54 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



for a time ; but they are well grown in first-class English gardens, 

 and Covent Garden Market is fairly supplied with them. 



At whatever season these are required, iheij must le groicn 

 quickly and drawn early, or they will be comparatively worthless. 

 If they are managed in precisely the same manner as radishes, com- 

 plete success might be expected ; and in fact, we may so direct, and 

 quit the subject. But fuller information will be required, and we 

 begin by describing how we have obtained for our own table delicate 

 dishes of 



FoKCED HoEN Cakeots. — The successional sowings must be 

 regulated by the demand, and we may reckon the season for the 

 roots to extend from November to May. In a majority of instances, 

 it will be early enough to begin in January, when a good hotbed 

 must be made of stable manure that has been two or three times 

 turned ; and on this must be spread six inches depth of a mixture 

 consisting of equal parts of the mellowest garden loam, hotbed 

 manure rotted to powder, and the cleanest leaf-mould. If materials 

 for such a mixture are not available, put on good light soil from an 

 old cucumber-bed, or any other similar source. In this case the 

 roots will be paler in colour and slower in growth than if aided by 

 the compost first prescribed. When the heat is steady, at 75^ to 80°, 

 spread a thin coat of thoroughly-decayed manure on the surface, 

 and on that sow the seed in drills three inches asunder. Should the 

 heat rise above 80°, give a little air ; but otherwise keep the lights 

 close, to promote quick germination. The heat must be kept up by 

 linings, and water must be given as required to keep the bed always 

 moist ; and as the crop advances, air must be given regularly but 

 cautiously, and thinning must be commenced in good time. As the 

 roots are to be drawn when as thick as a man's finger, they may be 

 left rather thick in the rows. The French market-gardeners plant 

 lettuces and sow radishes in the beds prepared for horn-carrots ; but 

 from careful comparison of diifereut modes of procedure, we have 

 come to the conclusion that the carrots should have all the ground 

 to themselves ; for when another crop is grown with them, the roots 

 lack the beautiful colour that is so much prized, and they grow less 

 rapidly, and are less sweet and tender. 



Succession-beds will be made as required, and as a matter of 

 course, as the season advances, frames may be dispensed with, aud 

 regular coverings of straw will serve instead, precisely as in growing 

 early radishes. 



It will assist the beginner to know that a bed sow^n the first 

 week in January should supply nice little carrots in the middle of 

 March, and continue the supply to tlie end of April. A succession- 

 bed sown the first week in February will carry on the supply 

 from the beginning of April to the end of May, and then we should 

 begin to look for supplies from hotbeds and sloping borders sown ^'n 

 March, and assisted with dry litter without frames. Thenceforward 

 the crops of horn-cari'ots should be grown in the open ground, but 

 always on a light, rich soil, containing a large proportion of tho- 

 roughly rotten manure, which promotes quick growth, fine colour, 

 good flavour and tenderness. 



