ON REARING KITCHEN VEGETABLES, 



53 



They keep better when moderately dry, and relieved of 

 their diseased neighbours. The best place for storing 

 them in is a diy shed or loft, that is not at all warm, and 

 where they can be laid in dry sand, and covered with 

 straw, to keep out frost. Putting them in pits, in the 

 open gi'ound, is at best but a necessary evil. 



%— Carrots. 



The Carrot is a common wild plant, with a small woody 

 root, improved by cultivation to a large-sized fleshy root, 

 containing in 140 parts, 95 parts of sugar, three parts of 

 starch, and the rest water and fibre. It is, therefore, 

 nourishing, wholesome, and profitable. 



It grows naturally in a dry, gravelly, or sandy soil, but 

 requh'es in the garden a deep rich sandy loam, well dug, 

 but not fresh manured, which latter causes the roots 

 to fork, unless the manure be buiied more than half a 

 foot. The time for sowing is from the end of February 

 for the early crop, till the first week in April (not later) 

 for the full crop. 



For the early crop, the early horn sort is preferable, 

 but is small and not so profitable as the orange or the 

 Altringham : for the full crop, the red or long orange 

 is best. 



As the hairs on the seed cause it to mat together, rub 

 it well with an equal quantity of dry sand and ashes, and 

 on a calm day sow thinly broadcast, or rather strew it in 

 drills an inch or less deep, and a foot or more apart, the 

 gi'ound being first rolled, or trodden firm and even; cover 

 lightly, and pat it over with the back of the spade. If it 

 is sown broadcast, the ground should neither be trodden 

 nor rolled preTious to sowing, but the seed should be 

 scattered over it immediately after digging, and it may 

 then be well ti'odden, and the seed carefully raked in. 



The seed ought not to be more than one yeai' old, and 

 is often bad. For forty feet of drill, a C[uarter of an 

 ounce is enough, and the same for a bed three feet wide 

 and eleven feet long. 



Weeding is of the utmost importance, to give the 

 plants all possible light and air ; and for the same reason, 

 the plants themselves ought to be thinned out when in 



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