454 VMBUULIFRRJE 



The drills are drawn about 15 inches apart, and the plants 

 eventually singled out to a distance of 6 or 7 inches asunder. 



The average yield of ' roots ' per acre is about 1 1 tons. 



Composition. — The parsnip properly grown contains less water 

 than the carrot, and is the most nutritious of ordinary ' root ' 

 crops. The amount of water appears to average about 83 per 

 cent: starch is present in small quantity, but the chief useful 

 carbohydrate is sugar. 



Ex. 236. — Cany out experiments and observations upon the parsnip similar 

 to those mentioned for the carrot on pp. 449, 450. 



The poisonous Umbelliferae, with which it is desirable that the 

 student of agriculture should be acquainted, are the following : — 



6. Hemlock {Conium maculatum L.). — A common biennial 

 plant, generally 2 to 3 feet high, occurring in hedges, fields, and 

 waste places in many parts of the country. The stem is smooth, 

 hollow, of dull green colour with a thin grey bloom upon it, and 

 spotted with small brownish-purple blotches. The leaves are 

 large tripinnate, with lanceolate pinnatifid leaflets : they are 

 of peculiar dark glossy-green tint. The compound umbels of 

 white flowers possess both bracts and bracteoles. 



The fruit is oval or round; each mericarp possesses five 

 characteristic knotted primary ridges. 



The whole plant has a foetid smell, and is excessively poison- 

 ous. Its dangerous qualities are due to the presence of several 

 narcotic alkaloids which are met with in greatest abundance in 

 the leaves, young shoots, and fully-developed green fruits ; the 

 chief of these poisonous compounds is conine. 



7. Water Hemlock or Cow-bane {Cicuta virosa L.). — A some- 

 what uncommon tall perennial met with in ditches and by the 

 side of rivers. The flowers are white and the stem from 3 to 4 

 feet high, thick and furrowed ; its leaves are large, twice or thrice 

 pinnate, the leaflets about 2 or 3 inches long and lanceolate, 

 with serrate margins. Cows are sometimes poisoned by eating 

 it. hence its name. 



