ROOTS. 153 



excepting such as can be avoided by judicious selection of 

 soil and careful tillage. 



TMK HARVESTING may be facilitated by running a plow 

 on one side of the rows, when the roots are easily removed 

 by hand. The tops are then cut and the surface moisture 

 from the roots dried, when they may be stored like turneps 

 and potatoes. They ought to be kept at as low a temperature 

 as possible above the freezing point. On the approach of 

 warm weather they will sprout early if left in heaps, and if 

 important to preserve them longer the crown should be cut off 

 and the roots spread in a cool dry place. 



USES. Carrots are chiefly grown for domestic stock. 

 Horses thrive remarkably on them, and some judicious 

 tanners feed them as a substitute for oats. But their intrin- 

 sic value in weight, is l'3ss in the proportion of about 5 to 1. 

 They are good for working cattle and unsurpassed for milch 

 cows, producing a great flow of milk and a rich yellow cream. 

 Sheep and swine greedily devour them and soon fatten if 

 plentifully supplied with them. The Dutch grate them, and 

 \vi*h sugar and salt, make a pickle for their choicest table 

 butter. They are also employed in distilling. The aver- 

 age yield on good land may be estimated at about 300 bush- 

 els of the smaller, and 450 of the Belgian or white, per acre, 

 but with extra cultivation, 1000 bushel* of the last have been 

 raised. 



THE PARSNEP (Pastinaca gativa) 



Is cultivated as a field crop and is of nearly equal nutritious 

 value with the carrot. The soil may be heavier for parsneps 

 than for carrots and they will even thrive on a strong clay 

 if rich, well pulverized and dry. Large crops can only be 

 obtained on deep, rich ground, well pulverized. They 

 should be sown early as frosts do not affect them and 

 they require a long time to come to maturity. Drilling at a 

 distance of 20 inches apart, is the proper mode of planting, 

 and they should be thinned to a space of 6 or 8 inches. It 

 requires 4 or 5 Ibs. of seed per acre which must be of the 

 previous year's growth, as older does not readily vegetate. 

 No preparation of the seed is necessary. The subsequent 

 cultivation is simi'ar to that of carrots, and they will gener- 

 ally yield more under similar circumstances of soil and tillage. 

 They are little subject to disease or enemies. 



THE GATHERING should be deferred till the frost leaves the 

 ground in spring unless wanted for winter's use, as they keep 

 F* 



