CULTIVATION OP PLANTS. 149 



in which case only the hand-hoe can act; or at such a distance 

 that the cultivator may be used as in other crops. Two pounds 

 of seed, when sown in rows, is sufficient for an acre. Broad- 

 cast, five pounds. Caution The seed of the carrot should be 

 of the previous season's growth, otherwise they may not vege- 

 tate. They should in all cases be tried before they are sown; 

 the most frequent cause of the failure of the carrot being the 

 badness of the seeds. 



The after culture given to the carrot consists entirely in 

 hoeing and weeding that is, keeping the soil well pulverized 

 and free from weeds. The first hoeing should be given when 

 the plants are fairly above ground; and the operation must be 

 performed with great care, as it is difficult at this period to dis- 

 tinguish the carrots from the weeds in the rows. 



Harvesting or gathering is generally performed in the 

 month of October they may remain later in the ground if the 

 weather proves mild and favourable. When stored for pre- 

 servation during the winter^ different modes are practiced, ac- 

 cording to the conveniences possessed by the farmer. A cellar 

 might be easily constructed in a side-hill, covered with earth, 

 and so guarded as to exclude the frost, in which these and other 

 roots designed for feeding cattle could be stored. 



Produce and use. The produce depends upon soil, season, 

 method of cultivation, &c. Of late years, since the attention 

 of farmers has been directed to the cultivation of roots, as a 

 source of profit, immense crops of carrots have been raised; as 

 high as eighteen hundred bushels to the acre. The average 

 crop (we now speak of good farms and good farmers) is 

 from six to eight hundred bushels. Use. The carrot is very 

 nutritious. As food, it is eaten both by man and beast. It is 

 relished by every domestic animal in its raw state; and where 

 the winters are long they are of inestimable value as fodder. 

 For fattening animals, they are most excellent. Animals gene- 

 rally may be almost entirely fattened on carrots. 



To save carrot seed, select annually some of the most per- 

 fect and best shaped roots in the taking up season, and preserve 

 them in sand in a cellar until the ensuing spring, when they 

 should be set out as early as the season may justify. In August 

 the seed will be fit to gather, and is best preserved on the stalks 

 till wanted. This is a sure mode of obtaining fine seed; but 

 still an occasional change is necessary. 



The diseases to which the carrot is liable are those common 

 to most plants, such as mildew, insects, &c. The mildew, and 

 worms at the root, frequently injure the crops, and are to be 

 guarded against as far as possible, by a proper choice of soil, 

 season of sowing, and after culture. 

 13* 



