The Portland gazette. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1818-1824, 1818-04-28
ESSAYNo. %.

Further remarks on the cultivation Of Carrots
by another hand. The country in general seem
strangers to the utility of carrots in rich deep san
dy soils, in which they delight. If new land is
broken up, it should be dry at least foot deep,
previously pealing off the turf and burning it in
the trench after the loose earth is shoveled from
the bottom. Lay it then in ridges, that it may
be Moderated by the frosts, &c. In March fol-
lowing, dig it second time not so deep as to
bring up the tuft then sow your seed. This
| should be done in calm day, otherwise they
might be blown into heaps; after which tread
| the ground and rake it smooth.
When the plants are come up, they should be
hoed out the distance Of four or five inches, az it
is not only necessary to set them sngly, but this
greatly promotes their growth, In about three
weeks after they may be hoed second time ;
and if you wish to have them large, they should
be left eight or nine inches apart every way, and
continue to keep them clear from weeds. The
thinner they stand the larger they will grow.
in November when the weather is dry, take
them up, cut their tops and pile them horizontal
ly in groove, TO what thickness you like /;
cover them well with earth, upon which lay
straw to prevent wet getting IN. If your situa-
ton be not dry, lay them on the surface and COW
er them as above directed, making ditch round
them TO carry off the water.
Carrots will stand most winters very well up-
on dry soils. If suffered to freeze they will rot
but not if the ground is dry. They are an excel
lent food for horses and sheep, and only want to
be more generally used to shew their intrinsic
value. They are superior to every other thing
given to stock, (corn excepted)
We proceed to give an abstract Of the essay
relating to cutting of the tops Of Carrots and
their use
A few years since, the writer being in want of
grass for cow, as his land was all for grass, he
had the tops ofthe carrots in the garden moved
of a little above the crown, not to injure
by the scythe the head or crown Of the roots
this he says was luxuriant food for the cow. 1t
was thought the gave more milk when she
had the carrot-tops than she did before. The
carrot again yielded fine luxuriant head, which
| treated In the same manner in October tie
| found when the carrot itself was taken up, that
it was equally as large and heavy as bed
which was reserved from cutting was.
| The gardener who had been averse to cutting
of the tops, was convinced it had not injured the
root, but thought il had benefited it rather than
| otherwise as he had an opportunity Of hoeing
| and clearing them from weeds better than he
could when they had their tops on them. Thus
| a great quantity of most excellent green fodder
for cattle may be saved by moving the tops ofthe
carrots. This important statement is urged as an
| inventive to the more extensive culture of this
plant, for it is said that good crop OF ten acres
of carrots, by being moved, win keep ten cows
in good green fodder, the month Of June, July,
August, September and October The root it.
| self will be found very useful food during the
winter months, for sweetness causes great flow
Of milk, and also it creates sweetness in the
milk, the grass in general does not. The far
mer will also find that his horses and pigs viii
eat it with avidity, and thrive well on i as has
been fully tested by experience.
1t will be recollected that the Trustees of the
Society for the promotion of Agriculture, in this
state, expressed their doubts Of the correctness
of the theory advanced in this essay They acA
cordingly expressed hope that the experiment
might be tried, which has been done and the re.
sult published. One of the board caused num-
Der Of beds to be tlaid out side by side, equally
MANFRED and cultivated. About the twentieth
of July, the tops of every other bed was moved.
When they were dug, it was found that the I'M
cut beds Of Carrots produced nearly double to
what the cut beds did. Hence it is sufficiently
apparent that the carrot forms no exception to
| the usual analogy observed by nature ia the
growth of vegetables.