20 ESCULENT ROOTS. 



a liberal application of well-digested compost, and well pul- 

 verizing the soil in the operation. The surface should next 

 be levelled, cleared as much as possible of stones and hard 

 lumps of earth, and made mellow and friable ; in which 

 state, if the ground contains sufficient moisture to color the 

 surface when it is stirred, it will be ready for the seed. This 

 may be sown from the first of April to the 20th of May ; 

 but early sowings succeed best. The drills should be made 

 an inch in depth ; and for the smaller, garden varieties, about 

 ten inches apart. The larger sorts are grown in drills, about 

 fourteen inches apart ; the plants in the rows being thinned 

 to five or six inches asunder. 



Harvesting. The roots attain their full size by the 

 autumn of the first year ; and, as they are not perfectly 

 hardy, should be dug and housed before the ground is frozen. 

 When large quantities are raised for stock, they are generally 

 placed in bulk in the cellar, without packing ; but the finer 

 sorts, when intended for the table, are usually packed in 

 earth or sand, in order to retain their freshness and flavor. 

 With ordinary precaution, they will remain sound and fresh 

 until May or June. 



Seed. To raise seed, select good-sized, smooth, and sym- 

 metrical roots ; and as early in spring as the frost is out of 

 the ground, and the weather settled, transplant to rows three 

 feet apart, and fifteen inches apart in the rows, sinking the 

 crowns just below a level with the surface of the ground. 

 The seed-stalks are from four to six feet in height, with 

 numerous branches. The flowers appear in June and July ; 

 are white ; and are produced at the extremities of the 

 branches, in umbels, or flat, circular groups or clusters, from 

 two to five inches in diameter. The seed ripens in August ; 

 but, as all the heads do not ripen at once, they should be cut 

 off as they successively mature. The stiff, pointed hairs or 

 bristles with which the seeds are thickly covered, and which 



