PAR 



PAR 



313 



last thinning, which may be early, 

 as they are not often hurt by insects. 

 1 have seldom known any to be de- 

 stroyed by them. 



The seeds should be sown as 

 early as in March, if the ground be 

 thawed, and not too wet. Some 

 sow them in tiie fall ; but thai is 

 not a good practice, because the 

 ground will grow too close and stiflf, 

 for want of stirring in the spring ; 

 which cannot well be performed in 

 gardens, without danger of injuring 

 the roots. And weeds will be more 

 apt to abound among them, if they 

 be sown in autumn. 



The manure that is used for pars- 

 neps should be very fine and rot- 

 ten, and quite free from straws and 

 lumps ; otherwise it will cause the 

 roots to be forked, which is a great 

 damage to them. They require 

 but little manure, as they draw 

 much of their nourishment from a 

 great depth. What manure is giv- 

 en them, should be spread before 

 digging the ground, that some of it 

 at least may go deep. They do not 

 impoverish the soil. I have raised 

 them near thirty years in the same 

 spot, on a soil not naturally rich, 

 and with a very slight yearly dres- 

 sing. The crops are better than 

 they were at first : And the earth 

 is become very black to a great 

 depth. 



Parsneps will continue growing 

 so late as till the tops are killed by 

 the frost, if not longer. Some let 

 them remain in the ground through 

 the winter, expecting that they will 

 grow larger in that season. But it 

 is not possible they should grow at 

 all, so long as they are enclosed 

 with the frozen soil. They may 

 40 



possibly grow a little in the spring, 

 before there is opportunity to take 

 them up, if they escape rotting. 

 But their growing will be chiefly 

 sprouting at the top, which hurts 

 them for eating. As soon as they 

 begin to sprout, which will be as 

 soon as the ground is thawed, they 

 will begin to grow tough, and to 

 have a bitterish taste. 



The best way is to dig them up 

 about the last of November, or in 

 the beginning of December. Let 

 them not be wounded, or so much 

 as touched with the spade in doing 

 it, if it can be avoided; neither 

 should the tops be cut oflf very close 

 to the roots, nor any of the lateral 

 roots cut off. In either case the 

 roots will rot, or become bitter. 



Many lose their parsneps, or 

 make them sprout, by putting them 

 into a warm cellar. It is better to 

 keep them in some out-house, or in 

 a cellar that freezes ; for no degree 

 of frost ever hurts them. But to 

 prevent their drying too much, it is 

 best to cover them with dry sods, 

 or else bury them in sand that has 

 no moisture in it. Beach sand is 

 improper, because the salt in it 

 will make them vegetate. 



It is said by European writers, 

 that parsneps are an excellent food 

 for swine, and useful for feeding 

 and fattening all sorts of cattle. 



If we would cultivate them for 

 these purposes, the horse hoeing 

 husbandry must be applied. The 

 ground must be trench ploughed in 

 October, and all the stones careful- 

 ly taken out. The trench plough- 

 ing must be repeated before the 

 end of November, the soil made 

 fine by harrowing, laid in beds of 



