Part 1

Transcriber’s Note:

Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores; those in bold are surrounded by =equal signs=. Misspelled words were corrected. One full-page advertisement was moved from the front to the end of the book.

CARROTS,

Mangold Wurtzels

AND

SUGAR BEETS.

HOW TO RAISE THEM, HOW TO KEEP THEM AND HOW TO FEED THEM.

BY JAMES J. H. GREGORY, AUTHOR OF “ONION RAISING,” “CABBAGE RAISING,” ETC.

LINOTYPED AND PRINTED BY J. J. ARAKELYAN, 295 CONGRESS STREET, BOSTON.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1900, by JAMES J. H. GREGORY. At the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

CONTENTS.

The Argument for the Raising of roots 3 THE CARROT 5 The Location and Soil 5 The Manure and its Application 7 Preparing the Bed 12 When to Plant 13 The Seed and the Planting of it 15 Quantity to the Acre 16 Varieties, and What Kinds to Grow 17 Early Very Short Scarlet 19 Early Short Scarlet Horn 19 Short Horn 19 Danvers Carrot 21 Guerande Carrot 21 Long Orange, or Long Surry 21 Large White Belgian 22 The Cultivation, and the Implements needed 23 Gathering and Storing the Crop 26 Raising Carrots with Onions 29 Marketing and Feeding 30 THE MANGOLD WURTZELS 32 Varieties 34 The Long Varieties 35 The Round Varieties 35 The Ovoid Varieties 35 What Kinds to Grow 35 The Soil and its Preparation 38 The Manure and its Application 39 Salt as an Auxiliary Manure 48 Planting the Seed and Tending the Crop 49 Gathering and Storing the Crop 52 Feeding the Crop 56 The Cost of the Crop 61

CARROTS.

In nutritious value roots compare with hay in about the average proportion of one to three. If now we consider that thirty-four tons of Swedes nearly forty tons of Carrots and seventy-four tons of Mangold roots have been raised in Massachusetts, to the acre, and that to each of these crops should be added at least 15 per cent. for the fodder value of the yield of leaves, which were not included in these estimates, we have a demonstration of how immensely more is the nourishment that can be obtained from an acre of roots than from an acre in hay. Such an immense increase in the nourishing products of the farm, if fed on the premises as it should be, unless the farmer is so located that he can buy manure cheaper than he can make it, means a great increase in the manure products, and consequently a great increase in the crops,--so that it has been wisely said, root culture lies at the basis of good husbandry.

Carrots and Mangolds are subject to but few diseases. In discussing the nutritious value, chemists differ somewhat, according as they measure this by the nitrogen they contain, their per cent. of dry matter or sugar, but they agree in ranking them much superior to the early varieties of turnip and somewhat superior to the Ruta Baga or Swede class, particularly when fed to full grown cattle. Prof. Johnson ranks Carrots with Cabbage when fed to oxen, for nourishment. Experiments appear to have proved that when equal measures of each are fed, Mangolds will give a greater increase of milk than potatoes, by about a third. For some reason not fully understood (perhaps the depth they penetrate the soil has something to do with it) Onions will do better after Carrots than after any other crop, the yield being larger, the bulb handsomer, while the crop will bottom down earlier and better. Unlike Turnips or Swedes, with high manuring the crop can be profitably grown for years on the same piece of land. Swine prefer Mangolds to any root except the parsnip, and both in this country and in England store hogs, weighing from 125 lbs. and upwards have been carried through the winter in fine condition, when fed wholly on raw Sugar Beets or Mangolds. Chemists rank Carrots, when compared with oats, with reference to their fat and flesh forming qualities, as 1 to 5.

Not only have roots a value in themselves as food, but they have a special office, taking to a large degree the place of grass and preventing the constipation that dry feed sometimes causes. While practice proves that they should not be relied upon to entirely supersede hay or grain, still they increase the value of either of these to a large degree; and for slow working stock they may be fed with profit in place of from a third to half the grain usually given. Carrots add not only to the richness of the color, but also to the quality of the milk, while the flavor of the butter made from such milk is improved. Carrots fed in moderate quantities to horses give additional gloss to their hairy coats, and have not only a medicinal value when given to such as have been over-grained, but aid them in digesting grain, as may be seen in the dung of horses fed on oats with Carrots, and that of those fed on oats without Carrots. When cooked they are sometimes fed to poultry, and either cooked or raw to swine. In the family economy they have their place, particularly when young and fresh, while in Europe they enter largely into the composition of the well-known vegetable soups of the French.

THE CARROT.

“The Carrot,” (Daucus Carota) says Burr in his “Field and Garden Vegetables of America,” a book worthy a place in every farmer’s library,--“in its cultivated state is a half-hardy biennial. It is indigenous to some parts of Great Britain, generally growing in chalky or sandy soil, and to some extent has become naturalized in this country; being found in gravelly pastures and mowing fields, and occasionally by roadsides, in loose places, where the surface has been disturbed or removed. In its native state the root is small, slender and fibrous or woody, of no value, and even of questionable properties as an article of food.”

The average result of several analyses of the Carrot as given by Dr. Voelcker, is as follows:--

Water, 87.0 Albuminous Compounds, .7 Fat, .2 Pectine, 1.2 Cellular Fiber, 3.5 Sugar, 6.5 Ash, .9

THE LOCATION AND SOIL.

It is important in selecting a location for the Carrot bed that the land should be nearly level, as otherwise the seed will be liable to wash out after heavy showers, and the plants while young be either washed out or covered with soil and killed. The land should be, as far as possible, clear of all stones. The presence of large rocks “in place,” as the geologists say, would interfere with the continuity of the rows, while the loose stones are not only always in the way while raking and planting the bed, but are also in the way of the slide or wheel hoes which are apt to knock them against the young plants to their injury. The strongest objections to a stony soil, for Carrots, are that it interferes with the growth of the roots and greatly increases the labor of digging them. It is important that the piece of ground selected for a crop that will require so much manure and labor should have every advantage possible in its favor; it should not only be level and comparatively free from stones, but if possible should have been previously under high cultivation, that it may come to Carrots when in high condition.

The best soil, particularly for the Long Orange variety, is a loam mellow to the depth of two feet or more. On such soil the Carrot will perfect itself, growing straight and altogether beautiful to look upon, as they stretch from side to side of the bushel boxes. On some market gardens near critical markets, farmers find it for their interest to ascertain by actual experiment on what part of their grounds the root will grow longest and straightest, and when such plot is found make it a permanent bed. If the soil does not naturally grow a long Carrot and they are desired, the end may be attained by trenching deep and adding sand. The difference in the shape of the Long Orange, when grown on a deep mellow loam, and on a heavy soil with a compact sub-soil, is so remarkable that it would be almost impossible to make an inexperienced person believe each lot was from the same seed,--those grown on the heavy soil, resting on a compact sub-soil, oftentimes so closely resembling the Intermediate varieties as not to be distinguished from them. Though the course is not on the whole to be advised, yet Carrots can be raised on freshly turned sod. Such land will be very free from weeds, and by making good use of the wheel harrow, and applying manure in a very fine state, should the season be a moist one, fair crops may be raised. Reclaimed meadows in a good state of cultivation, which are well-drained to the depth of thirty inches, will oftentimes grow crops, large in bulk, but the individual roots are oftentimes inclined to “sprangle,” and unless such meadows have been well drained, and liberally covered with sand or gravelly loam, they are apt to be spongy and inferior. When grown on land inclining to clay, they are apt to be small and woody in structure; still, such land, if made friable by good underdraining and the application of sand, may be made fair Carrot ground.

THE MANURE AND ITS APPLICATION.

All root crops delight in most liberal manuring and the highest of cultivation. Carrots are no exception to this rule. With every crop, other conditions being equal, it is the last half of the manure gives the profits; and the more costly the cultivation required the more important it is that this golden fact be borne in mind. Though chemical analysis shows difference in the composition of all roots, and that there is therefore an office for special manures, yet their general composition is so nearly alike, and animal manures, most of which contain in greater or less proportion, all the elements required, are so difficult to handle in just the proportions that would be required from the chemical standpoint, particularly when we consider that soils on which root crops are grown are usually rich in manures, varying in their chemical constituents, left over from former crops;--for this reason I treat of manure by the cord and with reference to its comparative strength, bulk for bulk, rather than of its chemical elements.

Eight cords of good stable manure; nine cords of a compost made of one part night soil to two parts muck or loam; eight cords of muscle mud; six or eight cords of rotten kelp--either of these applied to an acre of land in good condition by previous high cultivation would be sufficient for a good crop of Carrots. Other manures might be mentioned, but these will serve as a pretty good measure of value for any kind accessible to farmers in general. To produce a very large crop, such as one would like to be able to point to when premium crops are called for, add from one-quarter to one-half to the above quantities. The condition of the manure is a matter of importance; the stable manure should be good; not half bedding, not burnt, neither too coarse nor too new; the night soil should have been well mixed with the soil in the compost heap, and have been pitched over twice with sufficient intervals between to allow it to develop some heat. The muscle mud should be rich in dead muscles. In all farming, it is important that the manures applied should be in a fine condition mechanically, and particularly is this true of root crops. For the roots of all plants can take up only such parts of the manures as are dissolved in water, and the firmer the manure is the more readily can water penetrate it.

A man who is unfortunately short of manures can materially increase the capacity of what he has by working it over until it is very fine.

When short of a supply of animal manure, where the soil is already in good condition, a good fertilizer can be used with success. Apply fifteen hundred pounds to the acre. The famous fertilizer formulas of Prof. Stockbridge have generally done so well I should be willing to try them on an acre of Carrots, were I short of other manures.