2S3 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXIII. 



THE PARSNIP 



closely resembles the appearance of the carrot in all but its colour, which is 

 of a ])ale yellow, and there is but one distinctive species, with very few 

 varieties. Tlie common root grows to the length of jierhaps 30 inches, and 

 from three to four inches in diameter at the shoulder ; being thus somewhat 

 larger than the carrot. The crown is short and narrow, contracting gradu- 

 ally from the shoulder, which is generally below the surface of the earth, 

 and the leaves are strong and numerous, generally growing to the height of 

 about two feet. 



One of these varieties is grown in the islands of Guernsey and Jersey ; 

 in the latter of which particularly, it is universally cultivated, both for the 

 food of cattle and for culinary purposes. It grows to a larger size than the 

 common kind, as it sometimes reaches the length of more than three feet ; 

 and the seeds evidently produced roots of a superior quality. Another kind 

 has also been recently introduced by the Horticultural Society, which is 

 much the earliest of its kind, but, if left too long in the ground, is apt to 

 decay in the crown. It is not, however, so productive as the common 

 species ; and, although of superior flavour, and therefore advantageous as 

 a garden jjlant, it is not well adapted to farm culture *. 



The soil should be a good clean hazle loam, or a strong deep mellow loam 

 upon a dry, gravellv, or sandy bottom, or even a sandy soil if not sharp and 

 hungry; but strong clays, unless well opened by liming and ashes, as well 

 as by deep ])loughing and perfect drainage, or strong shallow loams, with 

 a chalky bottom, or abounding with flint or sharp gravel stones, are 

 improper. 



Tlic 'preparation of these soils shoidd be effected in the same manner as 

 for carrot; but the stronger and more tenacious the under stratum, the 

 deeper should be the ploughing, as no pains must be spared to bring the land 

 into a perfect state of complete pulverization. A potato fallow, provided the 

 ground be made loose enough underneath, is among the best preparations 

 for parsnips that can be made, because the dung will have been thereby 

 thoroughly intermixed with the soil by the taking up of the roots, and by 

 the subsequent ])loughings. " In Jersey, where the parsnip husbandry is 

 most successfully prosecuted, the soil is either dug with a spade after the 

 fnst ploughing, or stirred with two ploughs of dilVerent shapes following 

 each other, as the soil for this ])urpose must be stirred from the bottom, 

 and a plough is made for this sole purpose, which v.ill go to a depth of 15 

 inches. This operation is performed in January or February ; the ground 

 thus tilled is then coarsely harrowed, and beans are dibbled by women in 

 pairs five feet asunder, after which the ])arsnip seed is sown broad-cast, 

 and the whole is finely harrowed. In May the ground is carefully weeded 

 both by hand and with a small weeding fork, and the crop is thinned like 

 turnips. The beans are ])ulled the moment they are ripe ; and towards the 

 close of Sejitember the parsnips are taken up, or only gradually removed, as 

 they are wanted for cattle f." The cultivation, in conjunction with beans, 

 has, however, of late greatly fallen ofi', as it occasions much additional 

 (lillJculty in weeding the land, an operation which is there invariably per- 

 formed by women. 



The seed is very light, and not so tenacious as that of the carrot. When 

 fresh and good, full ripened and free from any semblance of dark brown or 

 black among it, it should be sown thin, and upon a light harrowing, in the 



* Trans, of the Hoit. Cult. Soc. vol. vi. Art. 26. 

 f Complete Grazier, 6th edit. p. 527. 



