How and What to Grow in a Kitchen Garden of One Acre (10th Ed)/Carrots
CARROTS.
These are ordinarily little used as table vegetables, but will be found very palatable as an ingredient of soups and stews. They are very easily grown, the seed being planted in drills and the plants thinned to six or eight inches apart. The seed should be sown in April or May, and they will be ready for use early in the summer. For winter use they should be stored in the manner described for beets and turnips; they will retain their quality throughout the winter, and form a pleasant variety in the winter supply of vegetables. The rich yellow and red-fleshed varieties are the most popular, and retaining their bright colors when cooked, lend an attractive appearance to the dish of which they form a part.
VARIETIES OF CARROTS.
Danvers Half-long Orange.—This is claimed to have the greatest bulk with the shortest length of root, and is a remarkably heavy cropper. The root is of a rich, dark orange color, and grows very smooth and succeeds in all soils. It is quite a favorite market sort.
Short Horn.—The flesh of this variety is very fine grained, of deep orange color and superior quality. The roots do not penetrate deeply, and the top is small, which allows of their being planted quite closely.
Early Very Short Horn, or Golden Ball.—The earliest variety; the roots are round, turnip shaped,
of small size, deep color, and the quality is of the best.
Ox Heart.—This variety is of large size, the roots being seven to eight inches in length and three to four inches in diameter at the top; it tapers gradually down to one and one-half to two inches at the bottom, making very little waste in preparing it for the table. It is of fine quality, while its size will render any surplus valuable for feeding to the stock.
Red Saint Vallery.—This is a large late variety and makes a good kind to raise for winter use; the roots grow ten to twelve inches in length and measure two to two and one-half inches in diameter at the top, tapering gradually to a point at the base. It should have deep cultivation to produce the finest roots. The color is a deep orange red and the quality is very fine.