294 THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR. 



58. SKIRRET. SIUM. 



Sinm, the botanic name of this plant is an old 

 Latin word, the derivation of which is uncertain. 

 It is classed with the water parsnip, but does not 

 partake of any of the poisonous qualities of that 

 herb ; on the contrary, it forms a most nutritious 

 vegetable, and would be more generally cultivated, 

 were it not for the large space of ground required 

 to raise a quantity for general use. It is distin- 

 guished by the specific sisarum. Skirret is a peren- 

 nial plant, a native of China, and known in this 

 country since the year 1548. The roots are com- 

 posed of fleshy, oblong tubers, about the size of the 

 little finger, and joined together in the crown or 

 head. They were formerly much esteemed as an 

 esculent, but are now laid aside to make room for 

 roots of less value ; for when cooked similarly to sal- 

 safie, or served up with plain butter, they are declared 

 by many to be the whitest, sweetest, and pleasantest 

 of roots, besides containing a considerable portion 

 of nourishment. 



Culture. The soil in which the skirret thrives 

 is similar to that advised for salsafie, viz. light and 

 sandy; but if of rather a moist nature so much the 

 better. It may be raised either by seeds or slips 

 from the roots ; but the first is much the best me- 

 thod, as in the latter mode the roots are apt to 

 become sticky and fibrous. 



The seeds should not be sown before the second 

 week in April, otherwise the plants are liable to run 

 to seed in the early part of summer. Sow either in 

 broad-cast over the surface of a four-feet bed, for 



