CARROTS AS FODDER.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10366, 15 June 1901, Page 3

CARROTS AS FODDER.

The enormous increase in the production of milk, butter, etc., to which we owa so much of our- present prosperity, has been, of course, largely due to the quality of the fodder consumed by oui dairy herds, especially those plants the consumption of which immediately influences 'the secretion of milk, and in this connection the carrot holds first place. - The carrot, as -we know it to-day, bears little resemblance to its wild progenitor, and, as . an article of food seems to have been first introduce*' into Britain during the reign of "Good Queen Bess"; indeed, the beautiful foliage of this plant was .so much ap preciated by the fair sex df that periot l that, according to John Parkinson, the talented and observant botanical writer in some of his writings of date 1629 says, "Ladies wore the 'leevea' in then 'hayre' instead of feathers." - From that date to the present time the carrot hae firmly held its place in economic husbandry, and during the latter portion of last century the English and Continental grpwers seem to have reached their limit in their efforts to produce the greatest weight per acre of this indispensable root. It has be'en left however, to a New Zealand grower tc far outstrip hiG European confreres" iD the race for tonnage, and quality", and the variety selected and offered by Mr J- T. Sinclair, our local seedsman, ac Sinclair's .Champion, easily holds the rocord'in these two all-important essentials. This. extraordinary variety has, we are credibly informed, in many instances' yielded its cultivator' 60 temper acre, and on the incontestable authority of both experimental and practical agriculturists,, the resulting produce is of splendid quality, and rich in milk-producing constituents. A glance at the publications of the great English, Continental, and American seed specialists shows that -their highest claims for carrots of their selection in point of weight,* either individually or per acre, iall from 40 to 60 per cent short df the above yield of the "Champion" — truly a phenomenal discrepancy. We understand that the fame of 'the New Zealand "Champion" has spread to the Old World, and in these competitive times it is not a matter for surpriso that this should be the case, and that application- for seed should come to hand by every mail.. The fact that the some initial cost of seed, the same or rather much leas labour (for the "Champion" enrrot can easily be pulled by hand), and producing, say, 50 'per cent greater yield than other varieties, is enough to account for the conversion of the conservative British agriculturist (in itself no mean achievement) to it's future and exclusive use.

In our own Island, with which onr immediate interests arc identified, we can from experience confidently advocate the s culture of this variety by all who are" interested in the production of wholesome and appetising food for the consumption of either their .equine or bovine classes of stock.