D A U 
place, the better to prevent young weeds from fpring- 
ing, as alio to facilitate the growth of the young 
Carrots. 
In about a month or five weeks after, you mull 
hoe them a third time, when you mufl clear the 
weeds as before ; and now you fhould cut out the 
Carrots to the diftance they are to remain, which muft 
be proportioned to the fize you intend to have them 
grow. If they are to be drawn while young, five or 
fix inches afunder will be fufficient, but if they are 
to grow large before they are pulled up, they fhould 
be left eight or ten inches diftant every way ; you 
mufl alfo keep them clear from weeds, which, if fuf- 
fered to grow amongfl the Carrots, will greatly pre- 
judice them. 
The fecond feafon for fowing thefe feeds is in Febru- 
ary, on warm banks, fituated near the fhelter of a 
wall, pale, or hedge ; but thofe which are intended 
for the open large quarters, fhould not be fown before 
the beginning of March, nor fhould you fow any later 
than the end of the fame month ; for thofe which are 
fown in April or May, will run up to feed before their 
roots have any bulk, efpecially if the weather fhould 
prove hot and dry. 
In July you may fow again for an autumnal crop, 
and at the end of Augufl you may fow fome to Hand 
the winter ; by which method you will have early 
Carrots in March, before the fpring fowing will be fit 
to draw ; but thefe are feldom fo well tailed, and are 
often very tough and flicky. However, as young 
Carrots are generally expelled early in the fpring, 
moil people fow fome at this feafon ; but thefe fhould 
be fown upon warm borders and dry land, otherwife 
they are feldom good. If the winter fhould prove very 
fevere, it will be proper to cover the young Carrots 
with Peafe-haulm, the haulm of Afparagus, or fome 
fuch light covering, to prevent the frofl from pene- 
trating into the ground, which often deflroys the Car- 
rots, where this care is wanting : but if in very hard 
winters the Carrots fhould be all deflroyed which were 
fown in autumn, there fhould be a hot- bed made early 
in the fpring to fow fome, which will be fit for ufe 
long before any that are fown in the full ground ; 
•but thefe beds fhould be earthed fifteen or fixteen 
inches deep, that the roots may have a proper depth 
of foil to run down. If thefe beds are lined with hot 
dung twice, at fuch times when the heat of the beds 
decline, it will greatly forward the growth of the Car- 
rots, but there fhould be great care taken not to draw 
the plants up too weak ; thefe may be allowed to 
grow clofer together than thofe fown in the full 
ground, becaufe they will be drawn for ufe very 
young. Many people mix feveral other forts of feeds, 
as Leek, Onion, Parfnep, Radifh, &c. amongfl their 
Carrots ; and others plant Beans, &c. but, in my 
opinion, neither of thefe methods are good ; for, if 
there is a full crop of any one of thefe plants, there 
can be no room for any thing elfe amongfl them, fo 
that what is got by one is loft by another ; and be- 
fides, it is not only more fightly, but better, for the 
plants of each kind to be fown feparate ; and alfo by 
this means your ground will be clear, when the crop 
is gone, to fow or plant any thing elfe ; but when 
three or four kinds are mixed together, the ground 
is feldom at liberty before the fucceeding fpring : be- 
fides, where Beans, or any other tall-growing plants 
are planted amongfl the Carrots, they are apt to make 
them grow more in top than root ; fo that they will 
not be half fo large as if fown fingly, without any 
other plants amongfl them. 
The covetoufnefs of fome gardeners will not permit 
them to cut out their Carrots to a proper diftance when 
they hoe them, fo that by leaving them clofe, they 
draw each other up weak : and if they are drawn 
while young, they never recover their ftrength after- 
ward fo perfectly, as to grow near the fize of thofe 
which are properly thinned at the firft hoeing ; there- 
fore where the Carrots are defigned to have large 
roots, they muft never Hand too clofe, nor fhould 
they have any other crop mixed with them. 
D A U 
This root has been long cultivated in gardens for the 
table, but has not till of late years been cultivated in 
the fields for cattle, nor has it been pradlifed as yet 
but in few parts of England ; it is therefore greatly 
to be wiffied, that the culture of it was extended to 
every part of England, where the foil is proper for 
the purpofe ; for there is fcarce any root yet known, 
which more deferves it, being a very hearty good 
food for moft forts of animals. One acre of Carrots, 
if well planted, will fatten a greater number of flieep 
or bullocks, than three acres of Turneps, and the 
fiefh of thefe animals will be firmer and better tailed. 
Horfes are extremely fond of thefe roots, and for hogs 
there is not any better food. I have alfo known thefe 
roots cultivated for feeding of deer in parks, which 
has proved of excellent ufe in hard winters, when 
there has been a fcarcity of other food ; at which 
times great numbers of deer have periffied for want, 
and thofe which have efcaped, have been fo much re- 
duced, as not to recover their fiefh the following 
fummer ; whereas, thofe fed with Carrots have been 
kept in good condition all the winter, and upon the 
growth of the grafs in the fpring, have been fat early 
in the feafon, which is an advantage, where the grafs 
is generally backward in its growth. 
There is alfo an advantage in the cultivation of this 
root beyond that of the Turnep, becaufe the crop is 
not fo liable to fail ; for as the Carrots are fown in 
the fprL 6 , the plants generally cOme up well, and 
unlefs the months of June and July prove very bad, 
there is no danger of the crop fucceeding ; whereas 
Turneps are frequently deflroyed by the flies at their 
firft coming up, and in dry autumns they are attacked 
by caterpillars, which in a fhort time devour whole 
fields, but Carrots are not attacked by thefe vermin : 
therefore every farmer who has a flock of cattle or 
fheep, fhould always have a fupply of thefe roots, if 
he has land proper for the purpofe, which mufl be 
light, and of a proper depth to admit of the roots 
running down. 
In preparing the land for Carrots, if it has not been 
in tillage before, it fhould be ploughed early in au- 
tumn, and then ploughed acrols again before winter, 
laying it up in high ridges to mellow by the froft ; 
and if the ground is poor, there fhould be fome rotten 
dung fpread over it in winter, which fhould be 
ploughed in about the beginning of February ; then 
in March, the ground fhould be ploughed again to 
receive the feeds ; in the doing of which, fome far- 
mers have two ploughs, one following the other in 
the fame furrow, fo that the ground is loofened a 
foot and a half deep. Others have men with fpades 
following the plough in the furrows, turning up a 
fpit of earth from the bottom, which they lay upon 
the top, levelling it fmooth and breaking the clods ; 
the latter method is attended with a little more ex- 
pence, but is much to be preferred to the firft, becaufe 
in this way the clods are more broken, and the fur- 
face of the ground is laid much evener. 
If the land has been in tillage before, it will require 
but three ploughings ; the firft juft before winter, 
when it fhould be laid in high ridges for the reafons 
before given ; the fecond crofs ploughing fhould be 
in February, after which, if it is well harrowed to 
break the clods, it will be of great fervice ; the lafl 
time muft be in March to receive the feeds, this 
fhould be performed in the manner before mention- 
ed. After this third ploughing, if there remain great 
clods of earth unbroken, it will be proper to harrow 
it well before the feeds are fown. One pound and a 
half of feeds will be fufficient for an acre of land, 
but as they are apt to adhere together, it renders 
them more difficult to fow even than moft other forts ; 
therefore fome mix a quantity of dry fand with their 
feeds, rubbing them well together, fo as to feparate 
the Carrot feeds from each other, which is a good 
method. After the feeds are fown, they muft be 
gently harrowed in to bury them ; and when the 
plants come up, they fhould be hoed, in the manner 
before directed. 
But 
