74 



Commercial Gardening 



from plant to plant. It requires a moist soil and a sheltered position. The 

 plant throws up "fruit" like enlarged thistle heads, which are cut with 



6 or 7 in. of stem as soon as 

 they are full grown. These 

 heads are dipped in water and 

 packed for market. The price 

 varies, according to the season 

 and the size and quality of the 

 " chokes ", from 2s. per dozen 

 down to 8d. per dozen. 



Fig. 454. Globe Artichoke Large Green or De Laon 



Fig. 455. Seed of the Globe Artichoke 

 (Cynara Scolymus) 



The crop, when once established, can remain for several years. The 

 plants will not stand hard frost, so that before winter sets in they must be 



protected by a covering of mould 

 put up much as celery is banked. 



[w. G. L.] 



Chinese Artichoke. This 

 hardy perennial from China and 

 Japan belongs to the Labiate or 

 Dead-nettle family, and is bo- 

 tanically known as Stachys 

 tuberifera. It has nothing to 

 do with the Artichokes proper, 

 but the taste of the whitish 

 spindle-shaped tuberous roots 

 (fig. 456) very much resembles 

 that of the tubers of the Jeru- 

 salem Artichoke. These tuberous 

 roots, constricted into roundish 

 divisions, find their way in small 

 quantities to markets like Covent 

 Garden, but the trade in them 

 is small at present, and will pro- 

 bably never develop to any great 

 extent. The plants are easily 

 grown in any ordinary good garden soil, and require no attention beyond 

 keeping the weeds down with the hoe. The tuberous roots should be 



Fig. 456. Chinese Artichoke (Stachys tuberifera) 



