PARSNIP. 81 



PARSNIP. 

 PANAIS. Pastinaca saliva. 



VARIETIES. 

 Long Guernsey Cup. I Large Dutch, or Common. 



THIS is a hardy biennial plant, common in calcareous 

 soils ; it has long been an inmate of the garden, and forms a 

 vegetable dish in the winter, with salt meat, salted fish, &c. 



Parsnip seed may be planted from the middle of March 

 till the middle of May, in drills one inch deep and fourteen 

 inches apart ; and as this vegetable requires a long season 

 to grow in, the sooner tl^ seed is planted the better. Pars- 

 nips grow best in a deep soil, which has been well manured 

 the preceding fall. Sow the seed thick along the drills, at the 

 rate of five or six pounds per acre, and rake them in evenly.* 



When the plants are two or three inches high, thin them 

 to the distance of six or eight inches in the rows. They 

 should be kept free from weeds, by regular hoeing through 

 the summer, and in autumn they will be fit for use ; but they 

 improve in flavour after having been frozen, and will endure 

 the seventy of a hard winter. See Calendar for November. 



Parsnips require from thirty to forty minutes boiling, ac- 

 cording to their size and age. Some boil them in water 

 seasoned with salt, until tender ; but they are better when 

 boiled with salt pork, and afterward mashed and fried in 

 butter. 



* The Parsnip, although when in full growth it will endure the extremes 

 of heat and cold, requires peculiar management to promote and preserve 

 germination in an early stage of culture. In order to give the seed a fair 

 chance, it should be planted in ground susceptible of moisture, and not 

 apt to encrust when dry. The seed should be dropped thick along the 

 drills, and well covered, as single or solitary plants are apt to perish, from 

 not having sufficient strength to open the pores of the earth, and in the 

 event of drought such plants die off prematurely. If cultivated in light 

 ground, it should be rolled or pressed immediately after depositing the seed 

 therein, but this should not be done while the earth is wet. A few grains 

 of Long Radish seed, sown in each drill as directed for Parsley, will also 

 prove beneficial to Parsnips. 



