Book VI. THE CARROT. 793 



4922. For the prevention of this disease, marl has been recommended by Sir Joseph 

 Banks and others ; and where marl cannot be procured, it has been thought that an ad- 

 dition of mould of any kind, that has not borne turnips, will be advantageous ; such as a 

 dressing taken from banks, woodlands, ditches, &c. and mixed up with a good dose of 

 lime. But lime alone has been tried in vain; and no great dependence can be placed 

 upon fresh mould, as this disease has been known to prevail upon lands that had scarcely 

 ever before borne a crop of turnips. (Farmer s Magazine, vol. xiii.) 



4923. The anbury is a disease in the roots of turnips which is thus described by Mar- 

 shal in his Rural Economy of Norfolk: It is a large excrescence, which forms itself 

 below the apple. It grows to the size of both the hands, and, as soon as the hard weather 

 sets in, or it is, by its own nature, brought to maturity, becomes putrid, and smells very 

 offensively. At present, the state of three specimens which have been taken up and exa- 

 mined attentively, is this : The apples of the turnips are just forming (about the size of 

 walnuts in the husk), while the anburies are already as big as the egg of a goose. They 

 are irregular and uncouth in their form, with inferior excrescences (resembling the lobes 

 of ginger) hanging to them. On cutting them, their general appearance is that of a hard 

 turnip ; but on examining them through a magnifier, there are veins, or string>like ves- 

 sels, dispersed among the pulp. The smell and taste somewhat resemble those of turnips, 

 but without their mildness, having an austere and somewhat disagreeable flavor, resem- 

 bling that of an old stringy turnip. The tops of those which are much affected, turn 

 yellow, and flag with the heat of the sun ; so that, in the day-time, they are obviously 

 distinguishable from those which are healthy. It seems to be an idea among farmers, 

 that the Cause of the anbury is the soil being tired of turnips ; owing to their having been 

 too often sown on the same land. This, however. Marshal says, is positively erroneous; 

 for the piece from which these specimens were drawn, was an old orchard, and never be- 

 fore bore turnips in the memory of man. The cause of this disease is probably not yet 

 well ascertained ; but if drought does not immediately produce it, the coincidence of a 

 remarkably dry season, and a remarkably anburied turnip crop, justifies a suspicion, that 

 the former does in some measure contribute to promote the latter. Marshal seems, in- 

 deed, to conceive that it is caused by some kind of grub or other, that, wounding the ves- 

 sels of the tap-root, diverts the course of the sap ; which, instead of forming the apple, 

 forms this excrescence. 



4924. The canker attacks the roots and partly the bulbs of turnips, and is known by 

 the ulcerated appearance it produces. Some consider it owing to the presence of too much 

 iron in the soil, and recommend liming as a preventive. 



4925. Wasting and jmtrefaction, from excess of water or frost, are to be prevented by 

 earthing up the bulbs, or taking up and storing. 



Sect. III. The Carrot. Daucus carota, L. Fenian. Dig. L. and Umbelliferts, J. 

 Carotte, Fr ; Gelbe RUbe, Ger. ; and Carota, Ital. 



4926. The carrot is a biennial plant, a native of Britain ; but though long known as 

 ia garden plant it is comparatively but of recent introduction in agriculture. It 

 appears to have been cultivated from an early period in Germany and Flanders, and 

 introduced from the latter country to Kent and Suffolk early in the 16th century. As 

 the carrot requires a deep soil inclining to sand, it can never enter so generally into culti- 

 vation as the potatoe or turnip. But as observed by a judicious writer, it has been too 

 much neglected on lands where it would have yielded a more valuable product, perhaps, 

 than any bulbous or tap-rooted plant whatever. Several contradictory experiments in 

 its culture have been detailed in a number of publications, from which the practical 

 husbandman will be at a loss to draw any definite conclusion. But, in a recent com- 

 munication to the Board of Agriculture, from Robert Burrows, an intelligent Norfolk 

 farmer, who has cultivated carrots on a large scale, and with great success, for several 

 years, so accurate an account is presented of the culture, application, and extraordinary 

 value of this root, that carrots will probably soon enter more largely into the rotation of 

 crops on suitable soils. (Supp. ifc. ) 



4927. The varieties of carrot cultivated in gardens are numerous and readily increased 

 by the usual means ; but the only sort adapted for the field is the long-red ol- field carrot. 

 New seed is most essential, as it will not vegetate the second year. Old seed, or a 

 mixture of old and new, and also the mixture of the horn carrot, the seed of which is 

 sent over in large quantities from Holland, ought to be carefully avoided. 



4928. The best soil for the carrot is a deep rich sandy loam ; such a soil ought at least 

 to be a foot deep, and all equally good from top to bottom. On any other the field 

 cultue of the carrot will not answer. 



4929. In preparing the soil for the carrot, it is essential to plough it before winter 

 that it may be pulverized by frost ; and to work it well by the plough and cultivator in 

 spring, to at least the depth of a foot. This deep tillage may be perfectly accomplishefd 



