THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



from 2 to 5 ft. high, and do not appear until the year after the 

 seed is sown. The seeds are small, green or gray-brown, slightly 

 convex on one side and flat on the other,* channelled, and set 

 with recurved points or bristles on two of the ridges ; they have 

 a very strong, peculiar, aromatic odour. Their germinating power 

 lasts for five years. 



CULTURE. The cultivation of the Carrot is most simple. The 

 seed is sown in the open ground, where the crop is to be grown, 

 from February to autumn. The soil should be well prepared by 

 being manured, if possible, six months at least beforehand, and 

 deeply dug for the long-rooted varieties. As soon as the plants 

 appear, hoe, and continue to hoe as long as the crop remains in the 

 ground. This operation will be found all the easier if the plants are 

 sown in drills. The seedlings are thinned out two or three times, 

 leaving them more or less far apart according to the size of the kind 

 grown. The short and very early varieties are most usually sown 

 broadcast, either in the open air or under a frame. A first thinning- 

 out is made while the plants are young, and afterwards the removal 

 of such as have grown large enough for eating gradually makes 

 room for the slower-growing ones that are left. By making suc- 

 cessional sowings, crops of Carrots may be obtained from April to 

 June on hot-beds, and from July to November in the open ground. 

 In November the plants should be pulled up and stored for winter 

 use in a dry, sheltered place. Sometimes they are left in the 

 ground, covered with straw, leaves, or earth, and dug up as they 

 are required for the table. Plants sown late in the open ground, 

 and protected in severe weather by a covering of some kind, will 

 sometimes get through the winter, and yield an early crop in the 

 ensuing spring. 



Carrots require a good, light, warm 

 soil, well trenched, and which has 

 been previously well manured. Sow- 

 ing must be done in dry weather ; 

 for, should a shower happen soon 

 after the seed is in the ground, the 

 crop will, in most cases, be a 

 failure, if not sown again imme- 

 diately. Drills ought to be pre- 

 ferred to broadcast sowing. On 

 account of its numerous bristles, 

 Carrot-seed is somewhat difficult to 

 sow with regularity ; therefore it is 

 mixed with sand or dry soil. This 

 difficulty is obviated now by buying 

 cleaned seed from seedsmen. Lay- 

 ing the seed in wet sand or wet 

 loam a few days before sowing, in 



order to stimulate germination, was 

 once much practised; but this 

 method is now seldom employed. 

 It may, however, do under some 

 circumstances; for instance, in 

 forcing and sowing in the open 

 ground, where drought is feared. 



FORCING. The French Forcing 

 and the Scarlet Horn Carrots are 

 best for the purpose, but the former 

 is to be preferred. Prepare mild 

 hot-beds 2 1 ft. high in November or 

 December and 1 1 or 2 ft. in January 

 or February ; put on the frames, 

 cover the bed with 5 or 6 in. of 

 rich soil or mould, and, as soon as 

 the whole is sufficiently heated, sow 

 the seed broadcast,, cover with j in. 



