CARROT  .

Wild carrot, Daucus carota, a member of the natural order Umbelliferae, grows wild in fields and on roadsides and sea-shores in Britain and the north temperate zone generally of the Old World . It is an annual and resembles the cultivated carrot, except in the root, which is thin and woody . It is the origin of the cultivated carrot, which can be developed from it in a few generations . M . Vilmorin succeeded in producing forms with thick fleshy roots and the biennial habit in four generations . In the cultivated carrot, during the first season of growth, the stem remains short and bears a rosette of graceful, long-stalked, branched leaves with deeply cut divisions and small, narrow ultimate segments . During this period the plant devotes its energies to storing food, chiefly sugar, in the so-called root, which consists of the upper part of the true root and the short portion of the stem between the root and the lowest leaves . A transverse section of the root shows a central core, generally yellow in colour, and an outer red or scarlet rind . The core represents the wood of an ordinary stem and. the outer ring the soft outer tissue (bast and cortex) . In the second season the terminal bud in the centre of the leaf-rosette grows at the expense of the stored nourishment and lengthens to form a furrowed, rather rough, branched stem, 2 or 3 ft. high, and bearing the flowers in a compound umbel . The umbel ischaracterized by the fact that the small leaves (bracts) which surround it, resemble the foliage leaves on a much reduced scale, and ultimately curve inwards, the whole inflorescence forming a nest-like structure .

The flowers are small, the outer

white, the central ones often pink or purplish . The fruit consists of two one-seeded portions, each portion bearing four rows of stiff spinous projections, which cause the fruits when dropped to cling together, and in a natural condition help to spread the seed by clinging to the fur of animals . On account of these projections the seeds cannot be sown evenly without previous rubbing with sand or dry ashes to separate them . As usual in the members of the order Umbelliferae, the wall of the.fruit is penetrated lengthwise by canals containing a characteristic oil . Carrots vary considerably in the length, shape and colour of their roots, and in the proportion of rind to core . The White Belgian, which gives the largest crops, has a very thick root which is white, becoming pale green above, where it projects above ground . For nutritive purposes it is inferior to the red varieties . The carrot delights in a deep sandy soil, which should be well drained and deeply trenched . The ground should be prepared and manured in autumn or winter . For the long-rooted sorts the soil should be at least 3 ft. deep, but the Short Horn varieties may be grown in about 6 in. of good compost laid on the top of a less suitable soil . Peat earth may be usefully employed in lightening the soil . Good carrots of the larger sorts may he grown in unfavourable soils by making large holes 18 in. deep with a crowbar, and filling them up with sandy compostin which the seeds are to be sown .

The

main crop is sown at the end of March or beginning of April . After sowing, it is only necessary to thin the plants, and keep them clear of weeds . The roots are taken up in autumn and stored during winter in a cool shed or cellar .