HISTORIC CARROT SEED.

Northland Age, Volume 2, Issue 43, 5 June 1906, Page 2

HISTORIC CARROT SEED.

"D. S. O." writes : The South African scandals remind me of the famous carrot seed case which occurred in India some years ago. A famine lay upon the land, and to the Viceroy of the time came a gentleman who recommended carrots as a panacea. Let the natives plant carrots in their ruined fields. The vegetable is a quick grower, and very sustaining. The Viceroy was struck by the idea and wired home for carrot seed. The India Office immediately telegraphed to a leading firm of horticulturists, "Please supply fifty tons of carrot seed." The firm being of opinion that there was not so much carrot seed in the world, suggested that the India Office meant fifty pounds. The India Office was certain it meant tons, and so the firm in question began to col-, lect seed With due diligence. When the carrot seed arrived in India, the natives would have none of it. And while the authorities were explaining its uses, behold there came to the Indian merchants news that an English firm was ransacking the earth to obtain carrot seed. So the merchants bought barrels of seed from ithe authorities (who said, "See what a demand there is for our carrots"), and forthwith exported them to London, from whence they were returned to India with neatness and dispatch. In this case, however, everyone was perfectly innocent of evil. Neither the merchants nor the English firm nor the authorities guessed at the truth until an accident revealed it.