The culture of the carrot is practically the same as the parsnip,
except that carrots are not thinned so much and are allowed to grow
almost as thickly as planted. Carrots should be dug in the autumn
and stored the same as parsnips or turnips. Any surplus can be fed
sparingly to horses, mules or cattle. The roots of the carrot are
used at all times of the year, mostly in soups, but they may be
boiled and served with butter or creamed. Carrots are planted in
rows 16 inches apart and the plants thinned out to 4 inches in the
row. Chantenay is an excellent table carrot of medium size and dark
orange color, slightly tapering and abruptly terminating with a
short, fine taproot. The flesh is orange colored, brittle, juicy and
mild flavored. What it lacks in size it makes up in quality and good
shape. Scarlet Intermediate, somewhat larger than Chantenay, is of
good size for table use. In shape more tapering and with a longer
taproot. It is dark orange colored; flavor and quality good. Flesh is
quite brittle and orange colored with a white center. To these two
are added two varieties principally grown for stock feed, similar
varieties being grown for table use in many parts of Europe, and more
especially those of the White Belgian variety. Both varieties are
of slender shape, 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter, holding their size
well, although averaging 12 inches in length, 3 to 4 inches of which
grows above ground and which as a consequence is colored light green
on the outside. White Belgian is the sweeter of the two, and while
the flesh is somewhat coarse, the flavor of it, when well stewed and
mashed, is sweeter and not unlike that of the parsnip. Victoria, the
other variety, is of the same texture, fairly sweet and with a more
pronounced carrot flavor, the flesh instead of white, being light
orange colored. This vegetable can be grown to perfection in Porto
Rico almost any time of the year. It prefers a rich loam and grows
very well on a heavy clay which is not too wet, but a light sandy soil
is not well adapted to it. For fertilizer, stable manure will do when
nothing else is available, but a commercial fertilizer, rich in potash
and phosphoric acid, is much to be preferred for this crop.--F. B. 255,
295; Mich. E. S. 20; N. C. E. S. 132; U. Idaho E. S. 10; P. R. A. E. S.
7.