THE CARROT. 



649 



same year. The best formed roots, and those which have come earliest or 

 latest into maturity according to the variety, should be selected and trans- 

 planted in autumn, or early in spring, into a spot by themselves, and the 

 stems tied to stakes, if there should be any danger apprehended from high 

 winds. The seed will keep four or five years, but should be aerated once 

 every winter, during severe frost (1383). 



li2o. Diseases^ insects, S)C. — The turnip in very dry seasons is liable to 

 the mildew, if it has not been liberally supplied with v\-ater ; and also to 

 excrescences on the root, produced by a species of cynips which deposits 

 its eggs there. Lime, soap-boilers' waste, putrid urine, or the urine of cows, 

 are said to render the soil offensive to the parent-fly ; and when its attacks 

 can be foreseen, this mode may be adopted, more especially as, if it fails, it 

 wUl at all events manure the soil. On coming through the ground, the 

 plants are liable to the attacks of a small jumping beetle, called the turnip- 

 flea, Haltica nemorum, besides five or six other insects of different kinds, 

 the effects of which are very serious in field- culture ; but in gardens they 

 can generally be guarded agaiast, or counteracted by watering, or by digging 

 down and re-sowdng. 



1426. Forcing the turnip for the root is seldom attempted in British 

 gardens, though in Russia and some parts of Germany it is sown on hotbeds, 

 as radishes are in England. The roots, more especially those of the Swedish 

 turnip, placed close together on heat in January, will produce an abundance 

 of delicate sprouts through February and March. 



SuBSECT. LY.— The Carrot. 



1427. The carrot, Daucus Carbta L. (Garotte, Fr.), is an umbelliferous 

 biennial, common in Britain and other parts of Europe, of no use in cookery 

 in a w^nd state, but by culture rendered succulent, agreeable, and when 

 young highly nutritive. It is excellent in a mature state as a dish, or in 

 stews ; and no vegetable is so much ia demand for soups. For the latter 

 purpose, it is required in some families throughout the year ; several crops 

 being forced, and the supply from May to October being furnished from the 

 open garden. A considerable breadth is therefore required for this crop, 

 which in the rotation may follow some of the cabbage tribe, or some crop 

 that has been manured ; for any manure, except what is in a liquid state, 

 applied to the carrot, causes the roots to branch and their rind to become 

 ulcerated. 



1428. Varieties. — Early horn ; orange, short, coming earlier to maturity 

 than any other variety. Early scarlet horn; larger than the preceding, and 

 better for a main crop. Long orange, syn. Altringham ; orange-red, long, 

 well-adapted for a main crop. Long red Surrey ; red, long, excellent also 

 for a main crop. Long white; white, very delicate flavoured, produces an 

 immense crop, but does not keep weU through the winter. Violet, syn. 

 purple ; violet, large, sweet, not much cultivated. 



1429. Culture. — By seed is the only mode of propagation; and as the 

 seeds have numerous forked hairs on their edges, by which they adhere 

 together in clusters, they should be rubbed betw^een the hands and mixed 

 with dry sand, in order to separate them as much as possible before sowing. 

 For a bed four and a half feet by thirty feet, the plants to be thinned out 

 to six inches every way, or for 150 feet of drill, 1 oz. of seed w^ill be requi- 

 site. The seed does not come up for four or five weeks in spring, and for 



