PAESKIP. 91 



in the spring, so that if any of the plants are killed by 

 the winter, there will be enough left. The usual time of 

 sowing parsnips, and probably the best time, is about 

 that for planting Indian corn. There is nothing to be 

 gained by sowing before the land can be brought into the 

 very best possible condition. On my own farm, we 

 usually sow about the first of June, in rows twenty-one 

 inches apart, sowing about three seeds to each inch of 

 drill. It pays to sow thickly, as the plants come up better 

 and hold the weeds in check, and they can then be 

 thinned out with a sharp-pointed hoe to three inches 

 apart in the row, at the same time cutting out many of 

 the weeds. Keep the ground thoroughly cultivated and 

 hoed, and if the land is rich and well prepared, you can 

 hardly fail of getting a large crop. As before stated, 

 parsnips can be left in the ground all winter, and those 

 not required before spring are better if left out. Those 

 needed for use in winter and early spring, must be dug 

 in the fall and kept in the cellar, mixed with sand, or 

 what is better still, pitted in the field, or on some sandy 

 knoll near the house. 



It quite often happens that parsnips will bring a 

 very high price in early spring, before the frost is out of 

 the ground, and those who have them in pits can sell at 

 a large profit. Last spring, I was offered seventy-five 

 cents a bushel for my entire crop. It is not at all a dif- 

 ficult matter to raise from six hundred to eight hundred 

 bushels to the acre. True, there are required good soil, 

 deeply and thoroughly worked, plenty of manure, early 

 sowing, good seed, and good cultivation. The best vari- 

 ety for deep, rich soils, is the Long White Dutch, and 

 for a somewhat shallower soil, the Hollow Crown. It is 

 very important to get good fresh seed, as that which is 

 more than one year old will nearly always fail to grow. 



