ROOTS AND TUBERS. 



11 



petioles nine inches long, the leaflets being from one to two inches ; the 

 larger one three-quarters of an inch broad, and all pubescent or softly 

 hairy. The sheath at the base of the petiole was one and a half inch 

 long, the first pair of leaflets being four inches above it. 



The leaf of the " Student " is two feet long; the first pair of leaflets 

 several inches above the sheath. They are oblong, about two inches 

 across at the basal part, and four and a half inches in "length, and 

 smooth. 



There are considerable differences between the above and the leaf 

 of the old type of parsnip grown in the middle of the last century. The 



FIG. 4. 

 A. Third generation of parsnip from seed of wild plant (1847) cultivated 



by Professor Buckman. The origin of " The Student " (^ length). 

 B. "The Student" parsnip, twenty-eighth generation (1903) from the 



wild plant (3 length and width) ; still one of the most useful in the 



trade (1912). 



sheath of the leaf of this was very large, and reached up to the first 

 pair of leaflets. These are much broader at the base, making them 

 more oval, the lower ones being five inches long, the whole length of 

 the petiole being about sixteen inches. Lastly, the serrations are coarser 

 than those of. the "Student," which imitates the wild plant more 

 closely. 



As a vegetable in the sixteenth century, Gerard observes: "The 

 Parsneps nourish more than do the Turneps or the Carrots, and the 

 nourishment is somewhat thicker, but not faultie nor bad. . . . There 

 is a good and pleasant foode or bread made of the rootes of Parsneps, 



