194 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 15. 
Gilia lutea. It was found by Mr. Douglas in California, 
but it has not been much in public before the present year. 
It is a highly ornamental, hardy annual, about six inches 
high. The petals are yellow, with a bright orange eye.— (Ibid, 
t. 4735.) 
P and anus pygmceus (Dwarf Screw-Pine). 
A stove evergreen spreading shrub, about two feet high. 
It reached Kew some twenty years ago, from the Botanio 
Garden at Mauritius, but was stated to be a native of Mada¬ 
gascar. It flowered for the first time in 1852-.'!, producing 
only female flowers. It belongs to the Natural Order of 
Screw - Pines, and to Dicccia Monandria of Limueus.— 
(Ibid, t. -1730.) 
Arthur Young was quite right when lie said, “ Of all 
the roots which we can cultivate the Parsnip is the 
most valuable.” We are the unwavering friend of the 
Potato, but we quite agree with another practical man, 
who says—“ Six - penny worth of Parsnip seed, well 
sowed, will produce more meals than four sacks of 
Potatoes; and it will not require more than one-eiglith 
part of the ground which the four sacks will require for 
their growth.” 
We saw so heavy a crop of Parsnips taken up this 
autumn — more than twenty tons per acre—and we 
found some of the produce so excellent, that we resolved 
to enquire of our friends, among which we number our 
books; and wo now place the results before our readers, 
as we are anxious that all of them should grow a large 
breadth next year, and try their value in all the modes 
and for all the uses we are about to recapitulate. 
They are produced finer and sweeter in a temperate 
climate, such as that of England, than they are in 
warmer regions; and we find, for they are no food of 
modern acquirement, that the Emperor Tiberius was 
aware of this, for he was solicitous of having his Par¬ 
snips annually from Gelb, a German town on the banks 
of the Rhine (Pliny xix. 5). They were boiled, the 
stringy centres removed, and the outer or more pulpy por¬ 
tion served up with wine sauce sweetened with honey. 
Modern housewives have found out many modes of 
preparing this root for table, and it has even been con¬ 
verted into bread. “There is a good and pleasant food, 
or bread, made of the roots of Parsnips, as my friend 
Mr. Plat hath set forth in his book of experiments, which 
I have made no trial of,” quoth old Gerarde; but then 
adds this sturdy old stickler for wheaten manchets,— 
“ nor mean to do! ” Whether our readers will be 
equally prejudiced we must leave to their own dis¬ 
cretion; but we can assure them that in many parts of 
America the pulp of Parsnips is mixed with Maize Hour 
in the making of bread. 
Every one knows the usual mode of boiling and 
serving up this root, hut it is not so well known that 
it is improved by being mashed like the Turnip, and 
that cold boiled Parsnips are excellent when sliced and 
fried. 
Every thousand pounds weight of Parsnips contain 
from 90 to 100 pounds of sugar; and it is this which 
renders them not only such excellent food for all our 
farming animals, but also such an excellent ingredient 
for making home-made wine. Those who have tasted 
good specimens of this liquor will agree with us in 
thinking it the best-flavoured of all British wines. That 
which we tasted was made according to this recipe ;— 
Three pounds of Parsnips, scraped clean, and cut in 
thin slices, boiled in one gallon of water until quite 
tender; strain the liquor from them, and then rub 
them through a sieve. Mix the pulp with the liquor, 
and to every gallon add three pounds of moist sugar. 
Boil for three-quarters-of-an-hour, and, when nearly cold, 
hasten fermentation by putting in a yeasted toast. Let it 
remain for ten days; take off the yeast, put the liquor 
into the cask, and as it works over continue filling it up 
with sugar and water. When done fermenting, bung 
down the cask, and keep it for a year before bottling. 
The Parsnips should be used fresh from the ground, and 
the water should boil before the slices are put into it. 
We have also seen directions for making Parsnip 
marmalade, and Parsnip beer, but we cannot, at present, 
refer to this household lore; but we can attest that 
pieces of Parsnip, boiled until tender, and then put into 
ginger syrup, have been accepted as very superior 
“ preserved ginger.” 
In making bread with Parsnips, we are informed that 
the proportion should be one pound of grated Parsnips 
to two pounds of flour. Dumplings may be made by 
adding one pound of flour to two pounds of grated 
Parsnips; and a flavour may be given with anything, 
such as cinnamon or lemon-peel. 
The relative fattening and nutritious powers of Par¬ 
snips and Potatoes are shown by the following table; 
and we may add, that in practice, Parsnips are found to 
be much superior to the other root for feeding stock. 
In every 100 parts of each are found the following 
constituents:— 
PARSNIPS. 
Water . 79.4° 
Starch and fibre 0.9 
Gum . 0.1 
Sugar . 5.5 
Albumen ... 2.1 
Fattening. 
POTATOES, 
75.5 
19.0 
0.8 
3.8 
1.4 Flesh-produoing. 
Lastly, but most importantly, arises the query—What 
is the best mode of culture ? The usual routine is 
found in our works on practical gardening and farming, 
but, knowing how largely they cultivate the Parsnip, 
and how excellently they succeed in its culture in the 
Channel Islands, we wrote for information to our valued 
correspondent, Mr. C. Saunders, of the Ccesarean Nur¬ 
sery, Jersey ; and this is his reply :— 
“ This useful vegetable is much cultivated in the 
Channel Islands, both for culinary purposes and for 
feeding cattle; and its truly nourishing and fattening 
qualities, from the quantity of saccharine matter the 
root contains, cannot be too strongly recommended to 
the attention of all cultivators of farming, allotment, or 
garden ground, as there is no vegetable with which I 
am acquainted which can be turned to better account, 
or made to remunerate the farmer or cottage gardener 
better for his labour. 
