Forking Carrots !!!!

I have not posted for a while , but took over a new garden and spent last year clearing bramble patches and long grass to discover an orchard, and what I was told by local people a large veg. plot. We cleared the briars and scrub and I repeatedly sprayed the veg. area with Glyphosate, about 5 times , between April 2013 and March this year to get back to a stale seed-bed.
We have had marvellous results with most things and I was careful to sow the roots in an area without muck, but they are still forking badly, I can only imagine that this is, as the plot has stood fallow for a lot of years, that the successive rotting down of nettles and such has enriched the soil.
I wonder if anyone else can confirm this or give me another reason?

(keeper) Trevor 

Carrots don't need a lot of rich soil, just a clear route downward, just like parsnip. Sounds like the rest of the ground has been productive. It takes a season or two to get to know your soil and take appropriate measures for individual crops. My carrots are up and running these days, but I've had to cultivate mamby pamby areas for them, in a stone free sense.....they love the greenhouse borders best of all. I wouldn't dream of planting them in certain areas on my plot.

Thanks for the replies, as you say Mum clay soil or stony but neither is a problem round here that is why I was a little perplexed about the problem.

Yorkie I live near the Derwent ings, or just about in them!,and as I am sure you will know, the soil is ideal for roots. I am having a really good year with everything else and as beesrus says it takes a year or two to get to know your ground and I am quite pleased with results to date, although like most round here, have suffered from blight. I have had to top my 'taties  and leave them in the ground, but as they are second earlies I hope I have caught them in time.
I must admit I hope have judged too early as I came back from visiting family in Essex, went through to check the garden and pulled a couple of carrots and found them all stumpy and forked, then came back and asked the question on the forum, but had my usual walk round at about 8-30-9ish last night and pulled a couple more and they were a little distorted but not forked.
I lived before in Holderness which was mainly clay and have found, round here  on this light land, it is so much different, over there I could really only grow carrots in raised beds.

Thanks for all your thoughts.

Trevor   

I felt really smug when I first read this thread, as my carrots were OK - 2 or 3 had split, but in general they were pretty good for a first attempt.
Then yesterday evening I pulled a few more. Some were good, but some were definitely well and truly forked. With one in particular, even the forks were forked - stick tiny bells on the end and it would look like a jesters hat.
So I don't feel smug any more.