The Parsnip requires only one special condition for its welfare, and that is a piece of ground prepared for it by honest digging.  Rich ground it does not need, but the crop will certainly be the finer from a deep fertile sandy loam than from a poor soil of any kind.  But the one great point is to trench the ground in autumn and lay it up rough for the winter.  Then at the very first opportunity in February or March it can be levelled down and the seed sown, and the task got out of hand before the rush of spring work comes on.  A fine seed-bed should be prepared either in one large piece or in four-feet strips, as may best suit other arrangements.  Sow in shallow drills eighteen inches apart, dropping the seeds from the hand in twos and threes at a distance of six inches apart; cover lightly, and touch over with the hoe or rake to make a neat finish.  As soon as the plants are visible, ply the hoe to keep down weeds and thin the crop slightly to prevent crowding anywhere.  The thinning should be carried on from time to time until the plants are a foot apart; or if the ground is strong and large roots are required, they may be allowed fifteen inches.  Good-quality roots may be grown on the worst types of clay and on stony soils by boring holes and filling them in with fine earth, in the manner described for Beet and Carrot.  The holes for Parsnip, however, should be rather larger and deeper, with more space allowed between.  It may be well to lift some of the roots in November, a few spits of earth being removed first at one end or corner of the piece to facilitate removal without breaking the roots:  these may be put aside for immediate use, but the general bulk of the crop should remain in the ground to be dug as wanted, because the Parsnip keeps better in the ground than out of it, and in the event of severe frost a coat of rough litter will suffice to prevent injury.  Whatever remains over in the month of February should be lifted and trimmed up and stored in the coolest place that can be found, a coat of earth or sand being sufficient to protect the roots from the injurious action of the atmosphere.

==Garden pea==

==Pisum sativum==

Thanks to the skill and enterprise of enthusiastic specialists, we have now the wrinkled as well as the round-seeded Peas for the earliest supply of this favourite vegetable.  Not only can we commence the season with a dish possessing the true marrowfat flavour, but in the new maincrop varieties dwarf robust growth is combined with free-bearing qualities, while the size of both Peas and pods has been increased without in the smallest degree sacrificing flavour.  On the contrary, there has been a distinct and welcome advance in all the special characteristics which have won for this vegetable its popular position, and so highly is the crop esteemed that it is usually regarded as a criterion by which the general management of a garden is judged.

As an article of food Peas are the most nutritious of all vegetables, rich in phosphates and alkalies, and the plant makes a heavy demand on the soil, constituting what is termed an exhausting crop.  For this reason, and also because the time that elapses between sowing seed and gathering the produce is very brief, it is imperative that the land should be well prepared to enable the roots to ramify freely and rapidly collect the food required by the plant.