C A 11 HOT. 



Ill 



count of its stimulant effects. It is spoken of by Pliny *, who 

 states, that the most esteemed kinds were produced in Candia 

 and Achaia. But the Cretan carrot, mentioned by Celsus as 

 an ingredient in the famous Mithridate f, seems to have been 

 the Athamanta Cretensis. The English word carrot, and the 

 Latin carota, are derived, according to Theis, from the Celtic, 

 car, red. The plant often goes by the name of bird's nest, in 

 allusion to the umbels, which contract when the fruit begins to 

 ripen, and form a dense concave body, the shape of wliich has 

 susgested the above name in English, and the vogelnest of the 

 Dutch and Germans. 



The garden carrot is generally supposed to be a variety of 

 the wild species improved by culture, and of this there can be 

 little doubt, when the change effected in other esculent vege- 

 tables is considered ; although Miller states, that tliose who 

 have attempted to cultivate the wild sort are convinced of their 

 being distinct ; and others assert that the plant was introduced 

 from Belgium in the reign of Elizabeth. 



Culture. — The seeds do not retain their vegetative powers 

 more than a year, for which reason the cautious cultivator 

 should prove them before sowing. There are several varieties ; 

 the largest, called the Altringham, is chiefly used for field cul- 

 ture ; and the orange-carrot, the early horn, and the late horn, 

 are considered the best garden sorts. The main crop is sown 

 in March or April, in a deep, warm, light, sandy soil, which should 

 be dug two spades deep, for if the roots meet with any obstruc- 

 tion, they are apt to grow forked, and shoot out lateral roots ; 

 when manure is added, it should be buried deep, or thinly dis- 

 persed over the ground, to prevent the roots from being worm- 

 eaten. A calm day should be chosen for sowing, and the seeds 

 should be well rubbed previously, and trodden in before raking. 

 When the plants are come up, several successive hoeings should 

 be given, and care should be taken to keep them at a proper 



* Hist. Nat., lib. xxv cap. 9. 



f For the composition of this once- celebrated antidote against poison, dis- 

 covered by the learned Mithridates, king of Pontus, which was said to 

 have been so efficacious that he was unable to succeed even in poisoning 

 himself, see an excellent edition of Celsus de Medicina, Latin and English, 

 bv Alexander I-ee, A.M., M.D. 



