1882.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



179 



CARROTS, 



Many gardeners and farmers are deterred 

 from raising Carrots because they suppose 

 there is too much work connected with the 

 crop. This is probably true, as they are 

 often managed. When planted in narrow 

 rows, the work being all done by hand, 

 there is scarcely any end to the fuss and 

 labor, and the value of the crop is very 

 likely to be no more than the cost. Experi- 

 ence is a good teacher in root culture, as 

 well as in all other things. I have grown 

 Carrots a number of years, and adopted a 

 system which makes them one of the cheap- 

 est crops grown on the farm. Whoever has 

 had a pile of Carrots in the spring to use 



EARL> 



CARROT. 



EARLY HALF-LONG 

 SCARLET CARROT. 



knows their value for stock. I would rather 

 have a peck of Carrots each day to go with 

 the Oats, than the same amount of Oats for 

 the horses. For cows, pigs, sheep, and poul- 

 try they are equally nourishing and whole- 

 some, not to mention their great value as a 

 table vegetable. 



The land designed for Carrots should be 

 of a loamy character, as this will work bet- 

 ter than clay, and retain moisture better 

 than either clay or sand. Carrots, how- 

 ever, may be grown in any kind of soil if 

 it is properly prepared. The preparation 

 is just the same as that required to produce 

 any good crop— viz., plenty of well- rotted 

 manure and thorough plowing. The land 

 should be plowed deeper than for ordinary 

 crops, and be harrowed until it is mellow 

 and fine. It is a good plan to go over the 

 ground with a field-roller, to crush all the 

 lumps and smooth the surface. 



With a light marker, mark the ground into 

 rows twenty inches apart, and then run the 

 seed-drill in these rows. The rows may be 

 wider, but it is waste of ground to make them 

 farther apart than is necessary to allow a 

 cultivator to go between them, as the Carrots 

 really do not require to be twenty inches apart 

 to grow well. The object of putting them 

 this distance apart is to admit their being 

 cultivated with a horse. Putting the seed 

 in the bottom of the marked rows causes 

 them to germinate sooner, as they get cov- 

 ered deeper, yet not too deep, and to get 

 more moisture than when drilled in on the 

 surface. This early starting helps to get 

 the young plants ahead of the weeds, which 

 is an important item. 



As soon as the little plants can be seen, 

 they should be scraped — -i. e., the weeds and 

 earth cleared away from the rows, leaving 

 the ground smooth and clean on each side. 

 When this is done — removing the ridges 

 made by the marker — the surface will be 

 level, or rather, the plants will stand a little 

 higher than the sides. This puts them in 



favorable position for the cultivator, which 

 should be run through the rows as soon as 

 the weeds start and while the ground is still 

 clean along the plants. When the rows are 

 scraped, the dirt should be thrown half-way 

 across the rows on each side, to cover up the 

 young weeds which may be started. This 

 work will check the weeds in their growth, 

 so that the Carrots will get large enough to 

 be out of the way of the cultivator. The 

 man should walk backward when scraping 

 the row, doing one side at a time. This 

 work can be rapidly performed, and, when 

 well done, it is about all of the hand labor 

 necessary in raising Carrots. If weeds spring- 

 up in the rows, they should be pulled out, 

 and the Carrots thinned, so that they will 

 stand about two inches apart. When closer, 

 they will be smaller, and it is just as much 

 work to top a small Carrot as a larger one. 



There is no need of digging Carrots with a 

 fork or a spade, as they may be plowed out 

 sufficiently to get hold of them. Set the 

 plow to run deep, and with the team astride 

 of the row, turn them up. As the tops are 

 cut off, throw the Carrots into small heaps. 

 Always select a dry time to gather them, and 

 put them into the cellar perfectly dry. A 

 pound of seed is ample for an acre, and if 

 the drill does not plant true, it is best to go 

 twice in a row. Carrots may be raised as 

 easy as any root crop, and yield fully as 

 much. 



There are but few varieties in general cul- 

 tivation, but whatever kind one may use, 

 good seed of select and pure strain is of 

 primary importance. 



Early Horn is the most favorite variety 

 for early use, and is extensively grown by 

 market gardeners for selling in bunches. It 



BLISS'S IMPROVED LARSE WHITE 



LONG ORANGE CARROT. BELGIAN CARROT. 



is of small to medium size, about two weeks 

 earlier, and more delicate and tender than 

 the large kinds. 



Early Half-Long Scarlet — An interme- 



diate sort between the Early Horn and Long 

 Orange, recommended for shallow soils. 



Long Orange is the kind mostly grown as a 

 general crop. It is long, smooth, and of 

 good quality. 



LONG ORANGE ALTRINGHAM 

 CARROT. CARROT. 



Bliss's Improved Long Orange resembles the 

 former, but is deeper colored, of more uni- 

 form shape and larger size. 



Altringliam. — Smaller than the Orange, of 

 bright orange red color and good flavor. 



Large White Belgian. — This is principally 

 grown as a farm crop for live stock, and is 

 the largest and most productive kind. The 

 lower part of the root is white, and the up- 

 per, which grows out of the ground like a 

 Mangel-wurzel, greenish. This variety is 

 rarely used for the table. 



Col. F. D. Curtis. 



EFFECT OF SHADE ON POTATOES, 



Experiments made at the farm ot the 

 Rural New Yorker, to show the effects of 

 shade on growing Potatoes, give the inter- 

 esting results that the afternoon sun is of 

 more importance to the yield of Potatoes 

 than the morning sun. 



The first experimental plot shaded after 

 12 M. , receiving only the morning sun, pro- 

 duced nearly four hundred bushels per acre. 

 The second, which was shaded until 2 p. m., 

 receiving the sun afterward, produced five 

 hundred and twenty bushels per acre. It 

 was also observed that the afternoon sun 

 produced more Potatoes of a smaller size 

 than the morning sun. 



POTATOES IN GERMANY. 



Mr. H. Roese states, in the Deutsche Gaert- 

 ner Zeitung, that of fifty varieties of Potatoes' 

 grown by him, Early Vermont was the 

 earliest, best, and most prolific. He rec- 

 ommends it as particularly adapted for 

 "purring,"— that is, the largest tubers may 

 be taken away without injury to the remain- 

 ing ones, which, if carefully covered, and 

 without disturbing the roots, will continue 

 to grow. 



