5200 Cultivation of Arable Land. Carrots Expencesof. 



are permitted to ftand nearer to each other.* The tops of the plants by thefe dif- 

 tances have likcwife full room to diftend themfelves and cover the furface of the 

 foil, by which it is kept perfectly moift and mellow, and consequently in the befl 

 Hate for the nutrition of the plants, as well as for the roots fwelling out to their 

 full fi/e. A third hoeing is commonly p radii fed fome time in June, according as 

 the growth of the plants or weeds may require. In this, the weeds are to be com 

 pletely removed ; and where the carrot plants (land double or too clofely toge 

 ther, the weak eft plants are to be cut out, till the whole are left at their limited 

 diftances. 



Further hocings rnay occafionally be rcquifite, of which the cultivator muft 

 judge, as it is of the grearcft importance in this hufbandry to keep the land well 

 flined and the crops perfectly clean, their goodnefs materially depending upon fuch 

 operations being duly performed. 



In the drill method the intervals may be cleaned by a fmall light plough for the 

 purpofc, or the horfe-hoe. Even when executed by the hand-hoe, before the plants 

 appear, as has been pradtifed by fome cultivators, it may conftitute an advantage 

 in the drill method.f 



The expence of this bufinefs is different in different fituations, according to 

 the expertnefs of the perfons employed, and the method in which the work is 

 performed. The average expence of different experimenters in various foils and 

 iituations, as ftated by the intelligent editor of the Annals of Agriculture, is 

 il. 1 6s. the acre ; but in Suffolk, where the culture is familiar, and the work of 

 courfe executed with much facility and expedition, it only cods from i6s. to i8s. 

 or a guinea the acre. 



It is the practice with many cultivators of this ufeful vegetable to let the roots 

 remain in the foil during the winter feafon, to be taken up as they may be occa 

 fionally wanted in the feeding of cattle or other animals. But as the crown of the 

 root, by its retaining moifture, is not only extremely liable to rot and decay in 

 thefe feafons, but the other parts of it from their faccharine quality to be greatly 

 confumed by grubs or other infedls below the ground ; it is a cufrom that ought 

 not to be recommended, efpecially as the crops can be preferved with the greateft 

 eafc and fafety in any dry fituation under cover. The difficulty or impoflibility 

 of getting up the roots in many cafes of hard froft or deep fnow, when they are 

 wanted, alfo renders the cuftom highly injudicious and improper. The taking 

 them out of the ground is, therefore, to be conftantly advifed. The proper pe- 



* Modern Agriculture, vol. II. f Legrund, in Annals of Agriculture. 



