6J9 



CARRONADES. 



CARROT, 



630 



that the carrier would not be responsible for goods above a certain 

 value (generally 51.), unless entered and paid for accordingly. After 

 repeated discussions on the effect of these notices in courts of justice, 

 the carriers succeeded in establishing, that they would not be liable 

 in the above circumstances, if they could prove explicitly, in each 

 instance, full knowledge on the part of the person sending the goods, 

 or his agent, of this specific qualification of their general liability. But 

 proof of this fact was in all cases most difficult to adduce ; and, to 

 obviate this hardship, the "Carriers Act," 11 Geo. IV., and 1 Will. 

 IV., c. 68, was passed, by which it is enacted that no common carrier 

 by land shall be liable for the loss of, or injury to, certain articles, 

 particularly enumerated in the Act, contained in any package which 

 shall have been delivered, either to be carried for hire, or to accompany 

 a passenger, when the value of such article shall exceed the sum of 101., 

 unless, at the time of the delivery of the package to the carrier, the 

 value and nature of such article shall have been explicitly declared. In 

 such casthe carrier may demand an increased rate of charge, a table of 

 which increased rates must be affixed in legible characters in some 

 public and conspicuous part of the receiving office ; and all persons 

 sending goods are bound by a notice thus affixed, without further 

 proof of the same having come to their knowledge. 



And by the 17 & 18 Vic. c. 31, s. 7, railway and canal companies have 

 been further exempted from liability beyond a limited amount, for 

 damage sustained by horses, cattle, and other animals whilst being 

 carried by them, unless their value be declared at the time.. they are 

 delivered to the company, and an extra payment made in order to cover 

 the increased risk. 



By sec. 3, of the same statute, railway and canal companies are bound 

 to afford all reasonable facilities for receiving, forwarding, and deliver- 

 ing their traffic, without giving any undue or unreasonable preference 

 or advantage in favour of any particular person or kind of traffic, or 

 subjecting any such person or kind of traffic, to any undue or unreason- 

 able prejudice or disadvantage. And by sec. 3, power is given to any 

 one who complains of a breach of the above obligations, to obtain 

 redress by motion in the court of Common Pleas in L'nyland, or in 

 one of the superior courts in Dublin, or, in the Court of Session in 

 Scotluuil. 



The liability of carriers ly sea is modified by the statute 17 & 18 

 Vic. c. 104, ss. 502 506, whereby the liability of owners of vessels for 

 any damage or loss caused to any goods or merchandise on board the 

 game without the actual fault or privity of the owner, is limited to the 

 value of the vessel and freight. They are also exempted from loss or 

 damage by fire, and from the loss of, or damage to, gold, silver, 

 diamonds, watches, jewels, or precious stones, by reason of their being 

 robbed, secreted, or embezzled, unless the shipper of the goods insert 

 in hia bill of lading, or otherwise declare in writing to the master or 

 owner of the vessel, the nature, quality, and value of such articles 

 respectively. 



Subject to these exceptions, and to any special contract that may 

 have been made by bill of lading or otherwise, a carrier by sea is liable 

 for all losses, except those occasioned by the act of God, or the queen's 

 enemies ; or by the default of the shipper of the goods. And if the ship 

 deviate unnecessarily from her direct course, and the goods are lost or 

 damaged during such deviation, the ship-owner will be liable, even 

 although the Toss be occasioned by the act of God or the queen's 

 enemies. 



Lien of Carriers. Upon the general principle, that pel-sons who, at 

 the request of their owners, bestow money or labour on goods, can 

 detain them until their charges in respect thereof are paid, a carrier 

 has a right to detain goods, which have come into his possession as a 

 carrier, until his reasonable charges for the carriage are paid. This 

 in law is called a particular lien, in contradiction to a general lien, 

 which is the right of retaining goods for the balance of a general 

 account. 



(Sir W. Jones on Bailments; Selwyn's Nii Prius, title Carrier; 

 and Chitty on Cnntraek (by Russell), title Carrier.) 



CARRONADES are short iron guns, differing from other guns, and 

 from howitzers, only in their dimensions, and in the manner of attaching 

 them to their carriages ; which is by a loop underneath, through which 

 a bolt passes, instead of trunnions. They derive their name from the 

 village of Carron, in Stirlingshire, where they were first made. 



\Vlien fired at point blank, their range is about 150 yards ; and, at 

 an elevation of 3 degrees, it varies from 660 to 750 yards ; this is much 

 inferior to the range of a long gun, but as they throw shells and heavy 

 shot with great effect within the above limits, they are extremely 

 serviceable on land for breaching ramparts of earth, or for enfilading 

 the faces of works ; and at sea, in engagements at close quarters. A 

 flash-rim or enlargement of the bore takes the place of the enlargement 

 of the muzzle, in order to protect the sides and rigging of the ship 

 from the effects of the explosion, and to facilitate the charging. 



Fur the dimensions and weights of carronades, see Spearman's 

 ' British Gunner.' 



CARROT (in horticulture), the fleshy root of the DaMut carota. 

 This kind of esculent is too well known to require any description. 

 For garden purposes there are three principal varieties ; namely, the 

 early horn carrot, a small kind used for the earliest crops ; the long 

 orange, or Altringham carrot, a very large kind, for ordinary summer 

 and winter use ; and the purple carrot, a French sort, remarkable for 



its deep purple colour and unusual sweetness. The latter is not so 

 much known as it deserves to be ; the two others are in common use. 

 Several others, among which is a white kind, are mentioned in seeds- 

 men's lists, but they are of little importance. 



Nothing can be easier of cultivation than the carrot, provided the 

 soil is light and free from stones ; in stiff or rocky soils it is not worth 

 the expense of growing. The seeds are sown at intervals, from the 

 end of February till the beginning of August ; they are lightly raked 

 into the soil, having been previously pressed down with the feet. 

 Some persons mix them with damp sand previously to sowing, in order 

 to separate them from each other, and to render them less liable to be 

 blown about by the wind in consequence of their lightness. When 

 they have come up they require no further care than to be hoed to 

 the distance of about six inches apart, and to be kept free from weeds. 



CARROT (in agriculture). The large orange carrots, which are the 

 most common for winter provision, are chiefly raised in the fields ; 

 and when they can be conveyed to large towns for sale, they are a 

 very profitable crop on light and deep soils. The principal use of the 

 larger field-carrots is as food for cattle. The orange carrot and its 

 varieties are the most common in England, but the large white and 

 yellow carrots, most esteemed on the continent, are now largely culti- 

 vated here ; though containing probably less saccharine matter, their 

 produce is so much larger that they produce a greater bulk of nutri- 

 ment on the same ground. The white carrot also will grow on heavier 

 soils than the orange. It is, in Belgium, sown in spring amongst 

 barley, in the same manner as clover usually is ; with this difference, 

 that the roots are taken up before winter, and the land may be sown 

 with winter corn the same year. The barley amongst which the white 

 carrots arc sown is chiefly winter barley, which is reaped early. As 

 soon as the barley is cut, the land is well harrowed to pull up the 

 stubble, the weeds are carefully taken out, and liquid manure is poured 

 abundantly over the surface. The carrots, which were scarcely visible, 

 and of which the tops were cut off in reaping the barley, now shoot 

 rapidly, and where they grow too thick are thinned out by hoeing. 

 By the end of autumn a good crop of carrots is obtained ; and if they 

 are carefully forked up, the ground may be sown with rye without any 

 other preparation. This, however, is not at all to be recommended ay 

 an English practice. 



When carrots are cultivated in a regular rotation as a principal crop, 

 they are sown in March, or early in April, on land which has beeu 

 ploughed to a considerable depth before winter, and has had the benefit 

 of the winter's frost. It is not visual to manure the land, but it is best 

 to sow carrots on land which has been abundantly manured either for 

 the preceding crop, or early in the previous autumn. If it be thought 

 necessary to improve the land by manure, it must be done with well- 

 rotted dung, which should be ploughed in very deep. Without this 

 precaution the carrots will be apt to fork, as it is called ; the root 

 being divided will not swell regularly, and instead of being of a fleshy 

 consistence will become fibrous and hard. The best mode of cultiva- 

 tion is to have the land in a moderately rich state and thoroughly 

 pulverised ; to sow the seed in drills, at the distance of a foot or more 

 from row to row : to cover it slightly ; and as the plants appear, to 

 water them with diluted urine or the drainings of dunghills ; to destroy 

 all weeds carefully by the hand and the hoe, and to thin the plants in 

 the rows to the distance of 5 or 6 inches or more, according to the 

 richness and depth of the soil. Although the carrot, when it grows 

 most vigorously, does not throw out any considerable fibres from the 

 upper part of the root, and appears to draw its chief nourishment 

 from its lower end, yet it is a great advantage to keep the ground 

 stirred and light between the rows ; for exceedingly minute horizontal 

 fibres shoot out to a considerable distance from the sides of the root, 

 and tend much to increase its size. The seed of the carrot has nume- 

 rous hooked hairs which spring from the husk, and make the seeds 

 adhere together ; on this account carrot seed is usually mixed with 

 earth or sand, and well rubbed in the hand before it is sown. Five or 

 six pounds of seed are needed for an acre if the seed is drilled ; it 

 requires more than this if sown broad-cast. In this last way very 

 heavy crops are sometimes obtained, but the expense of weeding the 

 carrots by hand is so great that the drilled crops, besides being more 

 certain, are more profitable. Too much care cannot be taken in- 

 selecting good seed. The finest and largest carrots should alone be 

 chosen to plant out in spring to produce seed. They will throw out 

 vigorous stems bearing numerous umbels, which, as the florets fade 

 and the seeds ripen, contract into the form of a bird's nest. Those who 

 are curious in the choice of the seed take only such seeds as grow on 

 the outer border of the umbel. The tops of the carrots are frequently 

 cut off before they arrive at the full size, as food for cattle and sheep, 

 who are very fond of it ; but this is not a judicious plan ; as the loss 

 in the growth of the roots from being deprived of the leaves is much 

 greater than the value of the tops as food, especially if they are cut oft' 

 repeatedly, which is sometimes done when fodder is scarce. When 

 the plants begin to wither, and the outer leaves to droop to the ground, 

 the tops may be safely mown, and the roots left in the ground. They 

 have then acquired their full growth, and will remain sound in tho 

 earth till there is danger from the winter's frost. 



The best method of taking up the carrots to store them for winter 

 use is by means of three-pronged forks, such as are used in digging 

 asparagus beds. They should be rather blunt at the point and sides 



