194 



The Cowitiy Gnitlemaji's Magazine 



Wren-Hoskyns told the House of Commons 

 the other day that in a purchase of £,()o 

 worth of land his lawyer's bill was ;^2 2, and 

 (I think) it required two or three months of 

 time. In the United States of America, a man 

 buys land, improves it, sells it, and then 

 takes another and improves and sells that, 

 too ; and thus capital, in the production of 

 food, is a constantly flowing and increasing 



stream. Hence the great and growing wealth 

 of that young, but rich and powerful nation. 

 There the transfer of land is immediate and 

 uncostly, here it is a fixed barrier against agri- 

 cultural investment and improvement. 



P.S. — A week of tempests and heavy rains 

 has sadly interfered with harvesting, making 

 the land so wet that we cannot use the reap- 

 ing-machine. 



CARROTS. 



THE Carrot belongs to the botanical 

 order of Umbellifer^. In its wild 

 state it is a noxious weed, commonly known 

 as Bird's-nest, from the nest-like shape of the 

 umbel. The root of the wild Carrot is small, 

 tough, and strong flavoured. Pliny speaks 

 of the Carrot as cultivated in Italy in his day, 

 but it was not introduced into England till 

 about the commencement of the seventeenth 

 century. The root of the cultivated varieties 

 is large, succulent, and nutritious ; but the 

 flavour is too strong to be agreeable to most 

 persons, and the Carrot is consequently sel- 

 dom cooked separately, but is mainly used 

 for soups. For feeding stock, especially 

 horses, this root is greatly prized, and is cul- 

 tivated in large quantities. It contains a 

 gelatinous substance called pectin, which is 

 thought to exert a very healthy influence on 

 horses. Certain it is, that they are fond of 

 Carrots, and look sleek and healthy when fed 

 upon them. A famous horseman once told 

 us that he preferred i bushel of Carrots and 

 I bushel of oats for his horses to 2 bushels 

 of the latter. The analysis of the Carrot shews 

 no such value. Carrots contain at least 80 

 per cent, of water, while the water in oats is 

 only 16 per cent., and of the solid matter in 

 these two kinds of feed, the per-centage of 

 flesh-forming and fat-forming principles in 

 oats is three times what it is in Carrots. The 

 effect which Carrots exert on horses must be 

 attributed to their health-giving virtue, or 



some subtle principle which we do not as yet 

 understand. Our own observation leads us 

 to the conclusion that horses that are worked 

 lightly do better on a mixed feed of Carrots, 

 hay, and oats, but when put to hard work 

 they need more grain. When wintered with- 

 oul; work, hay and Carrots make a better 

 food than hay and oats. Before being put to 

 service again in the spring the allowance of 

 Carrots should be diminished. For colts 

 and young horses, Carrots are just the thing 

 to promote growth and a vigorous constitu- 

 tion. For cows, also, they are excellent, pro- 

 ducing a large flow of rich and highly-coloured 

 milk. They therefore deserve a place on 

 every farm and in every garden. 



Carrots require a well pulverized and en- 

 riched sandy loam for their perfect develop- 

 ment. On such soil, and with good care, a 

 crop of 1000 bushels is often harvested from an 

 acre, though 800 bushels may be considered a 

 good yield. We have found it better to raise 

 them after a crop of corn or some other hoed crop 

 to which manure has been applied abundantly, 

 as when manure is applied directly to the 

 Carrots they are apt to be forked and abound 

 with rootlets. The soil should be ploughed 

 or spaded deeply, so that the roots may run 

 down 18 or 20 inches without obstruction. 

 For feeding to stock we prefer large Carrots, 

 3 to 4 inches in diameter at the top, and with 

 a smooth spindle body 16 to 20 inches long. 

 For this purpose we give preference to the 



