CARROT. | 
| 710 
| 
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{ 
| their being different plants.” 
their being distinct plants. I have tried to cul- 
tivate the wild sort for many years, but could 
never get the seeds which were sown in the 
spring to grow; upon which I sowed the seeds 
in autumn, part of which have come up well; 
these plants I cultivated in the same manner as 
the garden carrot, but could not improve the 
roots in the least, for they continued to be small, 
sticky, and of a hot biting taste; and this has 
been always the case, wherever the plants have 
been sown; therefore there can be no doubt of 
Rather than be- 
lieve the cultivated carrot to be a variety of the 
nauseous wild carrot of our pastures, we may 
almost suppose it to be identical with some spe- 
cies of far warmer countries, which either has 
escaped the researches of modern botanists, or 
has ceased to exist in a wild state. 
The cultivated varieties of the carrot are re- 
| duced, in systematic botany, to three, the yellow 
garden carrot, D. c. hortensis,—the long-orange 
carrot, D. c. aurantia,—and the early horn car- 
rot, D. c. precox; but they are distributed by 
seedsmen and cultivators into at least eight dis- 
tinct kinds, and are sometimes grouped into two 
classes, the one suitable exclusively for garden 
culture, and the other suitable for cultivation in 
either the garden or the field. The principal 
varieties which suit the garden but do not suit 
the field are the early horn or Dutch carrot and 
| the short orange carrot ; and the principal varie- 
ties which suit both the garden and the field are 
the large orange, the long red, the Altringham, 
the large white green-top, the common white, 
and the deep red or the purple-coloured. The 
orange kinds, particularly the large orange, are 
generally preferred for field culture in Britain ; 
| but the white kinds, particularly the large white, 
are generally preferred by the farmers of Belgium, 
France, and other parts of the continent, and are 
supposed by them both to yield a larger bulk of 
| produce, and to contain a greater proportion of 
| saccharine matter. 
—— 
The early horn or Dutch carrot is the earliest 
sort, and is very much esteemed. Its root is 
smaller than that of any other cultivated carrot ; 
it is of a deep red vermilion colour; it has a 
very small heart; it is thick and short, and ter- 
minates abruptly at the lower end; and it has a 
hollow crown, and lifts it above the surface of 
the ground. Thestem or neck also is very small, 
and even the foliage is small. Several subvarie- 
ties of this sort are cultivated in Holland and 
Germany; but they differ from the small horn 
carrot of Britain only in having a lighter colour 
| in the root, or shades between yellow and crim- 
| son, instead of deep red vermilion——The short 
| orange carrot is of excellent quality, but, as yet, 
is not much known. Both the earliness of its 
habit, and the shape and size of its roots, are in- 
termediate between those of the early horn and 
those of the large orange. 
The large orange carrot, or simply the crange, 
though quite common in cottage gardens, is so 
generally selected by British farmers for field cul- 
tivation as often to bear the names of cattle car- 
rot and large field carrot. Its root is long, thick 
at the upper end, and regularly tapering to a 
point; it has a rather large heart; it is of some- 
what orange or light reddish vermilion colour ; 
it lifts its crown scarcely, if at all, above the 
surface of the ground; and, though eminently 
adapted for feeding cattle, and by no means un- 
suited to the use of man, it is too coarse for the 
table of the fastidious——The long red or long 
Surrey carrot has a deep red cclour, and a com- 
paratively smaller heart than the large orange 
carrot, and is much less thick in proportion to 
its length.—The Altringham carrot is eminently 
suitable for both the garden and the field ; but, 
in consequence of a strong constitutional ten- 
dency to sport itself into new and deteriorated 
subvarieties, it is much more difficult than any 
other variety to be obtained genuine. Its root 
has a smaller heart than the large orange carrot; || 
it resembles that variety in colour; and it differs 
from both the large orange and the long red in | 
having a more convex or rounded head, in lifting | 
this more above the surface of the ground, in 
tapering with less regularity, and in making a 
more abrupt termination at the lower end —The 
large white green-top carrot was not long ago | 
brought into notice in France, yet is now exten- 
sively cultivated. Its root is large and propor- | 
tionally thicker than long; it is white under- | 
ground, but green on the top; and it lifts its 
crown considerably above the surface of the | 
ground. This variety has the important re- | 
commendation of being suitable for soils which | 
are too shallow for the proper growth of other 
varieties.—The common white carrot, or simply | 
the white carrot, is of an inferior quality, and | 
does not deserve the attention of either the 
gardener or the farmer. Its root is smaller | 
in size, more tapering in shape, and propor- | 
tionally thicker in heart than that of the large 
white green-top carrot; and it does not lift 
its crown above the surface of the ground.— | 
The red, deep-red, or -purple-coloured carrot is 
supposed to be better suited to marshy or other- 
wise wet soils than any other variety; and is 
sometimes cultivated on such soils in France. 
Its root has a deep reddish purple colour, and a 
comparatively large yellow heart ; and, though 
proportionately very long, it is of smaller size than 
the roots of most of the other varieties. 
The garden cultivation of carrots, though at- 
tempted in almost all gardens, from the smallest 
cottage plot to the kitchen garden of the palace 
or the fields of the market gardener, is, to a great 
extent, characterized by signal failure. Yet the 
carrot crop is as sure an one in farm-fields as any 
other; and, with a very ordinary degree of know- 
ledge and care, might be uniformly and even 
eminently successful in almost every garden. 
The best soil for it is a warm, light, sandy loam, 
