SOW PARSNIPS EARLY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 14 September 1940, Page 7 (Supplement)

SOW PARSNIPS EARLY

Garden Notes

'J'HE fleshy roots of the parsnip, when cooked, form one of the most nourishing of our winter vegetables. Thrifty housewives, moreover, make an excellent wine from the roots. Parsnips will grow in almost any kind of soil, provided it be deeply dug and the seed sown early, as a long season of growth is required. As with all vegetables of a similar growth, a sandy loam is most preferred, as into this the long, tapering root can strike deeply. In soil of a heavy retentive nature, really good exhibition parsnips may be grown, if special preparation is made. In ordinary cultivation the ground should be deeply trenched early in the autumn or during the winter, so that the soil will have time to settle down somewhere near its natural level. Choose a piece of ground previously occupied with celery, or some similar crops, where the mould has been deeply moved before. Anything that tends to I /2v

break up the soil to a depth of two feet t is in favour of the parsnip crop. Choose i a fine day now to fork over the soil quite 1 one foot deep, breaking the clods thor- i oughly, and removing any stones, as these interfere with the downward ■ growth of the roots. , Use a mixture of superphosphate, i three parts, to sulphate of ammonia, one . part;,, or else a proprietary mixed : manure. Apply at the rate of about three or four ounces to each yard run of row. For parsnips culture fresh stable manure must not be used; in fact, it is better to grow the crop on land liberally manured for a previous one. Recent manuring encourages the production of forked and ill-shapen roots. Artificial manure may, however, be used with beneficial results. At the time of < sowing apply the manure, raking or i forking it in prior to drawing the drills. Soot is an excellent fertiliser to apply ' as a topdressing after thinning. Sow the seed thinly in drills an inch ' and i a half deep, and 15 inches apart. > Cover the seed, and if available use de-

cayed vegetable refuse, especially if the natural soil is heavy in character. Where the latter is naturally favourable this addition is not required. It is a considerable saving in labour to drop the seeds in twos and threes at intervals of a foot. This plan saves time in thinning, as well as economising the seed. In this case the only thinning required will be to reduce the seedlings in each group to one, when it can be seen which is likely to make the best plant. Directly the plante are large enough to handle thin them out to one foot apart, and keep the soil free from weeds and well stirred, as a means of conserving moisture during dry weather. Nothing more will be required until the roots are ready for use in autumn and winter. The roots keep better in the ground where they are grown than if lifted and stored. It is surprising what a quantity of food this vegetable will give from a small plot of ground. By the middle of September, if planted in mid-August, the roots will commence to grow, and if they are required for uee later than this,

they should be lifted and placed in a heap behind a wall or hedge, so that they 'will be quite cool. Cover them with soil, ashes or straw, preferably the former. Even in the most naturally unsuitable soil parsnips for exhibition can be cultivated, if special means are adopted. Make holes with an iron bar three to four feet deep, and not less than six inches wide at the top. The rows should be two feet apart, and the holes 18 inches from each other, so as to allow ample space for the foliage to grow and develop thoroughly. Fill the holes firmly with a compost of decayed vegetable refuse, roadside scrapings, old potting soil and wood ashes, the whole being thoroughly decayed and properly mixed. As this takes place sprinkle quicklime freely among the compost. Into this the roots will run freely, enabling them to come out with clear skins, free from canker and decayed parts. Three seeds should be sown in each hole, thinning the seedlings when ready, and supplying water during dry weather. Extreme care should be exercised in digging up the roots, for the tap root should not be broken. Carefully wash the soil from the roots with a soft cloth or sponge and cold water the day before the show, and wrap them carefully in soft paper; exposure to the air injures their appearance. - <•>