349 
and the selling price as fourpence a pound. In America it is usual 
to sow the seeds in drills 3 to 3% feet apart with a thin crop of corn, 
The corn is gathered and the straw left standing to afford some 
protection from snow during winter. The plants are eventually 
thinned to eight or ten inches apart in the rows and harvesting 
takes place in a similar manner to that adopted in England. The 
average crop is 100,000 heads to the acre (about the same as in 
England), and the price in New York State is from 90 cents to one 
dollar a thousand, although it may drop to 50 cents or rise to two 
dollars, One thousand heads are said to weigh ten pounds. 
Regarding teasel culture in England there appear to be two- 
critical periods. One is during winter when many plants are killed 
y inclement weather and the ‘other is during the harvest when a 
period of wet weather may partially or wholly ruin the crop, On 
account of this Mr. North suggests indoor cultivation. In support 
of his suggestion he has grown a few plants indoors and produced 
heads which other papers: pronpunnes to be equal in quality to the 
best French heads. On the other hand his experiment was not on a 
sufficiently large scale iy ie able to form an opinion as to the 
financial result. In the absence of experience one would be 
for the gross average income from an acre of teasels is said to 
about £70, and this after the ground has been occupied for 
18 months, ‘including two summers. An acre of glass built in the 
cheapest possible way would mean a considerable outlay ; the soil 
would require to bé renewed frequently, or additional expense 
would have to be incurred by pales portable houses ; wear and 
tear would be a heavy item; the plants would need more cultural 
attention than when grown outside a there would be a greater 
risk of injury by insect pests. The method of culture might, 
however, prove suaseesse) but one would recommend caution and 
scheme were underta 
There appears good r reason to suppose that better results might 
be obtained by moving the cultural area from Yorkshire and the 
western counties to Essex and Hertfordshire and perhaps Norfolk 
and Suffolk. These counties have a drier winter and usually a 
sunnier summer and autumn, whilst there is plenty of suitable 
ground, It also seems that experiments might be conducted 
with a view to obtaining a race which would stand the winter well, 
for plants full of vigour in spring might be expected to mature 
earlier than those which had suffered in winter and by advancing 
the harvest by one or two weeks the crop might sometimes be saved. 
Experiments ought also to be made with a view to saving the ground 
for one summer. By sowing seeds thinly on a small area of ground, 
a crop of corn could be taken from the rest and the teasels planted 
out in autumn. What saving could be effected by this et or 
whether there would be any etic can, of course, only be deter- 
mined by experiments. Efforts have been made to breed teasels 
yielding heads of particular sizes but without any definite results, 
and Mr, North finds from his experience that the best plan is to 
select seeds from well grown heads, then all the sizes can be obtained 
from the crop. 
