CHAP. XX VILLA GARDENING 475 



consist of early French Horn. The crop in the frame "will he sown 

 broadcast or in drills from 4 to 6 inches apart, and be thinned 

 out, if sown broadcast, to 2 inches apart ; or, if in drills, to 1 inch 

 apart, as soon as they are so large that the strongest plants can be 

 distinguished. The young forced Carrots are large enough to use 

 for soups, etc., when quite small, and by drawing out the largest 

 the smaller ones have more space to grow in. The same remarks 

 apply to the first crop on the early border. A further sowing of 

 early Horn Carrots may be made towards the end of February. 

 This time the Nantes Horn should be selected, and that may 

 be sown again about the end of April, again in June, and again 

 about the end of July. The last sown will stand the winter in 

 the open bed with some dry litter to protect from frost — the 

 litter to be placed on just as the frost sets in. It will thus be 

 seen that 



A StJCCESSioN OF Carrots may be kept up without difficulty 

 from repeated sowings of Early Horn, and especially do I recom- 

 mend this plan where the Carrot grub is troublesome. When we 

 place our reliance upon one main crop in a garden subject to 

 maggot, the roots are nearly always useless before the winter is 

 over ; but with a bed of young Horn sown in July, the roots 

 drawn from the bed as required are sw^eet and good till the young 

 crop is getting large enough for use in the frame ; in fact, there is 

 no difficulty in bridging the season over with young Horn Carrots. 

 But where there must be a 



Main Crop the seeds should be sown in April, early or late in 

 the month, according to the season and the condition of the land. 

 Nowadays most of the large seed-houses dress the beards off the 

 seed, so that Carrot seeds are as easily distributed as Onion or any 

 other seeds. I prefer to sow them direct from the bag, with no 

 preparation at all, for, if the soil is right, good seeds will soon 

 germinate. Sow in drills from 12 to 15 inches apart, and, as 

 soon as the rows can be seen, run the Dutch hoe between to stir 

 up the soil and kill the weeds when small (this is the only satis- 

 factory way of killing them). The stirring of the surface should 

 be repeated frequently, so that not a single weed gets a chance to 

 become established. 



Thinning the Crop should be commenced when the plants 

 are about an inch high by drawing a 4-inch hoe through the drills 

 at frequent intervals, so as to leave the plants in little patches 

 from 4 to 6 inches apart. In the course of time these patches 

 should be tliinned to one plant, leaving, of course, the strongest ; 

 but this singling should not be done at the same time that the 

 hoeing-out occurs — it would chill and check the young plants too 



