferred till the following spring,, 

 unless wanted for winter's use ; as they keep best in the 

 ground, where they are uninjured by the intensest frost. 

 But particular care must be observed in allowing no stand- 

 ing water on them, or they will rot. When taken up in the 

 fall, the roots should neither be trimmed nor broken, nor 

 should the tops be cut too near the root. They must be 

 stored in a cool place and covered carefully with earth, as 

 exposure to air or even moderate heat wilts them. 



Uses. The parsnep is one of our most delicious table 

 vegetables. It is an excellent food for swine, either raw or 

 cooked, and for cattle, milch cows and sheep, it is highly 

 prized. Qualey says, "it is not as valuable for horses, for 

 though it produces fat and a fine appearance, it causes them 

 to sweat profusely ; and if eaten when the shoot starts in 

 the spring, it produces inflamation in the eyes and epiphora, 

 or weeping." The leaves of both carrots and parsneps are 

 good for cattle, either green or dried. Gerarde, who wrote 

 in 1596, says, "an excellent bread was made from them in 

 his time." They have also, like the carrot, been used for 

 distillation, and are said to afford a very good vinous beverage 



