254 



CARROT 



CA.B.'ROT {Daiicus Cardta,L,inn.). Umheniferm. A 

 native of the British Isles, and one of the bad intro- 

 duced weeds of eastern North America (Fig. 377). The 

 improved succulent-rooted garden varieties are believed 

 to be descended from the same stock, though this has 

 been denied. It seems probable that the horticultural 

 improvement of the species was begun in Holland, and 

 it is said that the cultivated forms were introduced 

 thence into the gardens of England during the reign of 

 Queen Elizabeth. The Carrot is now very generally, 

 though not extensively, cultivated everywhere, both for 

 culinary purposes and for stock-feeding. It is some- 

 times forced under glass, but to no great extent. Car- 

 rots are most useful in culinary practice for soups, 

 stews, and salads, and as this class of cookery has 

 never been reasonably popular in America, this vege- 

 table has not received the attention it deserves. 



The Carrot requires a loose, friable, warm soil, in the 

 very best mechanical condition, and especially for the 

 early crop of tender spring roots, this needs to be lib- 

 erally fertilized with well-rotted stable manure and 

 some rapidly available potash fertilizer. Seed for the 

 first crop of Carrots should be sown as soon as the 

 ground is warm and dry enough, in rows 1-2 feet 

 apart. As they germinate slowly, the land should be 

 free of weeds. When they are large enough to be 

 thinned, the plants are decimated to stand 2-3 inches 

 apart in the rows. Careful, clean cultivation is requi- 

 site, and drought is to be especially avoided, even at the 

 cost of any practicable irrigation. Later crops, and 

 Carrots grown for stock feed, may be sown in May or 

 early June, and treated like the early sowing. When 

 the young roots are ready for market they are pulled 

 and tied in bunches of six or ten or a dozen (Fig. 378). 

 In the early spring, when a considerable appetite for 

 green stuff can be depended on, a great many young 

 Carrots are shipped north from southern gardens. 

 Well-ripened roots of the fall crop may be stored in 

 pits or in the root-cellar. The Carrot has no enemies of 

 importance. 



The varieties of Carrots differ chietiy in respect to 

 size and grain, with differences in earliness closely cor- 

 related. The following are favorite varieties: 



French Forcing (Earliest Short Horn). — One of the 

 smallest and earliest ; root small, almost globular, 

 orange-red. 



Da iM'ers. — Cylindrical stump-rooted, medium large, 

 dark orange, fine-grained ; the favorite all-purpose 

 variety. 



Oxheart. — Medium size, oval, rather light colored, 

 fine grain and flavor ; recently introduced from France, 

 and quite ijuccessfnl. 



377. Lasi year's umbel ol wild Carrot. 



Hall-long Scarlet. — Top small, roots medium size, 

 cylindrical pointed ; much used for bunching. 



Marly Scarlet Norn. -Top small, roots half-long, 

 somewhat oval, smooth, fine grain and flavor; a favorite 

 garden sort. 



Large White Belgian.— Very large and rather coarse, 

 whitish; principally grown for stock-feeding. 



F. A. Wauoh. 



CARYOPTERIS 



CAKTHAMUS (Arabic name, alluding to the color). 

 Compdsita. Hardy annuals 2-3 ft. high, with spiny Ivs. 

 Involucre with spreading and leafy outer scales and the 

 inner ones more or less spiny : receptacle chaffy : 

 akenes glabrous, mostly 4-ribbed. the pappus none or 

 scale-like. Of easiest culture, from seed. 



tmctbriuB, Linn. Safkluwek. Fai.se Saffron. 

 One to 3 ft. high, glabrous, branched : Ivs. ovate, spiny- 

 toothed: H. -heads with upward-tapering involucre, and 

 a globular crown of orange florets. Asia. — The flowers 

 furnish a dye material, which is used in place of the 

 true .Saffron (which is a Crocus). l_ h_ b_ 



CARUM (Caria, in Asia Minor). Vmbelllterm. Gla- 

 brous annual or perennial herbs, widely distributed in 

 temperate and subtropical regions. Lvs. pinnate, or 

 ternate and pinnately decompound : fls. white or yel- 

 lowish, small, in compound umbels, the calyx-teeth 

 small : fruit ovate or oblong, sometimes compressed, 

 more or less ribbed, glabrous, or sometimes hispid. 

 Roots often tuberous. Fifty or more species. 



Cirui, Linn. Caraway (which see). Stem slender 

 but erect, furrowed, 1-2 ft. : lvs. pinnately decompound, 

 with thread-like divisions. Old World. — Sometimes runs 

 wild. 



Petrosellnum, Benth. & Hook. f. (PetroselXnum sa- 

 tivum, HoSm.}. Parsley (which see). Erect, 1-3 ft, : 

 lvs. ternate-pinnate, the Ifts. ovate and 3-cleft (much 

 cut in the "curled " garden vars. ), the upper ones nar- 

 rower and nearly entire : fls. yellowish. Old World. 



— Much cult., and occasionally runs wild. 

 GMrdneri, Gray. Stem solitary, 1-4 ft. : lvs. mostly 



simply pinnate, with 3-7 linear or thread-like Ifts., the 

 upper Ifts. usually entire, but the lower ones often di- 

 vided: fr. with long style. Dry hills, in Calif, and Nev. 



— Int. 1881 by Gillett as an ornamental plant. Roots 

 tuberous and fusiform. l. jj. g. 



CARUMBIUM. See Uomalanthus. 



CAKYA is treated under Micoria. 



CARYOPHtLLUS, the Clove Tree, is now referred to 

 Eugenia. 



CARY6PTERIS (Greek for nut and wing). Verbe- 

 ndcetp. Small shrubs with deciduous opposite lvs. and 

 blue or violet fls. in axillary cymes : corolla 5-lobed, 



