1450 



FORAGE CROPS, MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



Table II. — Average yields of digestible nutrients per acre. 



the first, second and third cuttings were eaten. Sheep, full fed on mixed 

 grain, appeared to eat one cutting with as much relish as another. 



The permanence of the stand. — The results show conclusively that the 

 time of cutting affects the length of life of a meadow. Early cutting 

 tends to weaken the stand and late cutting to conserve the strength of the 

 plant and prolong its life. 



1078 -The Artichoke as a Forage Plant. — Vasquez a. in Revista de la Cdmara A'^rkola 

 Balear, i8th year, No. 15, pp. 113-119. Palma de Mallorca, Aug. loth 1916. 



A good summer forage plant for dry countries must be deep rooted, and 

 must use little water during the summer. Both these conditions are ful- 

 filled by the cardoon [Cynara Cardunculus) and the artichoke {Cynara Car- 

 dunculus var. Scolymus). Given a favourable season, if these plants are 

 sown in autumn their roots will reach a depth of 3 feet in less than 10 

 months and 4 feet in 20 months. Besides this, if the plant is cut in spring 

 it develops few or no leaves during the summer, so that the amount of 

 water lost by transpiration is much reduced ; the roots, however, continue 

 to grow and strike down into deeper strata of the subsoil, and when the 

 great heat is over they supply the plant with the subsoil, thus enabling new 

 shoots to be formed. 



The value of these forage plants has been proved by experiments car- 

 ried on for several years in the province of Toledo, in Spain, by Ccledonio 

 Rodriganez. 



Various species of artichokes have been tested and the best results have 

 been obtained with variet}' well known in Andalusia and the neighbouring 

 provinces under the name of " arcaucil " or " alcaucil ", and on the market 

 as " alcachofa verda de Provenza ". Among the cardoons the " cardo 

 de Espaha " was the most successful. Naturally species with many spines 

 are to be avoided. 



The cardoon is propagated by seed, the artichoke by cuttings, but if 

 the latter cannot be watered they root with great difficult}'. In this case 

 seeds must be sown and the seedlings pricked out in 6 or 8 weeks into 

 well worked soil ; the rows should be 32 inches apart, and the plants ^2 



