70 CARROT. 



water for twenty-four hours, and left to sprout, after which 

 it is mixed with saw-dust and dry mould, in the proportion 

 of one peck and a half of each to a pound of seed. The 

 land is afterwards lightly harrowed over once in a place. 

 Two pounds of seed, in this mode, is found, as has been 

 observed, sufficient for an acre of land." 



After-culture, The first hoeing; of carrots must be by 

 hand an operation which requires a great deal of attention, 

 as it is difficult to distinguish and separate the weeds from 

 the young carrots. Loudon says, " From eight to fifteen 

 or eighteen" inches, each way, is the common distance at 

 which they are allowed to stand ; and it has been proved, 

 from many years' experience in districts where they are 

 most cultivated, that carrots which grow at such distances 

 always prove a more abundant crop than when the plants 

 are allowed to stand closer together." Deane observed, 

 " It is not amiss if they grow large and rank, when they 

 are chiefly designed as food for cattle, though small-sized 

 ones are preferred for the table." 



Mr. Quincy gives the following statement of the mode 

 of cultivating carrots, made use of by Samuel Wyllys Pome- 

 roy, Esq., and which he prefers to all others : 



" Plough as deep in the fall or spring as the state of the 

 land will permit. Cross-plough in the spring, and harrow 

 level. Put on fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five buck-loads 

 of the most rotten compost to the acre, as the heart of the 

 land may be. Spread and harrow it fine. Then, with a 

 horse-plough, strike it into two-bout ridges, as near together 

 as four back furrows will make them, and if the two first 

 back furrows are narrow, the other two being deep, the 

 ridge will be nearly to a point, and should be eighteen or 

 twenty inches from the bottom of the furrow, if it be well 

 cleared out. To do which, make another bout in the fur- 

 row, if necessary. Then, with the head of a rake, strike off 

 the crown of the ridge, till it is three or four inches wide, 

 and with it, or a hoe, open a drill in the usual manner. Sow 

 the seed pretty thick, cover and press down a little with a 

 hoe or shovel. When the weeds appear, run a small 

 plough through the furrows. Hand-weed the crop, and hoe 

 the weeds from the sides of the ridge. The orange carrct 

 is best." 



" In haivesting, a plough with one yoke of oxen should 



