No. 129.] 421 



a deep furrow. In the early spring, the land is moved length- 

 wise and crosswise, by two operations of a close tined grubber, 

 which pulverises the soil and raises the weeds to the surface, 

 which are picked by hand and removed. The seeds of the pars- 

 nips are then sown in March, on the flat ground, by a drill ma- 

 chine, with lengthened coulters, which make ruts for receiving 

 the seeds, at the distance of eighteen inches, and are covered with 

 a brush harrow. When the plants are grown three or four inches 

 high, they are singled by the hand hoe to the distance of one foot 

 from each other, and during the summer, the intervals of the 

 drills are scarified and the rows weeded and properly thinned. 

 In this condition the crop grows until the time of storing, which 

 is not early, as the roots are not easily hurt by frost. In the end 

 of October or'November,cut off the tops and fibres, and store the 

 roots. The tops are given to pigs in open yards, where part is 

 eaten and the rest converted into manure. 



They are not used for horses, but for swine the roots are highly 

 beneficial, either in a raw or steamed condition ; and for feeding 

 cattle their use is very much recommended. Milch cows fed 

 with them give much milk, and yield a butter that is very w-ell 

 flavored. The steamed root is best, and should be mixed with 

 chaff in the vats. This is quickly eaten by the cows, and they 

 do well upon it in all respects. Steamed roots mashed and mix- 

 ed with meals, given to the pigs in troughs, lukewarm, and raw 

 parsnips, are very nutritious to store pigs in open yard. 



An ordinary ox will eat one hundred pounds of parsnips daily 

 when first put to be fattened. Water is given them once a day ; 

 cabbages and potatoes are given occasionally in order to change 

 the food and prevent cloying on the parsnips, and one of hay are 

 required to fatten by Christmas, an ox of about 70 to 80 stones of 

 dead weight (980 to 1,120 pounds.) 



One hundred pounds of parsnips contain as follows : 



Water, 79.4 



Starch and fibre, 6.9 



Gum, 6.1 



Sugar, 5.5 



