The Cultivation of Vegetables 77 
April, using the long varieties, which are more especially 
suited for winter use. 
The seed should be sown thinly in drills 1 ft. apart 
and 1 in. deep. It should also be trodden in, as is tne 
case with all small seeds. Some care will have to be 
exercised in the sowing, as the seed is prickly and does 
not separate easily. When the plants appear, the hoe 
will have to be run between the rows, and the plants 
thinned out before the roots have time to get entangled. 
A dull, showery day should be chosen, if possible, for 
thinning out. Should the soil be loosened, or dragged 
from the roots, so as to leave them bare, it should after- 
wards be again drawn up round the base of the leaves. 
If the weather is showery, the rain will firm the soil round 
the roots. They may be thinned out to 2 in. apart to 
begin with, the alternate ones being taken out at the next 
thinning, when the young roots are fit for use. After 
thinning, the hoe will have to be kept going between 
the rows, not, however, going too close to the carrots 
themselves. If exhibition roots are desired, some special 
means must be adopted to get the fine, beautifully tapered 
high-coloured roots of fine quality and size which we see 
occasionally on the exhibition table. They must be grown 
in prepared soil, and the most convenient method is to 
get the line as before, then, with a crowbar, make holes 
from 2 \ to 3 ft. deep, and about 9 in. apart. These 
should be filled up with the prepared soil, leaving it to 
settle down for a few days before sowing the seed. The 
prepared soil may be made up of 3 parts sifted loam, 
1 part wood ashes, 1 part leaf mould, and ^ part sand, 
to keep it free and open, with a sprinkling of guano. 
