494 



to use artificial manure, but none of a very stimulating nature should 

 be applied. Land enriched by previous high culture is in all cases 

 the best for this crop, as larger roots free from forks and useless 

 appendages will be secured. Plenteous rainfall and a mild climate 

 suits the carrot best, and the cultivation must be deep and fine. It 

 is most productive in deep, light, warm loams overlaying a deep and 

 pervious subsoil. The seed, which germinates slowly and irregularly, 

 should be fresh, and is often soaked for a few hours before sowing. 

 From two to five Ibs. of seed per acre is required, according to the 

 quality, and the covering must be very light. Thinning after the 

 plants are fit to handle, and thorough subsequent cultivation, are 

 essential to a maximum crop of carrots. The tops may be fed to 

 stock, and the roots raised by fork or ploughed out and stored for 

 future use. 



PARSNIPS. The parsnip is, if anything, a more valuable root crop 

 than the carrot. It is, in the first place, easier of cultivation, and pos- 

 sesses greater nutritive qualities. It is invaluable as a food for dairy 

 cattle, and is for this purpose extensively cultivated in Jersey 

 islands. It gives a peculiarly rich, high flavor to butter, and adds 

 to its firmness. There are two varieties of parsnips, the round and the 

 long, the latter being most generally cultivated both as a garden and a 

 field crop. A mild ancl moist climate is essential to a maximum 

 crop of this root, though it is surprising how well it thrives under 

 most trying conditions. It likes a deep friable loam like the carrot 

 and other root crops, and needs similar subsequent cultivation after 

 the young plants arc through the ground. 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. This is an edible tuber, nearly as 

 nutritious as the potato, which is almost ignored in this 

 colony. The stalks are almost as valuable as the tubers, 

 and its cultivation is deserving of every encouragement. It 

 grows as well on light soils as it does on tenacious clays r 

 and thrives where no other root crop would exist. It is not 

 exhaustive to the soil, and it may be harvested in such a manner 

 that the work of harvesting is at the same time the work of re- 

 seeding. It will endure the extremes of heat and cold, and furnish 

 an abundance of fattening fodder when all else has failed. The 

 tubers should be planted in early fall or in the spring in the same 

 way as potatoes, ancl the better the ground and the more attention 

 the plants get, it is needless to say, the better will be the crop. The 

 tubers, which make an excellent table vegetable, may be either 

 forked or ploughed out, or the ground may be fenced off and the 

 pii^s turned in. In France, where this crop is cultivated largely, 

 the stakes arc either cut and used as green feed, or stacked and 

 made into fodder like maize. 



INDIAN CORN. This may be cultivated either for green or dry 

 fodder or ensilage or for the grain. If for the former, some quick 

 growing variety should be selected and the seed sown thickly 

 broadcast. If for grain, the seed is sown in hills at equal distances 



