52 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



cultivator. Let there be a deficiency iu the supply of water, or a sickly 

 tree or plant in the house, and red-spider will immediately appear, 

 and if allowed to obtain a footing, it will be a difBcult matter to get 

 clearly rid of it again. But there is a feature in its character which, 

 when understood, gives the gardener a chance to keep it at bay, and 

 that is, that it rarely attacks any plants until it has some fully- 

 developed leaves to feed upon. Therefore, by adopting the most 

 stringent measures in the early stages of the growth of the trees or 

 plants that appear most subject to attack, by maintaining a vigorous 

 action in all their organs, and by keeping the atmosphere of the 

 house in which they are growing as cool and moist as it is safe to 

 do, it is possible to keep away the spider. Better advice for the 

 prevention of the red-spider it is not possible to give. 



TAP-ROOTED VEGETABLES. 

 No. L — The Caeeot. 



|HERE is no class of esculent vegetables that more dis- 

 tinctly record in their appearance the character of the 

 cultivation they have obtained, than thosa that produce 

 tap-roots, such as carrots, parsnips, salsifys, and scorzo- 

 neras. You may scratch the ground, and refuse it 

 manure, and yet obtain good cabbages and cauliilowers, if the soil is 

 naturally strong, the season kind, and the plants are put out at the 

 right moment. So it is with many other vegetables for which we 

 prescribe good cultivation ; but it is not so with the tap-roots, for 

 if the ground is prepared for them by scratching, the roots w^U be 

 short, ugly, and, if the season happens to be hot and dry, they will 

 be of a woody texture, and pierced by wire-worm and canker, so as 

 to be scarcely worth the trouble of cooking : so the first step 

 towards producing a crop of tap-roots worth taking up is to prepare 

 the ground by deep digging, and, as a rule, the digging should be 

 two spades deep and thorough. Toese roots are so universally 

 esteemed, and in some instances so necessary to the comfort of the 

 household, that it is scarcely proper to consider what is the proper 

 soil for them, for, whatever the soil of the garden may be made of, 

 it is expected at least to produce a few carrots, parsnips, beets, and 

 salsifys. However, as we have the growing rather than the cooking 

 and eating to think of, we must confess that the subjects before us 

 are somewhat fastidious as to soil, and hence it is not possible every- 

 where to do them justice, unless considerable labour and expense be 

 incurred — more, perhaps, than the result aimed at would be worth. 

 For any tap-rooted vegetable we require a deep, fertile, sandy loam, 

 from which wire-worm has been pretty well eradicated. Heavy 

 clay lands are not well adapted for the purpose, if newly broken up, 

 but old gardens in clay and heavy loam districts, usually produce 

 fine tap-roots, owing, of course, to the frequent deep stirring, and 

 manuring, and mellowing the soil has had for a series of years. It 



