CARROT GROWING MADE EASY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 684, 8 June 1929, Page 30

CARROT GROWING MADE EASY

Next to the potato the carrot is the most widely grown and most largely used vegetable, and no amateur’s garden is complete without a succession of carrots coming on. Soils. —Good carrots can be produced on any land, but to get the large deep roots without any forking, which are always so much admired on the table, it is necessary to have a somewhat light soil, the nearer it approaches to a sandy loam the better. A good depth of soil is, of course,

imperative. The soil should be well drained and broken up, and as free from gravel and other similar objects as possible. Manure.—Like all root crops, carrots do well on land which has had a heavy manuring for a former crop, the ground being well worked over before sowing. Fresh manure, or for that matter, any animal manure at all, must never be used on the bed before sowing root crops, as it causes the roots to fork or grow nobs. If the soil is considered insufficiently rich, work some bone dust or super-

phosphate, and sulphate of potash I well down Ijelow the surface, at least j a foot deep. i Seed Sowing. —Sow the seed in | drills twelve inches apart for such j varieties as early short horn. 15 inches { apart for such varieties as interi mediate, and about two feet apart for j the large growing varieties. Thin the Rows.— When the seedlings | are large enough to handle, thin | out the plants to about two inches j apart for the smaller x'arieties, to four |to six inches apart for the largest j growing sorts. A few rows may be left with the plants standing thickly, as the smaller roots so produced may I be used for soups, stews, etc.

Time To Sow. —Sowing seed should commence and continue right through till March. A row every other week will prove sufficient for most home gardens, with an extra row thrown in occasionally for soup, etc. As carrots keep in good order in the ground for a long time, you can depend upon a good sowing about February to keep you going till the spring sown seed is ready to pull. For this sowing, sow some of each of the eai'ly, intermediate and late or main crop sorts. A Tip When Sowing. —Have you ever looked carefully at a carrot seed? If you have you will have noticed that there is a little hook on one end of the seed, which makes the seed inclined to stick together. So before sowing rub the seed between your hands so as to rub off the hook. As thick sowing in the row is to be avoided, mix a little soil with the seed when sowing so as to help space it out more.

After Treatment.- —-Keep the surface of the soil loose by a frequent working of the soil with a dutch or scratch hoe, and this is particularly necessary if the soil is at all liable to cake.

Keep the soil between the rows well cultivated, while the crop is growing so as to allow the air through the soil and to also conserve moisture. Be careful to cultivate shallow for fear of injuring the roots. While the crop is on the move it should be regularly watered. In a dry spell take care that the water gets right down to the roots. There is too much of a tendency with most amateur gardeners to give only a superficial watering which hardly moistens the surface, and particularly with a root crop, this is quite worthless. Varieties To Grow. —For a quick crop and general use in stews, soups, etc., there is nothing to equal early short horn. You will find that this variety attains its most useful size in about ten weeks. For the intermediate crop select one of the intermediate varieties offered by the seedsmen. We like James’s intermediate as well as any. For the main crop select a variety that produces well coloured, long, well shaped roots- There are quite a number of good varieties on the market, but from our experience we find that Manchester table are as good as any.