MONTHLY CALENDAR. 279 



755. Jerusalem Articholcs should be planted not later than this month. 

 The ground for them should be rather deeply worked, which gives them a 

 firmer hold ; for, the plant growing tall, is exposed to rough winds, which they 

 resist better where they root pretty deeply. Almost any part of a tuber will 

 grow and form a plant ; but it is advisable to select middling-sized tubers, 

 planting them a foot or 10 inches deep. This may be done as the ground is 

 dug or trenched ; or they may be planted with a spade or trowel, making a 

 hole for each set. They should be not less than a j'ard apart : four feet is 

 better. The more open the spot, the more likely they are to prosper. As a 

 rule, they produce a great number from each set. No other treatment is 

 required than to keep the ground well stirred about them, and prevent the 

 growth of weeds. Cut them down when the leaves are decayed, but not before ; 

 otherwise the tubers will cease to grow. 



756. Globe Artichokes will be making offsets about the end of this month, or 

 during next : these should be taken off for propagation. They bear best the 

 second or third year after planting ; so that it is advisable to plant one or more 

 rows every ^'•ear, and remove the same quantity of old roots. The ground 

 should be deeply worked and well manured : let the manure be incorporated 

 with the soil, not laid in a mass at the bottom of each trench. It is better to 

 trench the ground first, and fork the manure well into the surface-spit, which 

 gives the plants a better chance of immediately profiting by it. The ofi'sets 

 may be dissevered with a knife, or slipped off and cut smooth afterwards, and 

 planted with a dibber. Some plant in threes, a yard apart, and four feet from 

 row to row ; or they may be planted singly, two feet apart in the row, and 

 four feet from row to row. They should be well watered, and the ground kept 

 loose between. 



757. Cardoons are not so genei-ally cultivated now as formerly, especially in 

 small gardens, on account of the space they reqviire. The seed is sown in 

 IMarch, in a warm sheltered spot, or under a hand-glass or frame. When large 

 enough, they are planted 8 or 10 inches apai-t, in rich or well-manured soil. 

 Then again they are planted in rows ur trenches, after the manner of celery, 

 only at a mu^ch greater distance from each other. During the autumn, earth 

 up to blanch. The plant grows very large, after the manner of the globe 

 artichoke. Much room is required for banking-up ; accordingly, some gar- 

 den ers'recommend i^lacing them five feet apart at the final planting ; but the 

 crop can never pay for this enormous extent of ground. 



758. Potatoes. — About the beginning of this month is the time to get in 

 early potatoes. Some recommend planting them in October, placing them deep 

 enough to be out of the reach of frost. In porous well-drained soils this answers 

 admirably ; but the advantage is not so great as to recommend it for general 

 practice. To insure a good crop, the ground should be bastard-trenched in 

 October or November, and left in ridges ; in February levelled, and some 

 thoroughly decomposed manure forked in. In March the frosts will have left 

 it well pulverized, and ready to receive the sets. Some prefer middling-sized 

 potatoes for setting, planting them whole, scooping out all the shoots except 



