104 A HOME VEGETABLE-GARDEN 



cate in flavor. The Coreless carrot is also a 

 spring-time product; the best table carrots are 

 always grown in the cool spring. 



Carrots grow best in well-drained sandy loam. 

 Heavy, lumpy, stony soil, however rich, will pro- 

 duce rough misshapen roots. The soil must be 

 made clean and even in texture by deep fine prepa- 

 ration to break up the clods and get rid of the 

 stones and lighten the texture. No tool is so deft 

 as the potato hook. Give the soil a dressing of 

 wood-ashes and work it in as the ground is made 

 ready. The nitrate stimulant may be used on the 

 surface along the rows, just after growth starts; 

 but the potash (in the wood-ashes) is not so 

 quickly available and needs, also, to be deeper in 

 the soil. Therefore, work in the ashes as the soil 

 is prepared for sowing. 



The time for sowing carrots is as early as the 

 ground can be made ready, clean and mellow and 

 fine. Then lay out the rows, from 1 to 2 feet apart ; 

 1 foot will do, if space is limited. Because of 

 low vitality, the seed must be sown more thickly. 

 Sometimes, only about one-fifth of those sown 

 will start. It is well to sow at least four seeds to 

 the inch. Because of their slow germination, the 

 surface is likely to break and crack before the deli- 

 cate seedlings appear. Sometimes because of their 

 lack of vigor, they are unable to break through 

 the crust. Together with the carrot seed sow some 

 sort of strong quickly germinating seed, like rad- 



