HAIIDWICKE'S SCIENCE. GOSSIP. 



243 



account of the culture of carrots and the uses to 

 which they may be applied, was published by 

 Robert Billing, a farmer in Norfolk, who states 

 that he obtained from twenty acres and a half five 

 hundred and ten loads of this root, which he found 

 equal in use and effect to a thousand loads of tur- 

 nips, or three hundred loads of hay. Some of them 

 measured two feet in length, and from twelve to 

 fourteen inches round. Horses are remarkably 

 fond of carrots, and when mixed with oats they form 

 very gocd food for them. The efiicacy of these 

 roots in preserving and restoring the wind of horses 

 had, it is said, been partially known in Suffolk, 

 where carrots were administered as a secret specific 

 for the complaint long previously to their being 

 commonly applied as food for that animal. Carrots 

 are equally beneficial as nourishment for cows, sheep, 

 and swine. It was stated some years since that at 

 Purlington, in Yorkshire, the stock of a farm, con- 

 sisting of twenty working horses, four bullocks, and 

 six milch cows were fed from the end of September 

 to the beginniug of May on the carrots produced 

 from three acres of land. The animals, during the 

 whole of that period, lived on these roots, with the 

 addition of only a very small quantity of hay. 



According to Campbell's "Political Survey," 

 carrot-seed has been made a considerable source of 

 profit to the cultivator, for he states that in the 

 latter part of the last century a farmer in Essex 

 obtained from an acre of land sown with this vege- 

 table ten cwt. of seed, which he sold in London at 

 £10 per cwt. The kinds that are commonly grown 

 are the long and the horn carrot. The first of these 

 is subdivided into other varieties, differing in size 

 and colour. The large, red field-carrot, which is 

 cultivated as food for cattle, belongs to this class. 

 The horn-carrot, having a shorter and smaller root, 

 is a good crop for a shallow soil, but does not keep 

 so well through the winter. 



In the Channel Islands and Brittany the carrot 

 and parsnip are more extensively cultivated than in 

 Britain, the soil being deeply trenched by the spade 

 or by a plough constructed for the purpose. The 

 number of acres under carrot cultivation in the 

 United Kingdom, according to the returns for 

 1873, was 19^891. 



When a carrot is cut transversely, it is found to 

 consist of two parts of difi'erent colour and texture. 

 The outer, called the corticulous part, or rind, is 

 of the darker colour and of the more pulpy con- 

 sistency. The inner, or heart- wood, especially when 

 the root has attained its full size, is more fibrous 

 or stringy, and if it be separated, it is bristled over 

 with hard points or fibres, that extend to the root- 

 lets outside. Almost the whole crown of the root, 

 or that part which sends up the leaves, is connected 

 with the wood, and only the epidermis, or outer 

 skin of the leaves and stem, with the external 

 portion of the root. 



Carrots contain a large amount of water, 86 

 parts in 100 lb. Their most distinguished dietetical 

 substance is sugar, of which they possess nearly 

 6i per cent. Starch is also found in small quan- 

 tities, with a small portion of albumen. The 

 ancients used the seed both of the wild and cul- 

 tivated carrot as an internal medicine against the 

 bite of serpents ; they also gave it to animals that 

 had been stung by them. 



Dr. James says carrots strengthen and fatten the 

 body, and are very proper food for consumptive 

 persons. The root of the garden carrot is much 

 used as a poultice for cancers, on account of its 

 antiseptic qualities. In some parts of Europe a 

 spirit is distilled from this vegetable. The abun- 

 dance of sugar contained in the roots is readily 

 converted into alcohol. About 160 lb. of the 

 crushed roots are required to yield one gallon of 

 spirit. Sugar has been obtained from them, but 

 notwithstanding the large amount existing in them, 

 the manufacture has not been found profitable. In 

 Germany, a substitute for coffee has been made of 

 the roots chopped up into small pieces and partially 

 carbonized by roasting. A dye similar to woad has 

 been obtained from them. (See Johnson's " Useful 

 Plants of Great Britain.") 



Parkinson, botanist to James I., tells us that 

 ladies of his time used to decorate their hats or 

 heads with the leaves of the wild carrot, which in 

 the autumn are exceedingly beautiful. This, says 

 Phillips, would rather show the simplicity of our 

 ancestors than their Vant of taste; as we have 

 seen ladies' dresses trimmed with the curled leaves 

 of the garden parsley, and which were not more 

 admired for their novelty than for the elegance they 

 displayed. 



If in winter a section be cut from the end of 

 thick part of the root, and this be placed in a 

 shallow vessel containing water, young and delicate 

 leaves are developed, forming a radiated tuft, the 

 graceful and verdant appearance of which makes it 

 a pleasing ornament to a room in that season when 

 any semblance of vegetation is a welcome relief to 

 the eye. Plowers may be cut out of large carrots 

 that closely resemble ranunculuses, without the 

 least aid of colouring. The name of this genus of 

 plants is supposed to be derived iromdaio, "I warm." 

 The specific name seems to have reference to the 

 colour of the root, and to have its origin in the 

 Celtic word car, which means red. (See Syme's 

 " Ency. Bot.") Hampdek G. Glasspoole. 



Field FAEEs.— On Thursdaj', August 13, I ob- 

 served a large flock of fieldfares in the parish of 

 Pomeroy, county Tyrone. Being migratory birds, 

 and not generally seen until October, is it not 

 strange that they should visit us so early ?—Iiev. 



iS. A, Brenan. 



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