1882.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



163 



PARSNIPS. 



One of the greatest pleasures the proprie- 

 tor of a garden has is the satisfaction of 

 knowing that he has at his command an 

 abundant and varied supply of vegetables at 

 all seasons of the year. In the summer he 

 has an extensive list to choose from, but in 

 the winter and early spring months his choice 

 is confined to a limited number of varieties, 

 and on this account these crops should be 

 of the very first quality. To obtain this 

 desired object it is absolutely necessary 

 to give the crops, during their season of 

 growth, every essential attention. 



The Parsnip is one of the most desirable, 

 as well as most wholesome, of winter and 

 spring vegetables, and should be cultivated 

 in all gardens, however small. It flourishes 

 best, and produces the largest, longest, and 

 smoothest roots when grown quickly, in a 

 very rich, deep soil, for, if fresh manure is 

 given, the roots will become forked ; or, if 

 the seeds are sown in a shallow or poor soil, 

 the roots will be of small size, tough, forked, 

 and almost worthless. 



The best and easiest method of obtaining 

 a satisfactory crop is to prepare the ground 

 thoroughly the previous season. This should 

 be done by plowing or digging the ground 

 very deep, and at the same time working in 

 an abundance of well decomposed stable 

 manure, in which a quantity of bone-dust 

 has been mixed. If at all possible, let the 

 ground be thrown up in ridges throughout 

 the winter, and as soon as the ground is in 

 working condition in the spring, a good 

 sprinkling of guano should be given, the 

 ground neatly leveled, and the seed sown in 

 drills from eighteen inches to two feet apart. 

 The seed should be covered to the depth of 

 three-quarters of an inch, and as soon as the 

 young plants are from three to four inches 

 in height they should be thinned out to a 

 distance of six or eight inches apart. All 



STUDENT PARSNIP. 



the care and attention they require after this 

 is to be well cultivated and kept free from 

 weeds at all times. 



The roots are perfectly hardy, and are 

 very much improved by leaving them in 

 the ground during the winter, care being 

 taken to bring enough in the cellar to last 

 during the cold weather. The roots require 



to be covered with sand when placed in the 

 cellar, thus preventing them from becoming 

 dry. One ounce of seed will sow about one 

 hundred and fifty feet of row, and, as the 

 seed is thin and scale-like, it will not retain 

 its vitality for over a year. The most de- 

 sirable varieties are : 



Early Short Bound French, a very .early 

 variety, of small size, round shape, and 

 delicate flavor. 



Long Smooth, or Hollow Crown, has long, 

 smooth roots, both tender and sugary; the 



LONG SMOOTH PARSNIP 



tops are small, and tinged with red at the 

 crown, which rises from the center with a 

 slight depression. 



The Student is a new variety, of delicious 

 flavor, the roots being of very regular form, 

 with white, smooth skin. This is the best 

 variety for general cultivation. 



In attempting the cultivation of Parsnips 

 it is well to remember the fact that the seeds 

 vegetate slowly, and on this account they 

 should be sown as early in the spring as 

 possible. Chas. E. Parnell. 



AUTUMN WORK IN THE GARDEN. 



I have observed, while journeying about 

 the country, that most farmers and country 

 residents who are the proprietors of gardens 

 are accustomed to neglect many important 

 operations in the garden during the autumnal 

 months. During the spring and forepart of 

 summer they will put forth vigorous efforts 

 to exterminate all weeds and grass ; but 

 after crop-plants have become so large that 

 they require no further cultivation, gardens 

 are abandoned to the undisturbed growth of 

 weeds and grass, most of which will mature 

 a bountiful crop of the choicest seed, which 

 adds greatly to the expense of cultivation 

 another year. Most weeds are so hardy 

 that they will continue to grow and pro- 

 duce seed until their growth is retarded 

 and stopped by cold weather ; and some 

 varieties of grass, especially certain peren- 



nials, such as Kentucky Blue Grass, Rhode 

 Island Bent, and some others which, spread- 

 ing rapidly by the roots, will continue to 

 grow and spread until the ground freezes up 

 tight. The moist and mellow condition of 

 the soil in autumn greatly favors the ger- 

 mination of seeds of certain weeds, and the 

 growth and spreading over a larger area. 

 It sometimes seems as if weeds understand 

 that their period of life is amazingly brief, 

 and that every day and night must be im- 

 proved. Hence, every root, stem, and leaf 

 does its very best to mature as much seed as 

 possible. 



Now, the vigilant gardener, looking for- 

 ward to the labors of the next season, is 

 careful to nip all such work-producing in- 

 truders in the bud, by collecting root and 

 branch into heaps before the seed is ma- 

 tured. Every few days some one should go 

 over the garden and pull up every bunch of 

 grass and every weed, and cast them on the 

 pile where all the accumulations will not fail 

 to die and decay. The garden, during all 

 the months of autumn, should be as clean 

 and free from weeds and grass as through 

 the vernal and summer months. If a gar- 

 dener will be scrupulously careful to manage 

 his garden in the foregoing manner for seve- 

 ral seasons, very few weeds will appear, at 

 any time during the growing season, to dis- 

 figure the ground, and thus increase manual 

 labor. 



If weeds have been allowed to go to seed, 

 they should be collected when they are wet, 

 so that the seed will not fall from the pods, 

 or panicles, when the stems are being hand- 

 led. The seeds of most weeds retain their 

 vitality for many years ; consequently, the 

 only true way to exterminate troublesome 

 intruders from the soil is to allow none to 

 mature their seed. By adopting this prac- 

 tice, all the seeds remaining in the soil will 

 germinate, when the tops can readily be 

 destroyed. When one finds an hour or two 

 of leisure, let that time be appropriated to 

 this important work in the garden. One 



SHORT ROUND FRENCH PARSNIP. 



can find, almost always, lots of grass to root 

 up or weeds to collect, thus accomplishing 

 two equally desirable objects — the increase 

 of the manure heap and the decrease of the 

 weed crop. Let this maxim be kept in mind, 

 at all times and seasons of the year, that 



"One year's seeding 

 Makes seven years' weeding." 



S. E. T. 



