PAS 



PAS 



in drills 18 inches apart, so as to ad- 

 mit the horse hoe, 5 pounds of fresh 

 seed per acre ; prick out to 12 inch- 

 es, and hoe well : produce in October 

 9 to 11 tons ; take up with the plough 

 or a fork : tiiey keep well in sand. 

 All stock like them, especially if 

 steamed. The leaves are often given 

 to cows, &c. Its value as fodder will 

 be seen under Fodder. 



PARSNIP. COW; MASTER 

 WORT. Heracleum lunatum. A 

 large perennial, umbelliferous plant, 

 growing in wet places, and very poi- 

 sonous. Use the stomach pump and 

 warm water in poisoning bv it. 



PARTERRE. In gardening, a 

 system of beds of difTerent shapes and 

 sizes, in wliich flowers are cultivated, 

 with intervening spaces, either paved, 

 of gravel, or turf, for walking on. 



PARTURITION. Tlieactof; 

 bringing forth voung. 



PASSERINES, PASSER ES. 

 "Birds similar to the sparrow, inclu- 

 ding those which neither manifest the 

 violence of birds of prey, nor have the 

 fixed regimen of the terrestrial birds, 

 but which feed on insects, fruit, or 

 grain, according to the slenderness or 

 strength of their beak ; some, with 

 sharp and toothed mandibles, pursue 

 and feed on small birds. All the pas- 

 serines have short and slender legs, 

 with three toes before and one be- 

 hind, the two external toes being 

 united by a very short membrane. 

 They form the most extensive and 

 varied order of birds, and are the least 

 readily recognisable by distinctive 

 characters common to the whole 

 group. 



" The passerines, in general, have 

 the females smaller and less brilliant 

 in their plumage than the males ; 

 they always live in pairs, build in 

 trees, and display the greatest art in 

 the construction of their nests. The 

 young are excluded in a blind and 

 naked state, and wholly depend for 

 subsistence, during a certain period, 

 on parental care The brain arrives 

 in this order at its greatest propor- 

 tional size ; the organ of voice here 

 attains its utmost complexity; and 

 all the characteristics of the bird, as 



A A A 2 



power of flight, melody of voice, and 

 beauty of plumage, are enjoyed in 

 the highest perfection by one or other 

 of the groups of this extensive and 

 varied order. 



" The beak of the passerines varies 

 in form according to the nature of 

 their food, which may be small or 

 young birds, carrion, insects, fruit, 

 seeds, vegetable juices, or of a mixed 

 kind. The modifications of the ros- 

 trum have, therefore, afforded con- 

 venient characters for the tribes or 

 subdivisions of the order : these are 

 termed, 1. Denlirosters ; 2. Coniros- 

 teis; 3. Tcnuirosters ; 4. Fissirosters.' 

 See those words. 



PASSION FLOWER. The genus 

 Pdsssiflora, bearing beautiful flowers, 

 and, in the tropics, tolerable fruit, 

 and a good wood resembling ebony. 



PASTEL. A dye stuff, resembling 

 indigo, woad. 



PASTERN OF A HORSE. The 

 distance that intervenes between the 

 joint of that name and the coronet of 

 the hoof. 



PASTURE LANDS. " Consider- 

 able improvements have been made 

 in natural pastures, not only by the 

 raising of banks and stone walls as 

 shelter against the winter's storms, 

 but also by extensive draining and 

 clearing the surface of wild plants 

 and shrubs, which prevent the her- 

 bage from springing up, and greatly 

 diminish the feed. On the sides of 

 steep hills, where springs are apt to 

 break out and produce swamps and 

 bogs, drains judiciously made have 

 carried off the water, and laid dry 

 the pastures below them ; while res- 

 ervoirs have been constructed in 

 many places to receive the water and 

 to supply the stock in dry weather. 

 On peaty moors the application of 

 lime to the surface has often pro- 

 duced wonderful elTects, and made 

 various kinds of clover and grasses 

 spring up, which wore never seen on 

 the spot before. 



" Those who are possessed of ex- 

 tensive pastures olten look upon 

 them as of too little value to lay out 

 any money in their improvement ; 

 and unless when an attempt is made 



557 



