142 THE SKIRRET. 



duct. Scarlet top is esteemed the best in England, requiring less room 

 than those with larger tops. The long purple is raised for salad, and 

 for the pods for pickling, for which it is sown in drills and cut young, 

 like mustard and cress. The white turnip-rooted is crispy when young 

 and is esteemed in spring. The black turnip-rooted Spanish is large 

 and esteemed for autumn. For early consumption the seed is sown in 

 Feb. in hot beds and covered with mats during frosty weather. The 

 long scarlet and the white and red turnip are sown for early crops 

 and renewed monthly in moist soil. Some have better success with 

 crops sown in Aug., as they are more sticky and strong in mid sum- 

 mer than in spring and fall. Radishes being uncertain in their growth, 

 sowing between rows of other plants is recommended ; for, being soon 

 pulled, they do not incommode them. They require much room when 

 raised for seed ; the most thrifty are therefore transplanted. Equal 

 quantities of buckwheat bran and fresh horse manure, mixed well in 

 the ground, is advised to prevent the attacks of insects. The fermenta- 

 tion is succeeded in 48 hours by toad stools ; then, if the ground be 

 dug again and the seed sown, radishes grow rapidly and free from 

 insects. 



R. Sativus ; leaves lyrate, notched, rough ; stem branched ; flowers 

 purple in corymbose clusters ; sepals 4, oblong, parallel, erect ; petals 

 heart-shaped ; pods erect, juicy, oblong with 2 cells, pale, glaucous, 

 tipped with an awl-shaped beak ; roots varying from spindle-shaped 

 to round, and in color from white to purplish black. China. 



SKIRRET, slum sisarum. C. 5. O. 2. Umbilatas. sp. 18. Fr. P. 

 1 ft. This is a species of the water parsnip ; but it partakes of none 

 of its poisonous qualities ; it is, indeed, a very nutritious vegetable. 

 It is a native of China, and has been known in England since 1548 

 and is now much cultivated there. The roots are fleshy tubers, half 

 an inch in diameter. When washed, boiled, drained, dipped in butter, 

 fried brown and served with melted butter &c., they form an excellent 

 dish. They may be stewed, or when boiled, eaten cold, with oil and 

 vinegar. It is thought to be superior to the parsnip by many. It 

 may be raised from seeds or offsets. If raised from the former, the 

 seeds are sown the 1st of April, and thinned out to 8 or 10 square 

 inches. It is taken up as wanted, or when full, in Sept. Skirret was 

 much esteemed by the Romans. It has a luscious sweetness not pleas- 

 ing to the majority of people ; besides, it requires a large quantity of 

 soil. It should have a light, sandy soil, a little moist. The seeds are 

 sown broad-cast, say an oz. over a 4 foot bed, or in shallow drills 10 

 inches apart, on ground well and deeply dug. The plants are thinned^ 

 out to about 8 inches. The longer they remain in the ground, during 

 open weather, the better, but, on the appearance of frost, they should 

 be taken up, cleaned and preserved, like other roots, in sand. 



The species commonly known are S. sisarum, skirret ; S. rigidius, 



