29-2 



N E VV ENGLAND FAR M E R 



MARCH 17, IS-JI. 



From the Sussex (Eng.) Express. ] 



WHITE CARROTS. I 



We beg to draw the particular attPTition of our I 

 readers to an excellent letter from Sir C. M. Biir- 

 rell, Bart., on the subject of growing the White I 

 Cirrot, tlie value of which we can fully confirm, I 

 having this year (although the season hiis been ! 

 very unfavorable) obtained highly satisfuctury re- ! 

 suits respecting it. We were induced lo expi'ri- i 

 mentalize on this root at the recommendation of 

 the lion, baronet, given last year. 



Knepp Castle, JVov. 3. { 

 Sir — Perceiving, on perusal of your last Ex- 

 press, your notice respecting the premiums ofierrd 

 for specimens of turnips and mangel wurtzel, with 

 accoii:panying statements of their culture, I trouble 

 you with the following practical statement in sup- 

 port of my last year's published opinion on the 

 preference of the culture of the white cattle carrot 

 over that of the parsnip for agricultural purposes, 

 and which was made in conse(|uence of a letter 

 from a correspondent in the Lewes Advertiser, ad- 

 vocating the growth of the parsnip, in which 500 

 bushels per acre was stated iis the produce. Con- 

 ceiving that from my then crop of white carrots, 

 grown on a very indifferent field, the yield of which 

 was 100 bushels per acre without the green tops, 

 that their culture would be more advantageous on 

 stiff soils than that of the parsnip, with a return of 

 about a moiety of the produce only, I laid a com- 

 parative statement of my crop before the public, 

 that agriculturists of intelligence and spirit might 

 try the results by sowing both sorts on similar 

 quality of land. But satisfieil as I am myself of 

 the preference of the white cattle carrot on my 

 farm overall roots fit for cattle, I again sowed four 

 acres broadcast on land of better quality this year, 

 and so far as experience shows in the raising and 

 housing of about half my crop, there will be, as 

 near as we can determine, l:?00 bushels per acre, 

 after separation from the green tops ; and consider- 

 ing the depth whe.ice their nourishment is obtain- 

 ed, (in one instance no less than 3 leet .5 1-2 inches, 

 and in several others nearly as deep,) I do not 

 view it as a very scourging crop, especially con- 

 sidering the vast increase of nutritious winter fod- 

 der, with consequent economy of hay, for both fat- 

 ting and lean stock, and especially milch cows, 

 their cream and butter being as good and free 

 from any ill flavor as when feeding on the pas- 

 tures ; and likewise looking to the great increase 

 of farmyard manure resulting from its consul;, p- 

 tion, to which may be justly added the clean, fria- 

 ble, and finely pulverized state in which the ground 

 is left after the removal of the crop, particularly 

 well adapted for ridging up during winter and 

 sowing with barley and seeds in the ensuing spring', 

 I do not hesitate to bring the results of my experi- 

 ence to your attention and consideration. 



My first inducement to try the white carrot was 

 the representation of ,\Ir Eaton, M. P., whose lather, 

 I understood, obtained the seed from Holland : with 

 a result on sowing it on indifferent land in Cam- 

 bridgeshire, of lOUO bushels per acre, with which 

 my crop in Iblj!) tallied very -iccurately, I led my- 

 self to believe (but from the dryness wliich prevail. 

 ed after sowing ir.y seed last spring, and the con- 

 goquence of afresh growth on rain falling after 

 hoeing in summer,) that the carrots would have 

 been of more equal size, and the amount of the 

 produce possibly greater in wei^iht and value. For 



the cultivation of the white carrot, free-workin-' 

 deep soils, well and deeply drained and subsoile '■ 

 are to be preferred ; and the better heart the ground 

 is in, and the cleaner the tilth, the greater will of 

 course be the chance of a remunerative and bene- 

 ficial criip. Mine v.'ere sown broadcast, fi lbs. to 

 the acre, costing, last spring. Is. per Ih. ; but 

 whether being sown in drills at proper distances, 

 and ridged up, would improve the crop, 1 leave 

 til the discriminate judgment of practical and more 

 scientific farmers. 1 shall only add, that those 

 whi) at my recommendation have sown the white 

 cattle carrot, express their satisfaction at their 

 adoption, and my neighbor, the Rev. William 

 Woodwaid, of V/est Grinstead, having sown them 

 on a small breadth of land, has hiid cause to be 

 satislied with the result equally with myself. You 

 are welcome to make what use of my observations 

 yim think proper, accepting my excuse for sending 

 them hastily, and I fear, rather incoherently writ- 

 ten, my time being too much occu|)ied to make a 

 fair copy. 



I am, sir, your humble servant, 



CHARLES MI:;i{,RICK BURR ELL. 



From llie Journal of Ihe Eiigiisb Agricultural Society. 



ON THE WHITE OR BELGIAN CARROT 



To Ph. Pusey, Esq., M P._Sir— 1 am desired 

 by my father to send to you the particulars of the 

 crop of white or lielgian carrots on Lord Ducie's 

 farm at Whitfield. The extent of the piece is J 

 acre .J6 perches, from which (i4 cartloads of roots 

 were taken. The average weight of a cartload 

 was found to be 10 cwt. This gives 33 tons as 

 the total weight of the crop, which is at the rate of 

 20 tons 3 cwt. per acre. The soil is a deep, sandy 

 loam, belonging to the new red sandstone forma- 

 tion. 



This is a heavier crop than any other on the 

 farm. The seed was sown in the second week in 

 April, on land which had been ploughed 10 inches 

 deep. It was sown on the flat, in rows 18 inches 

 apart, by the common Suffolk drill. The seed 

 had been mingled with damp sand for several days 

 previous, as v/ell to sprout it partially, as to render 

 it capable of being drilled, as carrot seed clings so 

 much together. They are singled out when a 

 fortnight old to intervals of inches in the row, 

 and two horse-lioeings, with a hand-hoeing when- 

 ever the weeds made their appearanc'e, was all the 

 cultivation they received. 



The result is a crop not only much more valua- 

 ble per tun than any other green crop we have, 

 but also heavier per acre, and raised at an expense 

 less hy at least one half than that attending the 

 cultivation of the turnip. 



The crop on the land theyear before was Swedes, 

 which were carried oft" the land and sold. No 

 dung of any kind was put to the carrots. 

 I ain, sir, 



Your most ob't serv't, 



JOHN C. .MORTON. 



ChtsUr Hill, jYov. 18, 18-10. 



J\role hij Mr Pusci/.— This carrot, though it has 

 been long grown as a fieldroot in Flanders, has 

 been but very lately introduced into England ; it 

 is, however, much liked by those who have tried it 

 in my own neighborhood. A farmer, Mr W. B. 

 Harris, who has grown it for two years on a good 



free loam, gives me the following account of it 



"On taking up my carrots and weighing thom, I 

 find they fall short of the quantity I grew last year. 



Instead of the white carrots weio-hinn nearly 32 

 tons per acre, they will only weigh 20 ton- this 

 year; and instead of the red ones weighin"- about 

 l() tons, they only weigh 12 tons this year, i have 

 generally found the difference between the red 

 and white carrot to be as follows (in all cases 

 where I have weighed them and in all cases of in- 

 quiry) : — The white generally exceed the red ones 

 in weight from 8 to 9 tons per acre, when you take 

 the average of the field, as I have done now. I 

 attribute the failure in my crop this year to two or 

 three things. In the first place, the land was not 

 subsiiiled ; in the second, they were planted late, 

 and the weather too dry; and in the third place, 

 they were hoed too thin — they were hoed the last 

 time with a bean hoe." Even the diminished crop 

 of Mr Harris, however, is very considerable, as it 

 is equal in weight to an excellent crop of Swedes, 

 and is twice as valuable. On some lighter land 

 16 tons of the white carrot were grown last year 

 where the red field-carrot gave a very poor crop. 

 I ought to add 'hat 1 have not succeeded in raising 

 mure than eight or nine tons myself; but this new 

 root has in its favor the high practical authority of 

 the Yoxford Farming Club, who " recommend 

 strongly the cultivation of the long white carrot, as 

 it produces a heavy crop of good quality, and adapt- 

 ed to strong as well as mixed soil lands, will keep 

 well, and is excellent food for cart-horses." It has 

 been stated to me that there are tw<i varieties, and 

 that the best of the two is that which makes a 

 large portion of its root above ground. Sir C. 

 Burrell has grown it in Sussex, and has found it 

 very productive. Col. Le Conteur informs me 

 "that in Jersey the prize crop of parsnips this year 

 afforded 316 lbs. to the perch, or 23 tons to the 

 acre, while the white carrot, a prize crop alsr, 

 which he had cultivated experimentally, gave him 

 524 lbs. to the perch, or nearly 38 tons to the acre 

 — an enormous crop," he adds, " which, if equally 

 valuable for butter as the parsnip, will of course 

 supersede it, as his parsnip crop in the same field, 

 cultivated alike, only produced 16 1-2 tons, which, 

 nevertheless, was a very fair crop." 



PH. PUSEY. 



From the Yankee Farmer of Dec. 12, 1840. 



WHITE CARROT. 



Last year (1S39) I imported 50 lbs. White Al- 

 tringham or Flanders carrot seed, and sold it to 

 funriers in different parts of the country, who have 

 returned favorable accounts of it. 



The carrot is only recently introduced from 

 France, where it was first brought into notice by 

 M. Vilmorin, and is now pretty extensively culti- 

 vated. One great advantage which it possesses is, 

 that from the comparative shortness of its roots, and 

 their above-ground habits of growth, it is well 

 adapted for shallow soil which has not depth suf- 

 ficient to grow the large-rooted varieties. A friend 

 ill New Bedford who had some of the seed, thus 

 writes: " I have exhibited some of the carrots in 

 our market and our farmers are much pleased with 

 them. I consider them a valuable acquisition to 

 our list of roots and a most fortunate cross — I say 

 cross, for my impression is, most decidedly, that 

 the work of anialganmtion has been secretly goinc 

 on between the parsnip and the carrot, and no act 

 of the legislature can prevent it. — The same num- 

 ber of men that harvested 82 1-2 bushels of the 

 Orange carrot in one day last year, have this year 

 harvested 184 bushels of the White, and from this 



