634 RADICACEOUS ESCULENTS. 



except what is in a liquid state, applied to the carrot, causes the roots 

 to branch and their rind to become ulcerated. 



Varieties, Early Horn : orange, short, coming earlier to maturity 

 than any other variety ; sow this variety thickly in drills in the middle 

 of July, to command nice young carrots all the winter ; and in middle 

 of August for early spring use. Early French Scarlet Horn : larger 

 than the preceding, and better for a main crop. Long Orange, syn. 

 Altringham, and Long Red Surrey : long and of good quality, ex- 

 cellent also for a main crop. James's Scarlet : the very best garden 

 carrot for quality, colour, and form. 



Culture. The only mode of propagation is by seed ; and as the 

 seeds have numerous forked hairs on their edges, by which they 

 adhere together in clusters, they should be rubbed between the hands 

 and mixed with dry sand, in order to separate them as much as pos- 

 sible before sowing. For a bed four and a half by thirty feet, the 

 plants to be thinned out to six inches every way, or for 150 feet of 

 drill, one ounce of seed will be requisite. The seed does not come up 

 for four or five weeks in spring, and for three or four in summer and 

 autumn. The soil should be light and sandy, and deep and rich, in 

 consequence of being well trenched and manured the preceding year. 

 The first sowing of the Early Horn may be made in the middle of 

 February, in a warm border; and if the family require a constant 

 supply of young carrots, successional sowings may be made, as recom- 

 mended for a constant supply of turnips. From the middle of March 

 to the first week in April is the best time for sowing the main crop for 

 taking up and preserving through the winter ; and a crop of small 

 carrots, to stand through the winter and afford roots in February, 

 March, and April, may be sown in the first week in August. All the 

 crops that are to be drawn young may be sown in drills, six inches 

 apart, and the plants tlrinned out to three inches, but those which are 

 intended to produce carrots of full size should be sown in drills 

 eighteen inches apart, and the plants thinned out to from eight inches 

 to ten inches in the row. 



Gathering and Keeping. Young carrots are drawn by hand, and 

 full-grown ones dug up with the spade or two-pronged fork, a trench 

 being made alongside one row after another, so as to admit of taking 

 out the carrots without, in the slightest degree, injuring their rind. 

 A portion of the main crop may be left in the ground, and covered 

 with litter to be taken up as wanted ; and the remainder may be pre- 

 served in cellars or in ridges by some of the modes recommended for 

 preserving turnips. The tops should be wrung off by hand, and great 

 care be taken in harvesting neither to mow tops nor bottoms by 

 slicing off the leaves with knives, breaking the roots in the ground, or 

 cutting them with the spade. 



Diseases and Insects. The root is sometimes disfigured by ulcers, 

 supposed to be the effect of recent manure, and they are often attacked 

 by the grub of some dipterous insect, which in its perfect state may be 

 prevented from depositing its eggs by watering the soil after the 

 plants have come up with some nauseous liquid-manure, such as putrid 



