CHAPTER XVI. 
TAP ROOTED VEGETABLE? 
“ Your greatest want is, you want much of meat. 
Why should you want ? Behold the earth hath roots ? 
Within this mile break forth a hundred springs : 
The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips ; 
The bounteous housewife, nature, on each bush 
Lays her full mess before you. Want ? Why want V 
HE tap-rooted plants grown in the kitchen garden 
cannot usually be sown with advantage until the- 
month of April, although in forward seasons parsnips 
may be sown with safety in the month of March. Important 
as these crops are, there is really not much to be said about 
them, though what little should be said is as important as the 
roots themselves ; for good crops of roots make a great return 
for the labour bestowed upon them, and to secure good crops 
we must practise good cultivation. 
The Carrot ( Dciucus carota ) is the most important of all 
the garden roots, the potato alone excepted. Two supplies of 
carrots should be arranged for in every garden. A dish of 
small, tender carrots constitutes one of the elegances of the 
table during the summer and autumn, and large carrots are in 
demand all the winter, and, indeed, as long as they can be 
obtained throughout the year. Fortunately, both sorts can 
be grown in any garden that will produce a cabbage ; but 
first-class winter carrots fit for exhibition can only be grown 
in a deep, well-pulverized loam, or nourishing sandy soil that 
has been long in cultivation. In common with all other 
crops, deep digging some time in advance of sowing is necessary 
to insure a heavy production of handsome roots ; and the- 
best plot of ground that can be selected for sowing carrot-seed 
on is one that was heavily manured last season, and well 
trenched up before winter. To incorporate fresh manure with 
the soil in making preparations for the cultivation of the- 
carrot, is bad practice; but in the case of a worn-out plot 
Timon of Athens , IV. 
0 > 
O. 
