192 



Boot Crops 



are stored in the same way as beets and turnips — in bins 

 in the cellar, and in pits. 



The roots may be harvested in antumn and stored in the 



cellar or in pits, or they may 

 be left in the ground until 

 spring. The hard freezing of 

 winter does not injure them. 

 In fact, many persons think 

 that the quality of the roots 

 99. Fruits ("seeds") of parsnip is improved by freezing. This 



notion is probably unfounded, 

 for if the roots are not allowed to shrivel in winter, their 

 quality is as apparently good as when allowed to remain in 

 the ground. If one 

 is growing parsnips 

 for the market, it 

 is important that at 

 least a large part of 



the crop be stored plants or seedlings of parsnip (X %). 



for the winter, for the highest prices are usually obtained 

 before the roots can be dug from the field in spring. 



There are few varieties of parsnip. Hollow-crown and 

 Student (or Guernsey) are best known. Seeds and young 

 plants are seen in Tigs. 99, 100. 



The Parsnip Plant 



Pastinaca. r)ulicllifcra\ A dozen or so European and 

 Asian species, biennial and perennial. 



P. sativa, Linn. Sp. PI. 262. Cultivated Paesjs^ip. Tall 

 stout mostly glabrous strong-scented biennial (rarely annual) : 

 taproot single and enlarged to form the parsnip of gardens : 

 leaves long and rather narrow, odd-pinnately compound, long- 



