286 



HISTORY OP THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



rived originally from the wild species. Several 

 horticulturists have attempted to cultivate the 

 wild root, but without success. The probability 

 is, therefore, that the garden carrot is either a 

 distinct species, or a variety obtained in a w^armer 

 climate than that of Britain from a wild stock. 



This root, according to the commentatoi-s, 

 would appear to have been known to, and culti- 

 vated by the Greeks under tlie name of staphy- 

 linos; at all events, the description of Dioscor- 

 ides seems to apply pretty accurately to the 

 modern carrot. He describes it as a plant grow- 

 ing wild, but also cultivated for the purpose of 

 an esculent root. The carrot also appears to 

 have been a cultivated vegetable among various 

 nations, from the time of the Greeks downwards. 



The garden, or cultivated carrot, was first in- 

 troduced into England by the Flemings, during 

 the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Finding the soil 

 about Sandwich in Kent very favourable for the 

 culture of the carrot, the emigi-ants soon engaged 

 in its production on that spot. The English, 

 whose knowledge of horticulture was at that 

 time extremely circumscribed, were in this case 

 well pleased to add another edible vegetable to 

 the scanty list which were then under general 

 cultivation. The carrot, therefore, unlike the 

 turnip, grew quickly into esteem, and being 

 made an object of careful culture, was very 

 shortly naturalized throughout the island. Par- 

 kinson, the celebrated botanist to James tlie 

 First, mentions that in his time the ladies adorned 

 their head-dresses with carrot-leaves, the light 

 feathery verdure of which caused them to be no 

 contemptible substitute for the plumage of birds. 

 Although the taste of the fair sex in the present 

 day has discarded this simple and perishable or- 

 nament, the leaves of the carrot are even now 

 sometimes used as house decorations. If in the 

 winter a section be cut from the end or thick 

 part of the root, and this be placed in a shallow 

 vessel containing water, young and delicate leaves 

 are developed, forming a "radiated tuft," the 

 graceful and verdant appearance of which make 

 it a pleasing ornament for the mantel-piece in 

 that season when any semblance of vegetation is 

 a welcome relief to tlie eye. 



The carrot is a biennial plant, the first year 

 develops the root and st^^m, and the second year 

 the flowers appear in the form of a close umbel, 

 in June and July, and are succeeded by the seeds, 

 which are covered with a rough coat of hairs or 

 bristles. There are not less than ten varieties 

 enumerated of the carrot, characterised by size, 

 shape, and the earliness or lateness of their 

 growth. The early carrots are short, and of a 

 paler colour; the late are larger, longer, and of 

 a deeper red hue. 



The red or large field carrot attains to a con- 

 siderable growth ; it is chiefly cultivated in fields as 

 food for cattle, and in farmer's gardens as a material 



for colouring butter. The orange carrot, though 

 not so productive, is generally the main crop in 

 garden culture; the flavour of this is more deli- 

 cate, and tlierefore it is in higlier estimation as a 

 culinary vegetable. There are, likewise, white, 

 yellow, and purple varieties; these are not, how- 

 ever, in common cultivation. The horn-carrot 

 has a shorter and smaller root than the long var- 

 ieties; it is, therefore, a good crop for a shallow 

 soil, and in such a situation is preferable to the 

 larger kind; it has likemse the advantage of 

 coming to maturity in a shorter period than the 

 long, and is consequently found well adapted for 

 the early and late crops. 



When a carrot is cut transversely, it is found 

 to consist of two parts of diflx!rent colour and 

 texture. These are the bark and the wood; the 

 bark is of the darkest colour, and of the most 

 pulpy consistence, and it is also the sweetest to 

 the taste; the heart or wood, especially when the 

 root has attained its full size, is more fibrous ov 

 stringy, and, if it be separated, it is bristled over 

 with hard points or fibres that extend to the 

 rootlets outside. Almost the whole crown of 

 the root, or the part which sends up the leaves, 

 is connected with the wood, and only the epi- 

 dermis of the leaves and stem with the external 

 portions of the root. 



The skin or bark is found to be more nutri- 

 tious than the central part, and consequently 

 the value of the carrot as an esculent will depend 

 on the relative proportion of these two parts of 

 the root. The object of the skilful cultivator 

 is, therefore, to obtain the root with the smallest 

 possible proportionate quantity of wood. In 

 endeavouring to secure this result, much must 

 of course depend upon the nature of the plants 

 from which the seeds are obtained ; but adapta- 

 tion of soil is likewise a very important consid- 

 eration. 



The carrot is most successfully cultivated in 

 a light mellow soil mixed with sand : the ground 

 should be well dug to some depth, and made ex- 

 tremely friable and porous, that the roots may 

 meet with no obstruction in running down, which 

 would cause them to grow forked, and to shoot 

 out lateral branches. This accident will happen, 

 especially when the ground has been too highly 

 manured previously to the seed being sown. It 

 may perhaps be taken as a general rule that 

 strong soils are not well adapted for any plants 

 which form esculent roots deep under the sur- 

 face, as the meclianical resistance which is thereby 

 opposed to the swelling of the bulb forces much 

 of the strength of the plant up into leaves; and 

 in the carrot especially, that part of the root 

 which is the most valuable is diminished in the 

 greatest proportion. 



The best mode of cultivating these roots has 

 been made by many agriculturists a subject of 

 inquiry. So early as the year 1705, this branch 



