14 HORTICULTURAL MEMOIRS. 



favour. I have no experience of it, and, for obvious 

 reasons, there has never been any temptation in Guernsey 

 or its neighbour islands, to discover substitutes for the 

 untaxed and superior produce of the vine. (10) Nor do I 

 know that the parsnip wash has been subjected to distilla- 

 tion. It would be worthy the attention of the Society to 

 inquire, whether the spirit produced from it might not 

 become a substitute for whisky, since the produce per acr e 

 would unquestionably be much greater. 



1 may also add, that parsnips are cultivated to great 

 extent in Jersey, as well as in Guernsey, and with the 

 same favourable results though with some little variation in 

 the process. 



The Jersey farmer cultivates the parsnip in a very 

 inferior manner. He weeds them badly, and the beans and 

 potatoes with which he loads the crop always injure it. 



The preparation of the land there, and the other previous 

 arrangements, are similar to those already described. After 

 the harrow, the ground is dibbled with beans in rows at 

 five feet distance. The parsnip seed is then sowed over 

 the whole broadcast. In May, the hand weeding com- 

 mences, and the parsnips are thinned to the requisite distance. 

 The beans are pulled up by hand in September, and the 

 parsnip crop is then disposed of as in Guernsey. I have 

 not been able to procure any accurate estimate of the com- 

 parative value of the two processes, nor to learn how far 

 the bulk of the parsnip crop is diminished by the additional 

 incumbrance imposed on the land by the beans. (11.) 



(10) The note writer has tasted it, and found it superior to most fabricated 

 sweet wines, and of great strength without any spirit. 



(11) It is much diminished. 



