CHAP. IT. THE CARROT CROP. 977 



The Cauliflower and Broccoli are not grown on farms, except those 

 on which market garden crops are taken. Neither are they cultivated 

 for stock feeding. Their culture is similar to that of other cabbages, 

 and they require very heavy manuring. 



The CARROT (Daucus Carota, nat. ord. Umbelliferse) is raised from 

 seeds, which ought to be previously well rubbed in the hands, to divest 

 them of their beards, and mixed with dry sand, ashes, bran, or 

 powdered charcoal. The last-named is to be preferred, where it can 

 be easily obtained. This mixing prevents the seeds from adhering to 

 each other, or to the drill, and from coming up in patches. Carrots 

 flourish best in light sandy loams, which should be well loosened by 

 frequent deep ploughing, or subsoiling and harrowing, in order to 

 enable the long tap-roots to penetrate to the necessary depth. They 

 may, in fact, be grown on any loose soil, which is deeply and 

 thoroughly cultivated ; but on weedy soils there is much difficulty in 

 keeping the crop clean, as in the early stages of growth the leaves are 

 small, and it is very troublesome for workmen to distinguish between 

 them and weeds. 



Carrots are a most valuable food, and are relished by all animals, 

 but are particularly valuable for milking-cows and horses. 



The Belgian White carrot is of more rapid growth than the red 

 variety, and therefore in unfavourable seasons answers better, but it 

 has not come into very general use. It is equally acceptable to live 

 stock. According to the late Mr. Philip Pusey, white carrots generally 

 yield on an average eight or nine tons per acre more than red ones. 

 Mr. Morton, of Chester Hill, found that a crop of white carrots sown 

 on a deep sandy loam, without manure, yielded at the rate of 26 tons 

 3 cwt. per acre. Many feeders consider this crop equal to any of the 

 roots usually given to cattle. 



Carrots require careful cultivation, and should not be sown on foul 

 land ; clean wheat or barley stubbles are best for them. The sowing 

 should take place at the end of April, or during the first or second 

 week in May, and previous to this the land should have been prepared 

 by a manuring of farm-yard dung ploughed in some five or six months 

 before, and, subsequently to that, by deep ploughing, subsoiling, 

 and harrowing, with intermediate rollings. The seed should be drilled, 

 and not sown broad-cast, and the ground afterwards rolled. About 

 three or four weeks later, the hoeing must commence. The carrots 

 will be ready to take up about six months from the time of sowing, 

 and should never be left in the ground later than November. A good 

 soil, well cultivated, will yield from 16 to 20 tons per acre. The crop 

 requires digging when the tops die down in the autumn, and it should 

 be got up before there is risk of frost. Carrots are stored in the same 

 manner as potatoes. 



As carrots will grow without the assistance of manure, and as good 

 crops have been thus obtained, an opinion at one time prevailed that the 

 application of manure was injurious to them. It is true that raw manure, 

 ploughed in shortly before the sowing, very frequently causes the 



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