CARROTS 



247 



Growing the Crop. A rich sandy loam is desired, but the crop 

 will grow in any good garden soil. As the growth is very slow at 

 first, and as the tops are very small, it is necessary to prepare the 

 soil very thoroughly and have it very free from weeds at the time 

 of planting. Some more rapidly growing crop as radishes or white 

 turnips may be sown in the row with the carrots so that the early 

 growth will help to mark the row while the carrots are growing to 

 a sufficient size. Radishes and turnips will develop some size of 

 root first and can be harvested before the carrots are crowded too 

 much. 



If the crop is grown for stock feed, in large enough areas to 

 require horse tillage, the rows should be two feet apart or more. 



FIG. 173. Carrots for stock feeding (Improved Rubicon and Danvers Half-long), fairly 

 easy to harvest and capable of good yields. (Cornell Station.) 



More care must be exercised in early tillage of the crop than with 

 most of the other root crops, as there is so much danger of cover- 

 ing. The horse has difficulty in keeping his place between the 

 rows at first. 



Special thinning may not always be necessary if care is exer- 

 cised in planting, but it is usually found advantageous to pull the 

 larger roots first, and at that time see that no bunches of roots 

 are left to crowd each other. The first thinning may therefore be 

 the first harvesting. If it is found necessary to do some hand 

 weeding before any of the roots are large enough to harvest, the 

 thinning work is perhaps best done at that time; but if clean cul- 

 ture has been practiced and if the soil is reasonably free from weed 



