THE CARROT. 



287 



of husbandly engaged the attention of the So- 

 ciety for the Encouragement of Arts, &c.; and, 

 in consequence, an account of the culture of 

 carrots, and the uses to which they may be ap- 

 plied, was published by Robert Biling, a farmer 

 of Norfolk, in whose work much useful matter 

 on the subject is obtained. 



The seeds of carrots are surrounded by num- 

 erous forked hairs, by which they adhere to each 

 other so tenaciously, that there is some difficulty 

 in causing their separation; this is performed 

 either by rubbing them through the hands, or 

 by passing them through a fine chaff-seive; but 

 the best and most effectual method, as recom- 

 mended by an intelligent cultivator, is to mix 

 them with fine sand in the proportion of one 

 bushel to every four or five pounds of seeds; this 

 mixture is then laid in heaps, being occasionally 

 watered and turned during two or three weeks 

 previous to sowing. The above preliminary 

 process not only occasions the more equal diffu- 

 sion of the seeds, but likewise promotes their 

 quicker germination; besides this, when they are 

 sown alone their extreme levity causes great in- 

 convenience, and prevents this operation from 

 being successfully performed except in the calmest 

 weather. The ground being duly manured, and 

 reduced to the required degree of fineness, the 

 seed mixed with the sand is sown about the 

 middle of March or beginning of April: the seeds 

 thus prepared germinate and send up young 

 plants before the appearance of the annual weeds, 

 which are always abundant in a soil so worked 

 and manured. In about five or six weeks the 

 plants are in a fit state for hoeing, and that oper- 

 ation two or three times repeated, according to 

 the increase of the weeds, is all the after-culture 

 which is requisite. 



From this manner of sowing, more than eight 

 hundred bushels per acre of carrots of very large 

 growth have been obtained. According to Mr 

 Arthur Young, the produce of these roots on in- 

 different land is about two hundred bushels, and 

 on a more congenial soil six hundred and forty 

 bushels per acre. The garden culture of carrots 

 is somewhat different. In that case they are 

 sown in a succession of crops from the latter end 

 of February to the beginning of August, and 

 the plants when hoed are thinned at regular dis- 

 tances, of from five to eight inches apart, the 

 particular interval being regulated by the size 

 of the variety under cultivation, and by the 

 period of their growth at which they are to be 

 drawn. 



In order to preserve carrots for winter use, 

 they are dug up in the beginning of November, 

 and placed in a dry place in sand, by which 

 means they may be kept without spoiling until 

 March or April of the ensuing year. 



To obtain carrot seed, some roots which have 

 been taken up in November are replanted in 



February about two feet apart, and with the 

 crown or head a few inches below the surface. 

 Loaves and flower-stalks will spring up from 

 these, and seeds will be produced which ripen 

 in autumn. A considerable quantity of carrot 

 seed is raised atWeathersfield in Essex, but this 

 is insufficient for a home supply, and it is said 

 much is imported from Holland into this country. 

 It would appear that the production of carrot 

 seed may occasionally be made a source of con- 

 siderable profit to the cultivator. We find it 

 recorded that, in the latter half of the last cen- 

 tury, a farmer in Essex obtained from an acre of 

 land sown with carrots ten cwt. of seed, which 

 he sold in London for £10 per cwt. This is a very 

 rare case. If it were general the price would 

 soon be reduced. 



The size of carrots differs, of course, very 

 much according to soil, culture, and variety. 

 Some have been known to measure two feet in 

 length, and from twelve to fourteen inches in 

 circumference at the thickest part. In the 

 autumn of 1826 several were taken up in the 

 neighbourhood of Lancaster, having an average 

 weight of four pounds each; these were fine firm 

 roots, and in every respect good for the table. 



Carrots are very liable to the attacks of grubs 

 and insects. These animals, especially some 

 species of ring- worms, (lulus) eat into the root, 

 where they lie concealed, and thus cause what is 

 commonly called canker. The upper part of 

 the root is also attacked by the grub of a kind 

 of fly; under these attacks the root and whole 

 plant withers. The best remedy is late sowing, 

 to avoid the period at which these insects are 

 evolved from the eggs. 



The carrot is extensively used in cooker}"-, 

 entering into soups and stews, as well as forming 

 a vegetable dish. Besides their use as human 

 food, caiTots are in some places grown largely 

 for the consumption of stock, especially for 

 horses. It is aflSrmed that cattle which have 

 once tasted these, usually prefer them so much 

 to turnips, as with difficulty to be made to return 

 to the latter. The milk of cows fed on carrots 

 never acquires any unpleasant flavour, while at 

 the same time the quantity produced is increased. 

 Calves thrive admirably, and bullocks are quickly 

 fattened on this food. Carrots are equally bene- 

 ficial as nourishment for sheep, and are devoured 

 with avidity by swine. In the short space of 

 ten days a lean hog was fattened by these roots, 

 having consumed during that period 196 pounds. 

 Its fat proved very fine, white, and firm, and 

 did not waste in the dressing. Horses receiving 

 no other sustenance perform their work as usual 

 without any diminution of their sleekness. The 

 efficacy of these roots in pi-eserving and restor- 

 ing the wind of horses had, it is said, been par- 

 tially known in Suffolk, where carrots were ad- 

 ministered as a secret specific for the complaint, 



