CARROTS AND PARSKIPS. 229 



should the tops be cut close. In this situation they 

 should be boiled, to prevent any loss of their juice. In 

 winter, they are best kept in sand ; and they should not 

 be suffered to freeze, as this makes them tough and un- 

 fit for use. Beets, carrots, parsnips, &lc. designed for 

 the table, will pay well in their relish and flavor, if 

 packed in sand, in dry casks. 



The Mangel Wurtzel Beet may be cultivated much in 

 the same manner, excepting the seeds may be further 

 apart. The leaves of both make excellent greens — - 

 (^ee Mangel WurtzeU^ page 118.) 



CARROTS. 



Carrots require nearly the same cultivation as beets. 

 They do not, however, require so much room. They 

 are considered best for culinary purposes, when plant- 

 ed as late as the last of May ; as they do not attain their 

 full growth, and are more delicate than those planted 

 early. (^See Carrots^ page 120.) 



PARSNIPS. 



The cultivation is the same as for carrots, except that 

 they require the soil to be dug deeper. The beet, car- 

 rot, and parsnip, all call for a generous, rich mould, and 

 bountiful supply of manure to be well mixed in with the 

 soil by deep digging. 



From time immemorial our fathers in the country 

 have raised the parsnip only as a rarity, to be sought 

 for a few days in the spring. And few farmers think 

 of digging this vegetable in the fall, to provide their ta- 

 bles with a very pleasant and useful variety in winter. 

 By taking it up in the l\ill, we not only gain a long use 

 of the plant, but we have it in greater perfection ; for 

 rarely can it be taken up in the spring before it has 

 sprouted, and the inside of it become ligneous. Indeed, 

 all roots shouhl be dug in the fall, and it is said, if pack- 

 ed in a box with earth from the beds from which they 

 were taken, that the same moisture may be preserved ; 

 they can be kept until quite the beginning of summer, 

 possessing all their richness of juice and nutritious qual- 

 ities. (^See Parsnips, page 123.) 



