THE PARSNIP. THE ARTICHOKE. 187 



650. In a proper climate and soil, the parsnip yields 

 more than the carrot, but it is, probably, a more 

 exhausting crop. 



651. The Jerusalem Artichoke. The Jerusalem arti 

 choke is nearly as nutritious as the potato, and its stalks 

 are almost as valuable as its tubers. It has never been 

 cultivated to any great extent as a field crop, in this 

 country, but many cultivators of it in Europe claim that 

 it has many advantages. Among others, that it grows 

 well on light sands and tenacious clays, where no other 

 root crop would succeed. They say it does not exhaust 

 the soil, but may be grown year after year in the same 

 place ; that it is free from diseases, and endures alike the 

 colds of winter and the droughts of summer. 



652. Its cultivation is much like that of the potato, 

 the land being prepared and manured in the same way. 

 The tubers are planted early in spring, in rows or 

 drills, the rows being far enough apart to allow working 

 between them, and the plants about nine inches apart in 

 the rows. 



653. In countries where this plant is cultivated as a 

 field crop, the stalks are either cut and fed out green, 

 beginning, in France, about the end of August, or left 

 to be cut with the sickle, and stocked and dried for 

 winter fodder. After the stalks are cut and removed, 

 the tubers are taken up as they are wanted to feed out, 

 or dug late in the fall and stored for winter use. Most 

 kinds of farm stock are very fond both of the stalks and 

 the roots. 



17 



