CARROT. This esculent root, (Dances carota) is a half hardy biennial in the North, and is said to be indigenous to some parts of Great Britain. Wild, it is of no value; as a cultivated plant, it is used in various ways for the table, and is one of the most valuable roots cultivated for stock. The carrot should have a good light, rich loam. If manured, it should have been done the pre vious year, since green manure causes all esculent roots to grow forked and otherwise ill-shaped. The soil should be carefully and deeply plowed, brought into a state of fine tilth, and leveled smooth. In the kitchen garden, the drills may be as near as twelve inches, the plants thinned b..
three inches, and subsequently to six inches if large roots are desired. In field culture the rows are made two feet apart, for ease in horse cultiva tion, and the seed should be sown pretty thickly and at a depth of three quarters of an inch to one inch. All weeds must be kept down, and the plants ultimately thinned to a distance of three or four inches apart Sow in the spring, as soon as the ground is in good working condition. On
loam it is better that the ground be fall-plowed rough, and the soil brought into tilth before sow ing. All farm stock are fond of the roots. They are especially valuable for horses and ranch cows, fed at the rate of a peck a day for horses, and half a bushel per day for cows. For garden cul ture, the Early Horn is the most desirable for summer, and Early Half Long Scarlet for win ter. The latter is also a good field variety. For field crops, the Yellow Intermediate, Long Orange, and Altringham are generally sown, the Belgian and other European field carrots not being in repute in the United States. An ounce contains 24,000 seeds, and will sow from 150 to 200 feet of garden drill. Three or four pounds per acre are usually sown in field culture, and the plants thinned first with a narrow tool, and subsequently by hand in weeding.