ESCULENT-ROOTED PLANTS. — THE CARROT. 



181 



forty years ago. It is known also as green- 

 topped and superb. 



Long red. — Colour deep red ; heart small ; 

 roots long, not remarkable for their thickness. 

 A popular sort in some parts of England, where 

 it is known as long Surrey, Surrey, Chertsey, 

 and Studley. It is the Carotte rouge longue of 

 the French, and pretty extensively grown over 

 the Continent. 



Long orange. — A large variety, less esteemed 

 for culinary purposes than the red sorts, on 

 account of its colour. It was formerly much 

 grown in gardens in Scotland. The roots are 

 produced entirely under ground, and it is, 

 therefore, less liable to the attacks of hares 

 than those which grow partly above ground. 

 Roots thick at the top, regularly tapering to a 

 point. Heart large, hard, and not readily soften- 

 ing in boiling. It is known as the large red, 

 large field or cattle carrot, Sandwich, and is the 

 Carotte rouge pale de Flanders. 



Purple-coloured. — Roots of medium size; deep 

 reddish purple; heart large and yellow. It is 

 better suited for wet soils than any other, and in 

 such is often cultivated by the French. It is 

 known also as red, deep red ; and is the Carotte 

 violette, La violette, &c. of the French seed-lists. 



White. — Seldom grown in gardens. Of it 

 there are two varieties, the common white, not 

 worth cultivating, and the large white green- 

 top. Produces immense crops, and is delicate 

 and well-flavoured when cooked, but does not 

 keep well through the winter. The large white 

 green- top has roots short, of large size and great 

 thickness while under ground; greenish-coloured i 

 on the top, which rises considerably above the 

 surface. On account of the shortness of its 

 roots and their standing so high above the 

 ground, it is better suited for shallow soils than 

 any of the others. The French possess a much 

 greater variety of carrots than we think worth 

 cultivating in Britain. 



Insects and diseases. — " Insects infest the car- 

 rot crop in the root, stem, and flower. The 

 plant no sooner makes its appearance than it is 

 attacked by aphides, which are scarcely larger 

 than cheese-mites, of a uniform pale-green co- 

 lour, with six legs, two horns, and no wings. 

 Their presence is indicated by the yellow foli- 

 age, and in pulling up the plant the roots are 

 sound and clean ; but the crown is not only dis- 

 coloured, but, on opening the embryo leaves, 

 numbers of the aphides are found concealed. 

 Dusting the crop on the appearance of the 

 aphides with caustic lime is a good remedy. 



" The root of the carrot is affected by a disease 

 named the rust, in which the crop gradually 

 dies off, loses its saccharine qualities, and, 

 changing to a ferruginous colour, becomes of 

 little value. This complaint is occasioned by the 

 larvae of the carrot-fly, Psila rosos, fig. 61, eating 

 galleries along the roots, which they inhabit 

 through the summer, when they become pupae 

 in the earth ; but a new brood hatches in the 

 summer every three or four weeks. This fly is 

 3 lines long, of a pitchy black; the wings lie 

 horizontally along the back when at rest, and 

 extend beyond the tail, and when expanded ex- 

 tend to 5 lines. The maggots are ochreous and 

 VOL. II. 



shining, cylindrical, pointed at the head, and 

 obtuse at the tail, resembling cheese-hoppers, 

 though they cannot leap, and are exceedingly 

 transparent, every internal part being visible. 



Fig. 61. 



When the cavities have been opened by this 

 maggot in the rest of the carrot, large numbers 

 of the millipede (Polydesmus complanatus) , and 

 of the centipede (Scolopendra electrica), assist in 

 extending the depredations. Another caterpil- 

 lar, the larva of the ghost-moth, Hepialis humili, 

 fig. 62, also eats into the root of the carrot and 

 injures it. The larvae of the flat-body moths, 



Fig. 62. 



GHOST-MOTH (MALE AND FEMALE), CATERPILLAR, 



and chrysalis. Natural size. 



Depressaria cicutella and depressella, bore into 

 the stems of the carrot, causing the leaves to 

 stint and decay; and the larvae of the grey car- 

 rot blossom flat-body moth, Depressaria da u- 

 cella, commit great havoc on the umbels of the 

 flowers." — Booh of the Farm, vol. ii. p. 96. 



2 A 



