Next to the potato, the most important root of modern times is undoubtedly the turnip, which in its many varieties keeps thousands of cattle alive, and is not despised as a vegetable on the most lordly table; but we remember a time when it was not considered right to feed milch cows upon turnips, lest it should injure the flavour of the milk and butter. Yet we find that turnips were grown abundantly by the Romans as food for cattle, and they seem to have devoted themselves to the cultivation of this vegetable as we do now, for Pliny speaks of roots weighing 40 lbs., which far exceeds our greatest efforts. The beet, we are told, grew in the country of the Sabines, and was sold in Rome for a sum equal to 2d. each in our money.

The Romans doubtless introduced the cultivation of the turnip into our country, but it seems to have been neglected for many centuries, and was probably reintroduced by the Flemings; it seems however to have been only used as a vegetable, for in a book called the 'Haven of Health,' published in 1597, we are told, 'Although many men love to eat turnips, yet do swine abhor them.' By which we may learn that the taste even of pigs may be educated, for at present piggy will certainly eat his turnip with as much relish as his master. It would, however, appear that the turnip was not cultivated in fields until the end of the seventeenth century.

As food for man, it seems to be more highly esteemed in foreign countries than here. Linnaeus tells us the Laplanders are so fond of this root that they will give a whole cheese in exchange for a single turnip; and from Clarke's 'Travels in Russia' we learn that in Russia, turnips are used as fruit, and in the houses of the nobility a raw turnip cut in slices is handed about on a silver salver with brandy, to stimulate the appetite. The Maltese golden turnip, which is of a beautiful orange colour and quite round, is frequently eaten as fruit.

The Swedish turnip - commonly known as the swede - is principally cultivated for cattle, but there is a small yellow variety grown in Scotland, which is there much esteemed as a vegetable, but is never seen in the London market, although far superior in flavour to the turnip commonly sold. It is recorded that in the years 1629 and 1630, when there was a dearth in England, very good, white, lasting, and wholesome bread was made of boiled turnips deprived of their moisture by pressure, and then kneaded with an equal quantity of wheaten flour into what was known as turnip bread; and the same substitute for wheat was used again in Essex in 1693, when there was a scarcity of corn. At present there is no temptation to adulterate bread with turnips, but probably bread thus made would be much more wholesome than that which now makes its appearance artificially whitened with plaster of Paris and alum.

Turnip tops are much esteemed as a vegetable, but few people know that the long, white shoots of turnips or swedes which have been pitted, may be cooked, and rival sea-kail in flavour. We remember a use for the swede also not generally known, which is to cut a swede in slices like a loaf of bread, sprinkle each slice with brown sugar, placing the slices again in their order, and allowing them to stand for some hours. The juice which runs from it is reckoned by country people an excellent remedy for a cough.

Next to the turnip, the carrot probably ranks highest in culinary estimation. Although, like the turnip, it seems to have been only introduced into this country by the Flemings, in the reign of Elizabeth, it made its way into public favour much more quickly than the turnip, and in the reign of James the First, the foliage was used by the ladies to adorn their headdresses. The graceful leaf is still often seen in bouquets, and we are told this simple decoration may be obtained even in winter, by cutting off the thick end of the carrot and placing it in a shallow pan of water, when a crown of delicate leaves will soon appear. The carrot is not so extensively cultivated as food for cattle as the turnip, although eaten by them with much relish, the horse being extremely fond of it, and its use is said to be particularly beneficial in preserving and restoring the wind of horses. Pigs, also, are very fond of carrots, and fatten very quickly upon them; nevertheless, the turnip is more favoured by the agriculturist, perhaps because more productive, although we are told that 'at Parlington, in Yorkshire, the stock of a farm, consisting of twenty working horses, four bullocks, and six milch cows, were fed from the end of September to the beginning of May on the carrots produced from three acres of land, with a very small quantity of hay, and thirty hogs were fattened on the refuse left by the cattle.'If this account can be relied on, we wonder that farmers do not cultivate the carrot more largely, but they seem to prefer beet and mangold wurtzel - which latter is said to produce the largest roots and the most weighty crop in a given space of land, whilst beetroot is credited with improving the quantity and quality of milk in cows. The mangold is never sent to table, but beet is much esteemed, and is commonly added to salads, although it requires to be boiled carefully, and not cut or pricked, or it will lose all its colour. It is now usually sold ready boiled by the greengrocer.

The parsnip, although good and nutritious, is not a favourite vegetable, except in certain localities. In the north of Scotland, we are told, parsnips mixed with potatoes and butter are much esteemed, and to this mess salt fish is added in Catholic countries, and they certainly eat well either with salt fish or salt beef, but should always have a little dripping added to them in boiling. The Dutch cook them by pouring over them, after they are boiled, a little butter in which a small quantity of sugar has been dissolved, and then browning them in the oven.

A root in many respects similar to the parsnip is the skirret, formerly so highly esteemed by the Romans as to have been specially imported from the Rhine for the emperor's table, whilst it served as one of the ingredients used to garnish the famous Lucanian boar.