DAUCUS CAROTA. WILD CARROT. 
Class V. PENTANDRIA.— Order II. DIGYNIA. 
Natural Order, UMBELLIFEIGE. THE UMBELLIFEROUS TRIBE. 
Fig. (a) a floret somewhat magnified, 
to show the stamens, and a single ray of the umbel, with the involucre ; ( b ) an achenium. 
In its wild state, the Carrot is a common weed in this country, growing by road sides, especially in a 
gravelly or chalky soil ; and is known by the name of Bird’s-nest, from the appearance of the umbels as 
they approach maturity. It is a biennial plant, flowering in June and July, and ripening its seeds in 
September. 
The root of the Wild Carrot is slender, dry, somewhat woody, of a yellowish colour, and aromatic. 
The root of the Garden Carrot, which is reckoned only a variety, is succulent, commonly of a yellow or an 
orange colour, and is universally known as an article of domestic economy. The stem of the wild sort is 
about two feet high, erect, furrowed, branched, and hairy. The leaves are alternate, on broad footstalks, 
bipinnate, of a dark green colour, and hairy, especially beneath. The umbels, which terminate the long, 
leafless branches, are solitary, large, and, as they approach maturity, the external rays become incurved, 
which renders the inner surface of the umbel concave like a bird’s-nest. Both umbels are many-rayed, and 
consist of flowers that are small, and generally white, except the abortive ones in the centre of the umbel, 
where they have a purple or reddish hue. The general involucre is composed of many-winged, or pinnatifid 
leaves, shorter than the umbel; the partial ones undivided, or sometimes 3-cleft. The petals are unequal, 
radiate, and obcordate. The achenia are in pairs, ovate, and rough, with rigid bristles. 
It is generally allowed that the cultivated Carrot is a variety of the w T ild; but although Miller endea- 
voured to improve the latter kind, by growing it in different soils, he was never able to effect his purpose : 
it is therefore probable that we are indebted for our delicious vegetable to an accidental growth from seed, 
or to a foreign supply ; Carrots having been used in the reign of Elizabeth, at which time the utility of 
gardens was just beginning to be felt, and their stock supplied from abroad. They are cultivated in the 
Mahratta and Mysore countries, where they are very fine, and much eaten by the inhabitants. 
Culture. — “Several varieties,” says Mr. Patrick Neill, “are cultivated, particularly the orange carrot, 
with a large long root of an orange-yellow colour ; the early horn and the late horn carrot, of both which the 
roots are short and comparatively small ; and the red or field carrot, which acquires a large size. 
“Carrots are sown at two or three different seasons. The first sowing is made as early perhaps as new 
year’s day, or at any rate before the first of February, on a warm border or in front of a hothouse. Some 
employ a gentle hotbed for this first crop ; while others only hoop over the border, and cover it with mats 
during frost. The main crop of Carrots is put in in March or April ; and in June or July a small bed is 
sown to afford young carrots in the autumn months. In some places a sowing is made a month later, to 
remain over winter, and afford young carrots in the following spring. These, however, often prove stringy, 
but they are useful in flavouring soups. In light early soils, it is better that the principal crop should not 
be sown sooner than the end of April or beginning of May; for in this way the attacks of many larvae are 
avoided. For the early crops the horn carrot is best ; for the principal crops, the orange variety is pre- 
ferred, but the red is also much cultivated. 
“ The fruits having many forked hairs on their borders, by which they adhere together, are rubbed 
between the hands with some dry sand, so as to separate them. On account of their lightness, a calm day 
must be chosen for sowing ; and the seeds should be trodden in before raking. They are sown either broad- 
cast, or in drills a foot apart. When the plants come up, several successive hoeings are given ; at first 
with a three-inch, and latterly with a six-inch hoe. The plants are thinned out, either by drawing young 
carrots for use, or by hoeing, till they stand eight or ten inches from each other, if sown by broad-cast, or 
six or seven inches in line. The hoeing is either performed only in showery weather, or a watering is 
generally given after the operation, in order to settle the earth about the roots of the plants left. 
“ Carrots thrive best in light ground, with a mixture of sand. It should be delved very deep, or even 
trenched, and at the same time well broken with the spade. If the soil be naturally shallow, the late horn 
carrot is to be preferred to the orange or red. When manure is added to carrot ground it should be buried 
deep, so that the roots may not reach it else they are apt to become forked and diseased. In general it is 
best to make carrots the second crop after manuring. From the Scottish Horticultural Memoirs, however 
