CAREX. 



CARRIAGE. 



be placed out at a similar distance, if there is 

 any deficiency of plants. When of the age 

 sufficient for their removal, they must be taken 

 up carefully, and the long straggling leaves 

 removed. The bed for their reception must 

 be dug well and laid out in trenches as for 

 celery, or a hollow sunk for each plant ; but 

 as they are liable to suffer from excessive wet, 

 the best mode is to plant on the surface, and 

 form the necessary earthing in the form of a 

 tumulus. Water must be applied abundantly 

 at the time of planting as well as subsequently, 

 until they are established ; and also in August, 

 if dry weather occurs, regularly every other 

 night, as this is found to prevent their running 

 to seed. The only other necessary point to be 

 attended to is, that they may be kept free from 

 weeds during every stage of their growth. 

 When advanced to about eighteen inches in 

 height, which, according to the time of sow- 

 ing, will be in August, and thence to October, 

 the leaves must be closed together by encir- 

 cling them with a hay-band, and earth placed 

 round each plant, a dry day being selected for 

 performing it. As they continue to m\>w, 

 fresh bands and earth must be constantly ap- 

 plied, until they are blanched to the height of 

 two feet, or about two-thirds of their stems. 

 They will be fit for use in eight or ten weeks 

 after the earthing first commences. Care must 

 be had in earthing them up, to prevent the 

 earth falling in between the leaves, which is 

 liable to induce decay. The surface of the 

 soil should likewise be beaten, smooth, to 

 throw off the rain. In severe weather thfir 

 tops should be covered with litter, it being re- 

 moved as invariably in mild weather : by this 

 treatment, they may be preserved in a service- 

 able state throughout the winter. For the pro- 

 duction of seed, which in England seldom 

 comes to maturity except in dry seasons, a few 

 plants should be set in a sheltered situation, 

 of the April sowing; of course not earthed up, 

 but allowed the shelter of mats or litter in 

 frosty weather. In the spring, the ground may 

 be dug round them to destroy weeds, as well 

 as to encourage the growth of the roots. The 

 flowers make their appearance about the be- 

 ginning of July, and the seed is ripe in Sep- 

 tember. (G. W. Johnson's Kitchen Garden.) 



CAREX. A vast genus of grasses com- 

 prehending more than two hundred species, 

 nearly all of which are indigenous to America. 

 It includes sedges, and a vast variety of grasses 

 found in salt-water marshes. See SEDGE. 



CARLICK. A provincial term applied in 

 some places to charlock. 



CARNATION, or CLOVE PINK (Lat. 

 carnes; Dianlhus caryophyllus). A beautiful and 

 odoriferous perennial, blowing in July and Au- 

 gust, and cultivated in beds or in pots. The 

 wild D. carynplnjllus is the origin of our fine 

 garden carnations. (Smith's Eug. Flor. vol. ii. 

 p. 287.) There are three distinct varieties ; 

 the flake, the bizarre, and the picotee. The 

 flake has two colours only, with large stripes ; 

 the bizarre is variegated with irregular stripes 

 and spots, of not less than three colours; and 

 the picotee has a white ground, spotted with 

 every variety of scarlet, red, purple, and pink. 

 They love a light, rich earth mixed with sea- 

 34 



sand, and never bloom very handsomely with- 

 out a proportion of the latter. Carnations are 

 propagated by layers, pipings, and from seed, 

 which produce new sorts. There is an im- 

 mense collection of fine prize carnations, well 

 known to the public, too lengthy to insert here ; 

 but they are easily procured at a reasonable 

 price. If you raise flowers from seed, sow it 

 in pots of light earth in April ; cover the seed 

 very lightly with mould filtered through the 

 fingers ; shade the seedlings from the sun, and 

 prick them out when each seedling has six 

 leaves. Pot or plant for blowing in autumn. 

 They will not blow well if moved in the spring. 

 Carnations must be sheltered from excessive 

 rains and hard frosts, and they should be placed 

 in warm sunny borders. 



CARNATION GRASS. In agriculture, a 

 term applied to some grasses, as the hair grass 

 (./?//), probably from their having this kind 

 of colour in their flowers. Any coarse species 

 of carex is so named in the north of England 

 and Scotland. 



CAROB (Ccraloria raroubicr). A tree cul- 

 tivated extensively in the south of Europe, the 

 pods produced by which contain a sweet, eat- 

 able I'tTiila. The tree attains a medium size, 

 and the flowers, which are of a deep purple 

 colour, are disposed in clusters. The IVuit- 

 pcds are a foot long, contain a reddish pulp, 

 of an agreeable sweet taste when dry; and are 

 supposed to be "the husks (wana.) that the 

 swine did eat," (Luke xv. 16). They are used 

 as food for man and horse. The carob tree is 

 raised from seeds. 



CARPET (Dutch, karpet; Ital. carpetto). A 

 covering for floors, &c., manufactured of wool, 

 or other materials, worked with the needle or 

 by the loom. Carpets are generally composed 

 of linen and worsted, but the Kidderminster or 

 Scotch carpets are entirely fabricated of wool. 

 Persian and Turkish carpets are the most es- 

 teemed. In England carpets are principally 

 manufactured at Kidderminster, Wilton, Ciren- 

 cester, Worcester, Axminster, &c.; and in 

 Scotland at Kilmarnock. Those made at Ax- 

 minster are believed to be very little, if any 

 thing, inferior to those of Persia and Turkey. 

 (M'Cnlloctis Com. Did.; Willich's Dom. Encyc.; 

 Brando's Diet, of Science.) 



CARRIAGE (Fr. cariage). A general name 

 applied to carts, wagons, and other vehicles, 

 employed in conveying passengers, goods, 

 merchandise, &c., from one place to another, 

 and which are usually constructed with two or 

 four wheels. Wheel-carriages first came into 

 use about 1381; they were called ivhirlicotcs, 

 and were little better than litters or cots (cotes) 

 placed upon wheels. 



Carriage, in irrigation, is a conduit made of 

 timber or brick : if the latter, an arch is turned 

 over the stream that runs under it, and the 

 sides bricked up ; if the former, which it com- 

 monly is, it is constructed with a bottom and 

 two sides, as wide and as high as the main it 

 lies in. It must be made very strong, close, 

 and well-jointed. Its use is to convey the 

 water in one main over another which runs at 

 right angles with it ; its depth and breadth are 

 of the s-ame dimensions with the main it be- 

 longs to ; its length is in proportion to the 

 Z 265 



