MODE OF LIFTING, STORING, ETC. 475 



portions : in such cases it is always advisable to give some 

 dry food, such as hay, straw, or corn, at the same time 

 in the racks or feeding troughs. In lifting the crop, a 

 man and his wife or child work profitably together, the 

 man using the fork to displace the root from its bed, and 

 the wife or child aiding the operation by grasping the 

 stem of the plant, drawing it out of the raised soil, and 

 then topping it "and throwing it into the heap arranged 

 for carting. This divides the labour economically; the 

 man has not to alter his erect position to pull out the 

 root, and the root, by being pulled out vertically, has less 

 chance of being broken than when carelessly drawn out 

 by the side- wrench of the single workman. 



As carrots stored are generally intended for late con- 

 sumption, it is desirable before carting them off the field 

 to give them a few days' exposure, if the weather be favour- 

 able, for the purpose of drying their surface, and getting 

 rid of a small proportion of the water they contain. This 

 is effected readily by placing them in small heaps on the 

 ground, and covering them over with a layer of tops, so 

 as to protect them from the dews and morning frosts so 

 common at this period of the year. Their surface being 

 smooth, but little soil usually is attached to them, so that 

 no necessity exists for cleaning them previous to storing. 

 The storing should be effected, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, in the manner already described for mangold- 

 wurzel (page 441), which, if properly carried out, will keep 

 the stock of carrots fresh, and in good condition for feed- 

 ing, until the next crop is harvested. 



As more care is required in the proper selection of seed 

 for the carrot than for most other crops, owing to the 

 diminishing vitality of the seed when kept longer than a 

 year, and to its greater tendency, when not carefully 

 grown, to produce seeding or forked plants, it is most 

 important that in growing the seed all precautions should 



