264 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September, 



the greener the fruit, the longer the expos- 

 ure that is necessary. 



Where large drying operations are in pro- 

 gress, a row of three sulphuring boxes can 

 be served from one stove, operating them 

 successively and having pipes juade with 

 sheet iron caps to cut off the communication 

 with all but the one box which is being sul- 

 phured. Caps are better than dampers, as 

 they entirely cut olf the connections, al- 

 though involving the slight trouble of un- 

 jointing the pipe to put the caps on. 



Sulphuring preserves for a long time the 

 bright, rich color of Apricots anil Peaches, 

 and the whiteness of Apples anil Pears, and 

 when practiced as above described, not only 



and then, when uncovered in the spring, a 

 clump of young shoots soon furnish stock 

 for further planting. All but two or three 

 of these must be taken off, and on those 

 wanted for planting a small "heel" of the 

 old plant is to be left on, if too much be 

 taken away decay in the mother plant is 

 induced. This "heel" before planting is 

 freed from all bruises, and the leaves are 

 shortened, then the treatment is the same 

 as for seedlings; a deep, rich, moist soil that 

 is well drained is to be preferred. 



Artichoke Salad or Chard is gotten by tying 

 the side branches rather loosely together, 

 something like Endive, until blanched. 



In the left-hand engravings on this page is 



essentials do require to be complied with, yet 

 there are many items in their culture as to 

 which the manner of their being supplied 

 makes no material difference. 



On the next page is shown a method for the 

 outdoor growing of this vegetable which is 

 well adapted to the warmer parts of the 

 country at any time of the year, andfor the 

 colder portions any time after hot-beds are 

 started. The beds of any size desired, are 

 simply formed by enclosing a space with 

 boards securely fastened together for the 

 sides and ends, high enough to permit of 

 the material being placed within, allowing 

 for an air space; the top boards can be 

 nailed together so as to form shutters of 



THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, TOP AND TUBERS. 



imparts no bad flavor to the fruit, but actxi- 

 ally enhances it by preventing fermentation; 

 on the other hand, over-sulphured fruit, 

 however beautiful, retains the sulphur taste 

 to an offensive degree, proportioned to the 

 extent of the over-siilphuring. 



Something About the Artichokes. 



In the list of useful vegetables, we find 

 two entirely distinct plants bearing the 

 common name of Artichoke. One of these, 

 the true Artichoke, is known botanically as 

 Cynnrn scolymus, the other is called the 

 Jerusalem Artichoke and botanically Hcli- 

 a nthus tuherosus. This latter is a tuberous 

 Sunflower that is both cultivated and found 

 growing wild in many parts of our country. 

 It is a native of this hemisphere, but whether 

 of the northern or southern continent is not 

 certainly known. Carried across the ocean 

 in the ITth century, it was received abroad 

 with considerable favor, even greatly ex- 

 ceeding, at first, the Potato in that respect. 

 The improved red and yellow varieties 

 originated in France. 



The Artichoke proper is wholly distinct 

 from the plant last referred to. In the 

 illustrations given on this page the right- 

 hand one shows the former kind. The food 

 portion is the leaves, the scales of the flower 

 head and the more tender part of the stalk. 

 This vegetable has not come as widely into 

 use in this country as its merits deserve. In 

 France it is much cultivated, and is highly 

 esteemed as a table vegetable, being used 

 chiefly in a raw state. 



As regards cultivation, first let us note 

 that the true Artichoke is a perennial, en- 

 tirely hardy south ot Washington, but re- 

 quiring protection in the winter furtlier 

 north. A stock can be olrtained from seed 

 sown in an early hot-bed and planted out 

 about May 1st, at two feet, in rows three or 

 four feet apart. But a partial crop is had 

 the first season, but thereafter the bed will 

 bear as long as desired, though four years 

 is considered the proper period. 



Before covering the plants for winter, cut 

 the old flower stems off close to the root, 



shown the Jerusalem Artichoke, tubers and 

 foliage. This forms a cheap and not unde- 

 sirable article of food for table use, while 

 it is especially suited to live stock: a plot 

 devoted to it year after year will produce 

 nourishing food aside from its manurial 

 value. Fowls and swine are especially 

 fond ot this food. It is unnecessary to dig 

 the tubers for the latter if they can have 

 access to the patch where they are growing. 



The tubers, cut to one eye, are planted in 

 April, eighteen inches in rows three and a 

 half feet apart, on land suitable for Com, 

 the only fertilizer that it seems to require 

 being potash; but little cultivation can be 

 given because of their rank top growth. 

 They can be dug in October or left in the 

 ground until March, or digging as the 

 weather permits during winter. The yield 

 per acre is anywhere from three hundred 

 to a thousand bushels, and where a plot 

 is set apart for them they will usually come 

 up each year, thick enough for a crop, after 

 the first planting, but are easily cleaned 

 off with one year's cultivating or pasturing. 

 The yellow variety is probably the best for 

 garden culture, though not productive 

 enough for field purposes. 



Regarding the table value of this tuber in 

 various forms Mr. Wm. Falconer writes as 

 follows: "I grow them every year. When 

 nicely cooked, they are not only palatable 

 but really good; but the fact remains that 

 the "fixings" have a great deal to do with 

 making them appetizing. Boiled, with 

 white sauce, they are good; baked with beef 

 they are better; boiled and mashed, nice 

 and tasty; soup isn't bad; fried in eggs and 

 bread crumbs, they are better and more to 

 my liking than any other way. Baked and 

 boiled in their jackets they are wretched — 

 a mucilaginous paste." 



Simple Mushroom Growing. 

 It probably is often the case that Mush- 

 rooms are not grown where they otherwise 

 would be, if the idea was not prevalent that 

 much preparation, and difficult conditions 

 are required. While it is true that certain 



TRUE ARTICHOKE, Cynara scnhjmm. 

 convenient length for handling. During 

 the severest weather the bed may be banked 

 all around with manure, then covering the 

 whole with straw. As the weather mod- 

 erates, straw alone is sufficient. 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A department to ichich ail are inmted to send notes of 

 experience and observation concerning topics that re- 

 centli/ have be^n treated- on in this Journal. Many 

 such contributions monthly would be tcelvome. 



Pear Blight. I notice several articles in the 

 May number about this disease. Ten years ago 

 I had a nice little orchard of Pear trees that bad 

 just come into bearing. The blight came upon 

 them and I lost nearly every one. I was so dis- 

 couraged that I concluded that I would not try 

 to grow any more. Two years afterward a 

 nurseryman came around with the blight proof 

 Sand Pear— I bought a few. The next year came 

 an agent for the Le Conte, never known to blight: 

 I bought several dozen. Since then I have bought 

 some two dozen Kieffers. Last year the Sand 

 Pear blighted and died. This year nearly all the 

 Le Conte have blighted and are dying. The 

 Kieffer so far has shown no sign of disease. Ten 

 years ago I contended the blight was an insect 

 that pierced the tender twig in the bud, othere 

 thought differently. This year I the more tirmly 

 believe that an insect of some kind is the cause 

 that pinches or stings the tender twig in the 

 head. This poisons the sap by setting up a kind 

 of ferment that in its backward flow blackens 

 and kills the tender growth, as well as the older 

 wood; the bark cracks, showing that a kind of 

 fermentation has been generated. As this poison 

 in its downward course reaches the larger limbs 

 it seems to travel in currents, as is shown not 

 only from the bark of the limbs, but from the 

 vigorous effort of the tree to make fresh growth 

 throughout the top during the struggle; the 

 tree not entirely succumbing until the body and 

 roots have become largely involved.— J. D. Bms, 

 M. D., Camp Co., Tex. 



A DOUT Seeds. Peter Henderson's foot culture 

 of seeds means, of course, that all seeds should 

 be firmed into the soil. This is a law of germina- 

 tion known to good culturists. and wo owe Mr. 

 Henderson thanks for insisting on it. I have 

 always found common farm hands negligent in 

 trausjilanting on this point. A plant should have 

 as hard pressure into the soil as the two hands 

 can give, and then a spread of loose soil on top 

 as mulch. The loose top soil is also quite as 



