978 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK x. 



plant to become forked, and thus spoils its appearance for the market ; 

 but manure which has been incorporated with the soil sufficiently long 

 to have become decomposed, will always be found to increase the 

 produce. Salt dug into the ground has been known to increase the 

 crop one-half; salt and soot is also a very beneficial manure for this 

 crop. Rape-dust and bone-dust have been recommended. 



Carrots form a palatable and nutritious food for almost every kind 

 of stock. They may be given unboiled. Mixed with cut straw, there 

 are few things that will better support the horse, and colts are brought 

 into excellent condition when fed with them. To the cow they afford 

 a, wholesome food, and colour and flavour the butter much more 

 agreeably than turnips. The pig eats them ravenously, and thrives 

 upon them ; and if the veterinary surgeon were to state his opinion, 

 it would be that the carrot is one of the most valuable medicines which 

 he has at his command. In the form of poultice, it will give a healthy 

 character to foul ulcers, and it will heal some of the varieties of 

 " grease " where everything else fails. When colts, and young horses, 

 too, are recovering from distemper, or catarrh, or strangles, or when it 

 is doubtful what turn the disease will take, there is nothing so likely to 

 recall the appetite and to turn the scale in favour of life. Carrots 

 occasionally have a similar effect, although not so decided, upon 

 cattle ; they are, indeed, invaluable in these respects. If the sick 

 animal can be induced to eat them, good will in all probability result, 

 and in no case will they do harm. 



The carrot crop is subject to the attacks of various insects, some of 

 which, as the aphides or plant-lice, attack the leaf, and others the root 

 of the plant. The rust is one of the worst diseases to which this crop 

 is liable ; the seat of the evil is here in the root, and the cause is a 

 small maggot, the larva of the two-winged fly, Psila rosse. A top- 

 dressing of cow-dung, or pigeons' dung, or of sand saturated with spirits 

 of tar, or quick-lime, spread over the ground immediately before the 

 sowing, or drilled in with the seed, are the remedies prescribed for the 

 rust ; washing the leaves with an emulsion of soft soap containing 

 paraffin is a means of getting rid of the plant-lice. 



The PARSNIP (Pastinaca sativa, L., nat. ord. Umbelliferse). 

 This root has hitherto been little used for the food of cattle in this 

 country, although in some parts of France it is highly valued, and in 

 Jersey and Guernsey it is cultivated upon an extensive scale. It gives 

 a flavour and richness to the milk of cows which is scarcely exceeded 

 by the carrot ; swine are fond of and readily fattened by it, and cattle 

 relish it, and do well on it. Its cultivation is very similar to that of 

 the carrot, and it can be grown on all deep turnip soils, and, with 

 proper care, on heavy or light, wet or cold lands. It is so very hardy 

 that it may be left in the land throughout winter without fear of injury 

 from frost; but when the crop is dug it should be clamped like 

 carr6ts. 



The JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE (Helianthus tuberosus, nat. ord. Com- 



