230 [ASSBJMBLY 



some districts, however, the slugknaws them pitilessly from their 

 birth. In Anjou they have found it necessary to sprinkle pow- 

 dered lime over the soil at planting. Ashes answer the same 



purpose. 



PARSNIP (PASTINACA SATIVA J.INx\iEUS,) 



Is cultivated at less expense tliau the carrot, and has one 

 immense advantage over it — to wit, that it does not suffer at all 

 in the most intense cold, when left in the ground. Beer is some- 

 times made from it. They should be kept in some dry place, in 

 heaps, and so will keep a long lime. They will nourish and fat- 

 ten stock of all kinds — horses, oxen, cows, hogs. The roots are 

 first fed to them raw, and when it is found that the animal begins 

 to lose his relish for them, we boil the roots ; then the stock eat 

 them with avidity. Some farmers give their hogs nothing else 

 the whole winter, and when hay and other forage is out or scant, 

 they feed with parsnips, and it is found that their milk and but- 

 ter becomes better and more of it. 



In planting the carrot we cover it lightly with earth ; but with 

 the parsnip, we cover it at least one inch and a half deep. The 

 seed does not keep well over one year. It is troublesome to sow, 

 on account of the wings or lib] es on the seed. The parsnip has 

 not yet been very extensively cultivated. 



LETTUCE. 



Malso'n Rustique. — No country in the world consumes so much 

 salad as France. A popuLir saying is that a French soldier wants 

 cothing to live on but soup and salad. Among salads, lettuce 

 holiis, beyond contradiction, the first rank. Ii was unknown in 

 France before the reign of Francis First. The first seeds of it 

 were sent from Rome to Paris, to Cardinal d'Estrees, by Rabelais, 

 in 1540. Rabelais' letters prove this. In 1562, lettuce was 

 introduced into England, and before the end of the centiu> was 

 common in all Europe. The white Batavian and cabbage Bata- 

 vian grow very large, but for want of a good taste they have been 

 banished from gardens. They, at first, were highly valued for 

 the table ; now they are raised for the hogs who are extremely 

 fond of them , 



