36 THE SEED-GROWER. 



as for beets, and are set out as soon as heavy frost is over 

 in the spring, being placed with the crowns even with the 

 surface, in rows three feet apart, six inches in the row. 

 As required with all planting, the earth should be 

 pressed firmly about the roots. Cultivate thoroughly 

 and keep down weeds. 



In California, wintering of roots is done somewhat 

 differently from the practice on the Atlantic side as 

 above stated. There the roots which are ploughed up 

 in the fall, instead of being stored in pits as in the 

 East, are topped, and then put into sacks, which are 

 simply kept stored in sheds or out of doors until wanted 

 for planting in January or February. 



Carrot seed forms in umbels or clusters, and when 

 bulk of the crop is ripe, indicated by the stalks becom- 

 ing dry, and the umbels turning brown, harvest is in 

 order. Cutting is usually done by hand. 



Threshing and Cleaning. When seed is thor- 

 oughly dry, thresh lightly with a flail on a cloth spread 

 on the floor, for if the stalks are broken too much, it 

 will render seed more difficult to clean. 



In Europe, cleaning is done in a special machine 

 made with a wooden cylinder having steel teeth, for the 

 purpose of taking out the beard and small splinters. 

 Without this machine, seed is cleaned with hand sieves, 

 using first, one with a coarse mesh to remove the pieces 

 of stalks; next, one with a finer mesh, in which seed is 

 rubbed by hand to remove the beard. Seed is then 

 spread on a cloth and left in the sun for a day or so to 

 dry. It is again cleaned in the sieve, hand rubbing 

 being repeated and sticks picked out. The next day, 

 another cleaning is given, and finally seed is passed 

 through the fan mill. It will then be ready for storing 

 in sacks. 



