88 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 



seed is of peculiar lightness, it is apt not to vegetate 

 weTl if the surface is light ; and the practice has ob- 

 tained with large growers of preparing it before- 

 hand, by mixing five pounds of seed with a bushel 

 of sand or fine mould a week or two beforehand, and 

 of moistening and turning the mass frequently ; by 

 this means not only do all the seeds grow, but the 

 plants come up quickly, and get the start of weeds. 

 Two pounds of seed is enough for an acre when 

 sown in drills, though five pounds are often sown on 

 an acre broadcast. Von Thaer uses poudrette in- 

 stead of mould in the preparation of his seed. The 

 drills should be eighteen inches apart, and the plant.' 

 thinned to six or eight inches. The seed should be 

 sown early in, or by the middle of May. 



The after-culture of carrots consists in keeping 

 them free from weeds, and the surface of the soi) 

 open ; and as the rows are too near to admit of the 

 plough or cultivator, the hand-hoe must be depend- 

 ed on. 



The best mode of harvesting the crop is that adopt- 

 ed by Col. Meacham ;* turning the earth from the 

 row with the plough, and then drawing them with 

 the hand. 



The ordinary yield of carrots is less than that of 

 ruta-baga or mangold-wurzel : the average may be 

 stated at 400 to 500 bushels the acre, though the 

 product has exceeded 1000. They are so hardy, 

 that in the south of England they are permitted to 

 stand out during the winter ; but with us they should 

 be gathered and secured, like other roots, in October. 



The carrot is eaten by all sorts of farm-stock, but 

 is particularly useful for horses and milch cows, 

 serving as a substitute for grain with the former, 

 and increasing and improving milk when fed to the 

 latter. Mr. Burrows, one of the greatest growers 

 of this root, has fed ten cart-horses with them du- 



* See Col. Meacham'n letter at the close of this chapter. 



