.■". 



■I 



DA 



place, the better to prevent young weeds from fprihg- 

 ing, as alfo to facilitate the growth of the young 



Carrots. 



In about a month or five weeks after, you muft 

 hoe them a third time, when you muft clear the 

 weeds as before ; and now you fhould cut out the 

 Carrots to the diftance they are to remain, which muft 

 be proportioned to the fize you intend to have them 

 grow. If they are to be drawn while young, five or 

 fix inches afunder will be fufficient, but if they are 

 to grow large before they are pulled up, they fhould 

 be left eight or ten inches diftant every way ; you 

 muft alfo keep them clear from weeds, v/hich, if fuf- 

 fered to grow amongft the Carrots, will greatly pre- 

 judice them. 



The fecond feafon for fowing thefe feeds is in Febru- 

 ary, on warm banks, fituated near the fhelter of a 

 wall, pale, or hedge -, but thofe which are intended 

 for the open large quarters, ftiould not be fown before 

 the beginning of March, nor fhould you fow any later 

 than the end of the fame month ; for thofe which are 

 fown in April or May, will run up to feed before their 

 roots have any bulk, efpecially if the weather fhould 



f I rove hot and dry. 

 n July you may fow again for an autumnal crop, 

 and at the end of Augull you may fow fome to ftand 

 the winter ; by which method you will have early 

 Carrots in March, before the fpring fowing will be fit 

 to draw i but thefe are feldom fo well tafted, and are 

 often very tough and fticky. However, as young 

 Carrots are generally expefted early in the fpring, 

 inoft people fow fome at this feafon -, but thefe fh9uld 



otherwife 



i 



fevere, it will be proper to cover the young Carrots 

 with Peafe-haulm, the haulm of Afparagus, or fome 

 fuch light covering, to prevent the frofx from pene- 

 trating into the ground, which often deftroys the Car- 

 rots, where thiscare is wanting: but if in very hard 

 winters the Carrots fhould be all deftroyed which were 

 fown in autumn7 there fhould be a hot-bed made early 

 in the fpring to fow fome, which will be fit for ufe 

 long before any that are fown in the full ground j 

 but thefe beds fhould be earthed fifteen or fixteen 

 inches deep, that the roots may have a proper depth 

 of foirto run down. If thefe beds arc lined with hot 

 dung twice, at fuch times when the heat of the beds 

 decline, it will greatly forward the growth of the Car- 

 rots, but there fhould be great care taken not to draw 

 the plant.s up too weak ; thefe may be allowed to 

 grow clofer together than thofe fown in the full 

 ground, becaufe they will be drawn for ufe very 

 young. Many people mix feveral other forts of feeds, 

 as Leek, Onion, Parfnep, Radifh, &c. amongft their 

 Carrots ; and others plant Beans, &c. but, in my 

 opinion, neither of thefe methods zvt good ; for, if 

 there is a full crop of any one of thefe plants, there 

 can be no room for any thing elfe amongft them, fo 

 that what is got by one is loft by another; and be- 

 fidcs, it is not onJy more fightly, but better, for the 

 plants of each kind to be fown feparate ; and alfo by 

 this means your ground will be clear, when the crop 

 is gone, to fow or plant any thing elfe ; but when 

 three or four kinds are mixed together, the ground 

 is feldom at liberty before the fucceeding fpring : be- 

 fides, where Beans, or any other tall-growing plants 

 are planted amongft the Carrots, they are apt to make 

 them grow more in top than root; fo that they will 

 not be half fo large as if fown fingly, without any 

 other plants amongft them. 



The covetoufnefs of fome gardeners will not permit 

 them to cut out theirCarrots to a proper diftance when 

 they hoe them, fo that by leaving them clofe, they 

 draw each other up weak : and if they are drawn 

 while young, they never recover their ftrength after- 

 ward fo perfeftly, as to grow near the fize of thofe 

 which are properly thinned at the firft hoeing ; there- 

 fore where the Carrots are defigncd to have large 

 roots, they muft never ftand too clofe, nor fhould 

 they have any other crop mixed with them. 



D A 



This root has been long cultivated in gardens for the 

 table, but has not till of late years been cultivated in 

 the fields for cattle, nor has it been pradifed as yet 

 but in few parts of England ; it is therefore gready 

 to be wifhed, that the culture of it was extended to 

 every part of England, where the foil is proper for 

 the purpofe ; for there is fcarce any root yet known 

 which more deferves it, being a very hearty good 

 food for moft forts of animals* One acre of Carrots, 

 if well planted, will fatten a greater number of fheep 

 or bullocks, than three acres of Turneps, and the 

 flefh of thefe animals will be firmer and better tafted. 

 Horfes are extremely fond of thefe roots, and for hogs 

 there is not any better food. I have alfo known thefe 

 roots cultivated for feeding of deer in parks, which 

 has proved of excellent ufe in hard winters, when 

 there has been a fcarcity of other food ; at which 

 times great numbers of deer have perifhed for want, 

 and thofe which have efcaped, have been fo much re- 

 duced, as not to recover their flefli the following 

 fummer; whereas, thofe fed with Carrots havebeea 

 kept in good condition all the winter, and upon the 

 growth of the grafs in the fpring, have been fat early 

 in the feafon, which is an advantage, where the grafs 



V ■ '! 



-^* - V 



is generally backward in its growth 

 There is alfo an advantage in the cultivation of this 

 root beyond that of the Turnep, becaufe the crop is 

 not fo liable to fail ; for as the Carrots are fown in 

 the fpring, the plants generally come up well, and 

 unlefs the months of June and July prove very bad, 

 there is no danger of the crop fucceeding ; whereas 

 Turneps are frequently deftroyed by the flies at their 

 firft coming up, and in dry autumns they are attacked 

 by caterpillars, which in a fhort time devour whole 

 fields, but Carrots are not attacked by thefe vermin : 

 'therefore every farmer who has a ftock of catde or 

 fheep, fhould always have a fupply of thefe roots, if 

 he has land proper for the purpofe, which muft be 



light, and of a proper depth to admit of the roots' 

 running down. 



In preparing the land for Carrots, if it has not beetf 

 in tillage before, it fhould be ploughed early in au- 

 tumn, and then ploughed acrofs again before winter, 

 laying it up in high ridges to mellow by the froflj 

 and if the ground is poor, there fhould be fome rotten 

 dung fpread over it in winter, which fliould be 

 ploughed in about the beginning of February ; then 

 in March, the ground fhould be ploughed again to 

 receive the feeds ; in the doing of which, fome far- 

 mers have two ploughs, one following the other in 

 the fame furrow, fo that the ground is loofened a 

 foot and a half deep. Others have men with fpades 

 following the plough in the furrows, turning up a 

 fpit of earth from the bottom, which they lay upon 

 the top, levelling it fmooth and breaking the clods ; 

 the latter method is attended with a little more ex- 



- 



pence, but is much to be preferred to the firft, becaufe 

 in this way the clods are more broken, and the fur- 

 face of the ground is laid much evener. 

 If the land has been in tillage before, it will require 

 but three ploughings ; the firft juft before winter, 

 when it fhould be laid in high ridges for the reafo;is 

 before given ; the fecond crofs ploughing fhould be 

 in February, after which^ if it is well harrowed to 

 break the clods, it will be of great fervice ; the laft 

 time muft be in March to receive the feeds, this 

 fhould be performed in the manner before mention- 

 ed. After this third ploughing, if there remain great 

 clods of earth unbroken, it will be proper to harrow 

 it well before the feeds are fown. One pound and a 

 half of feeds will be fufficient for an acre of land, 

 but as they are apt to adhere together, it renders 

 them more difficult to fow even than moft other forts ; 

 therefore fome mix a quantity of dry fand with their 

 feeds, rubbing them well together, fo as to ieparate 



the Carrot feeds from each other, which is a good 



be 



me 



thod. 



After the feeds are fown, they mu 

 gently harrowed in to bury them j and when the 

 plants come up, they fhould be hoed in the manner 



before directed 



But 



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