Vegetables with Edible Tubers or Roots 275 



excellent crop to raise for home use. The nutritive ratio 

 is high for vegetables and the taste pleasant. If one has 

 planted more carrots than are needed, they may be fed 

 to horses, cows, or hogs to good advantage. 



The vegetable is a good keeper and the northern markets 

 are stocked with the old crop until growing season in the 

 spring April or May. New carrots are to be found 

 in the New York markets, however, during the late 

 winter months. 



Soil and preparation. 



A deep, rich, dark-colored loam is usually chosen for 

 this crop, when grown extensively. It will make good 

 roots on sandy loam or even on a light clay soil, but the 

 ground must be mellow. It is not necessary that the land 

 should be rich in nitrogenous matter, but it should con- 

 tain a good supply of phosphoric acid and potash. A wet 

 soil will not raise a good crop. 



The land should be plowed deeply and all rubbish re- 

 moved, especially undecomposed vegetable matter. 



Fertilizer for carrots. 



The following fertilizer proportions should be used: 

 ammonia, 3 per cent; available phosphoric acid, 7 per 

 cent; potash, 8 per cent. Use from 600 to 900 pounds 

 of the above formula on ordinary land. If the land is 

 rich in nitrogenous matter, less nitrogen can be used 

 or it may be omitted altogether. 



^ The fertilizer should be mixed thoroughly with the soil 

 and worked in more deeply than usual. 



