116 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



how to improve by gradual and prolonged selection. As an 

 example of experimental " ennoblement " of the Parsnip, that of 

 the late Prof. J. Buckman may be mentioned.* He sowed seeds 

 of the wild plant in the botanic garden of the Cirencester Agri- 

 cultural College in 1847, and raised a garden form by selection, 

 which he called " The Student." Giving it to Messrs. Sutton 

 & Sons in 1851, that firm gradually "improved" it, and finally 

 issued it. It still remains, after more than forty years, the best 

 Parsnip in the trade. 



Carrot. — Daucus Carota, L., order Umbelliferce. This plant 

 is found wild from Europe and N. Africa to N. and W. Asia and 

 India. 



That the cultivated form is derived from the wild species has 

 been proved by M. Vilmorin and others. M. Vilmorin t sowed 

 seed of wild plants, and found that they flowered successively 

 through the summer. Collecting the seed from the latest, and 

 by sowing this again late in the following season, he encouraged 

 the enlargement of the root. By this means the Carrot 

 was induced to flower permanently in the second year of 

 growth. 



Hence the garden form is now a biennial, instead of being an 

 annual, this acquired habit having become hereditary. 



The Carrot is supposed to have been introduced into England 

 as a vegetable by the Dutch about 1558. It is said to have been 

 first grown about Sandwich. £ 



Beetroot. — Beta vulgaris, var. maritima, L., natural order 

 Ghenopodiacece, is the origin of Garden Beet, Sugar-Beet, as also 

 of the White Beet or Chard and Mangold Wurtzel (var. Cycla). 

 It is a native of Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia, and India. The 

 earliest cultivation, if the references can be trusted, would be 

 from 300-400 b.c. The Sugar-Beet first began to be cultivated 

 for sugar in 1747. 



Chard, or the central whitened leaves, especially the mid- 

 ribs, was the edible part with the ancients. Thus Red Chard is 

 noticed by Aristotle 350 B.C. Theophrastus knew of two kinds , 

 white (sicula) and black (really dark green). Pliny also describes 



* Journ. of the Royal Agricult. Society of England, vol. xv. pt. 1, p. 125, 

 1854. 



f Notice sur V Amelioration de la Carotte sauvage (see also Trans. 

 Hort. Soc. 1840). 



X Treas. of Bot. "Daucus." 



