100 GARDENING FOE PROFIT. 



vegetable is but little grown, except for variety or novelty. 

 Its culture is, in all respects, similar to the potato, but 

 it is more productive, always free from disease, will grow 

 almost in any soil or situation, and will stand the winter 

 on light soils wherever a Parsnip crop will stand; for 



Fig. 28.— JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



these reasons it has been suggested that it might prove a 

 valuable food for cattle, or pigs, who eat it as freely as 

 potatoes, when boiled. 



There are several varieties known as Red, Purple, Yel- 

 low, and White Skinned. 



BASIL. — {Ocimum Basilicum.) 



An herb of a highly aromatic odor, and a strong flavor 

 of cloves. It is used for flavoring soups, stews, and 

 sauces, and is by some used in salads. Its culture is the 

 same as that of other sweet herbs. The seed should be 

 sown in the open ground, and not in frames, which is the 

 English practice, and necessary there from their colder 

 climate. Sow in rows 1 foot apart ; when 3 or 4 inches 

 high, it may be transplanted in rows 1 foot apart, and 6 

 inches between plants. If a small quantity only is re- 

 quired, it may be thinned out in the seed rows, and left to 

 grow where sown. 



