ESCULENT-EOOTED PLANTS.— THE PARSNIP. 



231 



are hatched from May to July, and feed upon 

 the parenchyma or pulp of the leaf, causing large 

 blisters upon them ; and when two or three larvae 

 are feeding on the same leaf, the blisters unite 

 and form large discoloured patches ; but other- 

 wise the mischief is not serious. The caterpil- 

 lars of the flat-bodied moth {Depressaria pastina- 

 cello) infest the parsnips left for seed, and often 

 much injure and diminish the yield. They pre- 

 fer the parsnip to the carrot seed ; and on this 

 account the growers of carrot-seed sow some 

 parsnips beside them, by which to lure the in- 

 sect from the carrot crop. These caterpillars 

 are greyish blue, with the head, thorax, and pec- 

 toral feet black ; upon each of the segments are 

 six distinct little black dots, producing single 

 minute hairs; the sides and the belly are yellow, 

 and the abdominal feet are dotted with black. 

 They live in July upon the flowers and young 

 seei of the parsnip. There seems to be no 

 better mode of ridding parsnip crops of these 

 caterpillar pests than hand-picking, and shaking 

 the umbels of the flowers over a vessel for them 

 to fall into. The flower of the parsnip is not 



nearly so liable to be affected by insects, damp, 

 or mildew as that of the carrot, on which ac- 

 count the crop of seed is a surer one, though it 

 should be borne in mind that it will not retain its 

 vitality beyond one year." — Jour, of the English 

 Agr. Sac, vol. i. p. 419, as quoted in " Book of 

 the Farm," vol. ii. p. 100. Besides these, the 

 Depressaria applana, D. daucetta (the carrot- 

 blossom moth), in the caterpillar state, make 

 great havoc on the seed-crop of parsnips also. 



General rema/rks. — The European names are — 

 Panais in French ; Pastinaca in Italian ; Chari- 

 baria in Spanish ; Pastiuake in German; and 

 Pinksternakel in Dutch. Seed is saved in the 

 manner recommended for carrots. The quan- 

 tity produced from one plant will be sufficient for 

 a small garden; and, according to Mr Stephens, 

 " from 14 lb. to 4 lb. of seed, being very light, 

 may be expected from a square rood of 16^ feet, 

 dependent on the nature of the season, and 

 escape from the attacks of insects. Birds do not 

 injure it, though, if the seed is not gathered from 

 the umbels as they ripen, they are very apt to 

 be blown off by the wind." 



