22 ESCULENT ROOTS. 



which purpose it is, however, esteemed less valuable than 

 the yellow-fleshed sorts, because less nutritious, and more 

 liable to decay during winter. 



^The same amount of seed will be required as of the Long 

 Orange ; and the general method of culture should be the 

 same, with the exception, that, in thinning out the plants, the 

 White Belgian should have more space. 



THE PARSNIP. 



Pastinaca saliva. 



The Parsnip is a hardy biennial, and is cultivated for its 

 roots, which are fusiform, often much elongated, sometimes 

 turbinate, and attain their full size during the first year. 

 The flowers and seeds are produced the second year, the 

 plant then measuring five or six feet in height, with a 

 grooved, or furrowed, hollow, branching stem. The seeds 

 ripen in July and August ; are nearly circular ; one-fourth of 

 an inch in diameter ; flat, thin, very light, membranous on 

 the borders, and of a pale yellowish-brown or yellowish- 

 green color. They vary but little in size, form, or color in 

 the different varieties, and retain their vitality two years. 

 Six thousand seeds are contained in an ounce. 



Half an ounce of seed is usually allowed for one hundred 

 feet of drill, and six pounds for an acre. 



Soil, Sowing, and Cultivation. The soil should be mel- 

 low, deep, of a rich vegetable texture, and not recently 

 turned from the sward. As the roots of most of the varie- 

 ties are long and slender, the deeper and more thoroughly 

 the soil is stirred, the better. Where the soil is thin, and the 

 subsoil clayey or hard and gravelly, the Parsnip rarely 

 succeeds well ; the roots being not only short and branched, 

 but deficient in the mild, tender, and sugary properties 



