n the same rows. They come up so soon that they protect
the parsnips and carrots from too hot a sun while tender, and also serve
to mark the rows, so that they may be hoed early, without danger of
destroying the young plants. Parsnips may be grown many years on the
same bed without deterioration, provided a little decomposed manure or
compost be annually added. Fresh manure is good if it be buried a foot
deep. The yield will be greater if thinned to eight inches apart. Rows
two feet apart, and the plants six inches in the row, are most suitable
in field-culture. They will grow till frost comes, and are better for
the table, when allowed to stand in the ground through the winter. They
may be dug and preserved as other roots. Parsnips contain more sugar
than any other edible root, and are therefore worth more per bushel for
food. All domestic animals and fowls fatten on them very rapidly, and
their flesh is peculiarly pleasant. Fed to cows, they increase the
quantity of milk, and impart a beautiful color and agreeable flavor to
the butter. It is superior to the beet, that we have so highly
recommended elsewhere, in all respects except one--it is less easily
tended and harvested. Still, they should be cultivated on every farm
where cattle, hogs, or fowls, are kept.

PASTURES.

These are very important to all who keep domestic animals. The following
brief directions for successful pasturing are essential. It is very poor
economy to have all your pasture-lands in one field, or to put all your
animals together. Pasture fields in rotation, two weeks each, allowing
rest and growth for six weeks: first horned cattle, next horses, then
sheep. Horses feed closer than cattle, and sheep closer than horses;
each also eats something that the others do not relish. Pasturing land
with sheep thickens the grass on the ground. For the kinds of grass
preferable for pastures, see our article on _Grasses_. Plaster sown on
pastures containing clover, materially increases their growth. A little
lime, plaster, and common salt, sown on any pasture, will prove very
beneficial. Streams or springs in pastures double their value. The idea
that creatures need no water when feeding on green grass is a mistake.
Every pasture without a spring or stream should have a well. Cattle in a
pasture in warm weather need shade. It is usual to advise the growth of
trees in the borders, or scattered over the whole field. Sheds are much
better. Trees absorb the m