CARROT

Daucus Carota



The Carrot is a somewhat fastidious root, for although it is grown in

every garden, it is not everywhere produced in the best style possible.

The handsome long roots that are seen in the leading markets are the

growth of deep sandy soils well tilled. On heavy lumpy land long clean

roots cannot be secured by any kind of tillage. But for these unsuitable

soils there are Sutton's Early Gem, the Champion Horn, and Intermediate,

which require no great depth of earth; while for deep loams the New Red

Intermediate answers admirably.



Forcing.--Carrots are forced in frames on very gentle hot-beds. They

cannot be well grown in houses, and they must be grown slowly to be

palatable. It is usual to begin in November, and to sow down a bed every

three or four weeks until February. A lasting hot-bed is of the first

importance, and it is therefore necessary to have a good supply of

stable manure and leaves. The material should be thoroughly mixed and

allowed to ferment for a few days. Then turn the heap again, and a few

days later the bed may be made up. In order to conserve the heat the

material will need to be three to four feet deep, and if a box frame is

used the bed should be at least two feet wider than the frame. Build up

the material in even, well-consolidated layers, to prevent unequal and

undue sinking, and make the corners of the bed perfectly sound. Put on

the bed about one foot depth of fine, rich soil; if there is any

difficulty about this, eight inches must suffice, but twelve is to be

preferred. As the season advances less fermenting material will be

needed, and a simple but effective hot-bed may be made by digging out a

hole of the required size and filling it with the manure. The latter

will in due time sink, when the soil may be added and the frame placed

in position. The bed should always be near the glass, and a great point

is gained if the crop can be carried through without once giving water,

for watering tends to damage the shape of the roots. No seed should be

sown until the temperature has declined to 80 deg.. Sow broadcast, cover

with siftings just deep enough to hide the seed, and close the frame. If

after an interval the heat rises above 70 deg., give air to keep it down to

that figure or to 65 deg.. It will probably decline to 60 deg. by the time the

plant appears, but if the bed is a good one it will stand at that figure

long enough to make the crop. Thin betimes to two or three inches, give

air at every opportunity, let the plant have all the light possible, and

cover up when hard weather is expected. Should the heat go down too

soon, linings must be used to finish the crop. Radishes and other small

things can be grown on the same bed. In cold frames seed may be sown in

February.



Warm Borders.--In March the first sowings on warm borders in the open

garden may be made. These may need the shelter of mats or old lights

until the plant has made a good start, but it is not often the plant

suffers in any serious degree from spring frosts, as the seed will not

germinate until the soil acquires a safe temperature. All the early

crops of Carrot can be grown on a prepared soil, or a light sandy loam,

free from recent manure. The drills may be spaced from six to nine

inches apart.



For the main crops double digging should be practised, and if the

staple is poor a dressing of half-rotten dung may be put in with the

bottom spit. But a general manuring as for a surface-rooting crop is not

to be thought of, the sure effect being to cause the roots to fork and

fang most injuriously. It is sound practice to select for Carrots a deep

soil that was heavily manured the year before, and to prepare this by

double digging without manure in the autumn or winter, so as to have the

ground well pulverised by the time the seed is sown. Then dig it over

one spit deep, break the lumps, and make seed-beds four feet wide. Sow

in April and onwards in drills, mixing the seed with dry earth, the

distance between rows to be eight to twelve inches according to the

sort; cover the seed with a sprinkling of fine earth and finish the bed

neatly. As soon as possible thin the crop, but not to the full distance

in the first instance. The final spacing for main crops may be from six

to nine inches, determined by the variety. By a little management it

will be an easy matter during showery weather to draw delicate young

Carrots for the final thinning, and these will admirably succeed the

latest of the sowings in frames and warm borders.



Late Crops.--Sowings of early varieties made in July will give

delicate little roots during the autumn and winter. The rows may be

placed nine inches apart, and it is essential to thin the plants early

to about three inches apart in the rows. In the event of very severe

weather protect with dry litter. For providing young Carrots throughout

the winter it is also an excellent plan to broadcast seed thinly. When

grown in this way the plants afford each other protection, and the roots

may be drawn immediately they are large enough.



In July the culture of the smaller sorts may also be undertaken in

frames, but hot-beds may be dispensed with, and lights will not be

wanted until there is a crop needing protection, when the lights may be

put on, or the frames may be covered with shutters or mats.



Storing.--Before autumn frosts set in the main crop should be lifted

and stored in dry earth or sand, the tops being removed and the earth

rubbed off, but without any attempt to clean them thoroughly until they

are wanted for use.



Carrots for Exhibition.--It will be found well worth while to give a

little extra attention to the preparation of the ground when growing

Carrots for exhibition. As in the case of Beet and Parsnip, holes should

be bored to the requisite depth and about one foot apart in the rows.

Where the soil is at all unfavourable to the growth of clean symmetrical

roots the adoption of this practice will be essential to success. Any

light soil of good quality will be suitable for filling the holes. Well

firm the material in and sow about half a dozen seeds at a station,

eventually thinning out to one plant at each. The tendency of Carrots to

become green at the tops in the later stages of growth, thus spoiling

them for show work, may be prevented by lightly covering the protruding

portion of the root with sifted fine earth.



Destructive Enemies.--The Carrot maggot and the wire-worm are

destructive enemies of this crop. In a later chapter on 'The Pests of

Garden Plants,' both these foes are referred to. Here it is only

necessary to say that sound judgment as to the choice of ground, deep

digging, and the preparation of the beds in good time, are the

preventives of these as of many other garden plagues. It is often

observed that main crops sown early in April suffer more than those sown

late, and the lesson is plain. It has also been noticed that where the

crops have suffered most severely the land was made ready in haste, and

the wild birds had no time to purge it of the insects which they daily

seek for food.