124 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the root transplanted or else from seed; but that it was impossible to 

 get rid of the pungent flavour." It appears, therefore, that the Eoman 

 horticulturists knew nothing of the advantages of selecting, as is done 

 at the present day, by means of which the best existing variety was 

 obtained from the wild plant between 1848 and 1850, by selecting the 

 seed from the best-rooted plants of each generation raised from the 

 seed of the wild plant. 



This was done by the late Professor James Buckman in the garden 

 of the Eoyal Agricultural College, Cirencester. He collected the seed 

 from wild plants of the neighbourhood in 1847 (fig. 56). " In 1848 

 they were sown, and in the spring of 1849 the reserved roots were 



Fig. 56. — The Wild Parsnip (annual). One-fifth natural size. 



dug up and the best put aside for transplanting. Late in the summer 

 of 1849 the seed was collected, and sown in 1850. The result of the 

 second sowing was that the leaves in all indicated an advance to the 

 cultivated form. Some specimens were much finer than others, of 

 good size and tolerably smooth outline (fig. 57, A). 



Professor Buckman called the best " The Student," and sent the 

 seed to Messrs. Sutton & Sons, of Eeading. It was sent out by 

 them, and greatly improved subsequently. It gained many prizes — as 

 one writer observes, " This is the twelfth year in succession we have 

 been awarded first honours for 'Student.'" Another writer says: 

 I had a fine crop of parsnips from the 'Student,' half a yard long and 

 * Journ. of the Eoyal Agr. Soc. of Eng. xv. pt. 1, p. 125 (1854). 



