On the Improvement of the Wild Carrot, 



earth is stronger, a new sowing. It sprung up very clean, the 

 plants became very strong, but all still ran to flower. The roots 

 were larger than those of the fields, but I should say, worse on ac- 

 count of their consistence and their strong ramifications. Two 

 other sowings, made at Verriere the 15 May and 22 June follow- 

 ing, also ran to flower to a great extent but not entirely. They 

 had come up freely like the preceding, but very unequally and in suc- 

 cession ; some seeds germinated during all the summer. Amongst 

 these late plants, several did not run to flower and five or six made 

 tolerably fleshy roots, about half an inch in diameter, and resem- 

 bling very ordinary garden carrots. 



These roots replanted the following spring produced seeds which 

 were sown in 1835. A considerable portion of this crop still ran 

 to seed, but the proportion was much less than it had previously 

 been. The plant had already experienced a remarkable change ; at 

 the time of drawing them, about a fifth part was found to consist 

 of pretty good carrots, small and middle sized, but a little fibrous, 

 some even quite well made and good. This second generation 

 presented a good choice of stock plants, which were replanted 

 and produced seed in 1836. 



In 1837 I obtained from these seeds, a third generation of roots 

 very considerably improved ; many of them were very large and 

 fleshy, some exceeded the weight of a kilogramme. The largest 

 were in general coarse and ill shaped ; but others were found per- 

 fectly good in every respect, equalling the best garden carrots. 

 The refuse of this crop amounted to about a third part, consisting 

 of forked branched roots ; but most even of these were fleshy and 

 eatable. Few plants ran to seed, at most not above a tenth part. 

 In 1838 I made with the same seed a pretty considerable sowing in 

 the fields ; the majority of which has likewise yielded me very 

 good produce. 



Last year, 1839, I raised the fourth generation. The roots have 

 been in general less large than those of 1837, because they have 



