CHAP. VI VILLA GARDENIXG 425 



some easily accessible place, I always think tbat both these and 

 Celery are crisper and sweeter when lifted fresh from the trench 

 where they are grown, for when that first freshness is once lost it 

 never retimis. It is easy enough to keep out frost if the rows are 

 well covered up with dry Fern or htter, which should always 

 remain on till the frost has completely disappeared. Cardoons are 

 not so much grown in this country as they were thirty years ago. 

 It is only where French cookery is understood and appreciated that 

 they are asked for. Some day, doubtless, amid the changes which 

 seem impending, the Cardoou will come to the front again, and be 

 extensively used. There are several varieties, but the best and 

 hardiest has its leaf-stalks armed with sharp spines, and is of 

 robust habit. 



The Jerusalem Artichoke. — This root has never been much 

 in favour with the masses. Its peculiar flavour and close waxy 

 texture compare unfavourably witli a good dish of floury Potatoes, 

 and hence it is never likely to rank so high in the estimation of 

 the general pubUc as that valuable esculent ; stiU, in middle-class 

 families it fm-uishes a desirable change, and is well worth growing 

 to a limited extent. It is very prohfic, and will succeed in any 

 kind of soil and in every situation. Though it will grow any- 

 where, it succeeds best in a deep, somewhat light well-drained soil, 

 in an open sunny situation. 



Selection of the Seed. — This Artichoke under ordinary 

 cidture has rough uneven tubers, but it is possible by care in 

 selection to modify this roughness. If, when lifting the crop, 

 the smoothest and handsomest medium -sized tubers are placed 

 on one side for planting the following season, one step in advance 

 will be taken ; and if this be repeated for several years a sensible 

 improvement will be seen. The planting should take place in 

 March, early in the month. Draw drills 3 feet apart, as for 

 Potatoes, plant the tubers 18 inches apart in the drills, and cover 

 about 3 inches deep. In damp soils plant on the surface, and 

 cover with the hoe, drawing the soil from each side of the rows to 

 form a ridge over the sets. The summer culture only amounts to 

 one or two hoeings early in the season, as after the plants begin to 

 grow they smother all weeds. The frost kills all growth above 

 ground in winter, but does not hiu-t the tubers, and most people 

 leave them in the ground, digging up a few as required, but laying 

 in a larger stock when severe frost is expected. Sometimes when 

 frost sets in they are covered with litter. Although that is not 

 necessary as a protection, it enables them to be taken up during 

 sharp weather, when the ground woidd otherwise be frostbouud, 

 and the tubers are better flavoured when freshly lifted from the 



