Gh. XXIII.] ON PARSNIPS. 239 



quantity of from four to six lbs. the acre, according as tlie season is wet or 

 dry, or the soil strong or light. 



The time of sowiny is usually from the first week in February to the 

 first week in March ; though it is sometimes deferred until the beginning of 

 April. It has, however, been properly observed, " that seasons have a 

 great effect upon the period of sowing, and so has the soil, for it may be so 

 wet in February and March, that few soils could be got in condition much 

 before April ; as a general rule, however, all cold soils and exposed situa- 

 tions should be sown as early as possible, while the more genial ones may be 

 left until later*." 



Mr. Malcolm, however, adds, " that he lias known it sown in the middle 

 of October, with very superior success ;" and it is not an uncommon opi- 

 nion, that " in order to render the cultivation of this root advantageous to 

 the farmer, the seed should be sown in the autumn, immediately after it has 

 come to perfection ; by which means the plants will appear early in the 

 following spring, and will get strong before the weeds can injure them ; 

 for frosts never affect the seeds, nor do the young plants ever materially 

 suffer through the severity of the seasons f." 



The cidiure is not materially different from that for carrots ; the ground 

 should be harrowed as soon as the rough leaves appear so high as to be dis- 

 tinguished from weeds, and the hoeings should be performed in the same 

 manner as there described, though the superior strength of the soil may 

 demand a little more attention. The plants will thus stand at IG inches 

 asunder, giving 393,290 roots for a full crop ; but the haulm is never 

 mown for cattle. 



The storage is effected in precisely the same manner as the carrot. 



PRODUCE, VALUE, AND APPROPRIATION. 



The produce of carrots upon appropriate soils in good heart, though 

 without any extraneous addition of manure, is commonly very large : so 

 much as 900 bushels per acre have been known, and four bushels per rod 

 have been frequently grown ; but these may be considered as unusually 

 great crops, and the average has been generally estimated at full 400 

 bushels, or ten loads of 40 bushels each — equal to about 12 tons per acre J. 



That of parsnips is still greater, and instances frequently occur of their 

 amounting, on rich and well-manured land, to 30 tons, and the average 

 produce has been rated as high as 24 tons per acre §. They are both 

 peculiarly exempt from accidents arising either from insects or from the 

 weather ; and being thus in some measure independent of the seasons, their 

 product may be more generally relied upon than that of any other root 

 crops. 



In point of value, of four varieties of the carrot, that known as the 

 " long red" is the most productive of nutritive matter : the parsnip, 

 however, contains a far larger portion of saccharine matter ; and as we 

 well know that this quality, besides being grateful to the palate of animals, 

 is greatly conducive to their fattening, it is somewhat singular that the 

 root has not been more universally brought into use ||. Indeed, although 



* IMalcolm's Siiirey, vol. ii. p. 493. 

 f Papers of the Bath Agric. Soc. vol. iv. Art. 22. 

 X Essex Rep. vol. ii, pp. 3, 5, & II. 

 § Malcolm's Surrey, vol. ii. p. 495. 



[I It thus yields by distillation a spirit so pure and good, as to approach nearly to the 



u 



