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Commercial Gardening 



Pepper. As decorative plants for the greenhouse they are mentioned in 

 Vol. II, p. 145. Plants are raised from seed sown in heat in February 

 and March, in a light rich compost. The seedlings are pricked out when 

 2 to 3 in. high into small pots, and are eventually fruited in 6- or 8-in. 

 pots. They like abundance of light and air and fair supplies of water. 

 When ripe, the pods are picked and stored away in a dry place, and will 

 last for two or three years. In the most favoured parts of the kingdom, 

 Capsicums may be ripened out of doors in summer. 



Caraway (Carum Carui). The seeds of this European biennial of the 

 Umbellifer family are well known for their use in confectionery, per- 

 fumery, and flavouring. The plant 

 has a fleshy carrot- like root, and 

 grows I to 2 ft. high, having finely- 

 divided leaves and umbels of small 

 white flowers. The seeds are sown 

 March and April in shallow 



in 



Fig. 501. Prickly Tours Cardoon 



drills a foot apart; the seedlings 

 are thinned out about 8 in. apart 

 in due course, and the soil is kept 

 free from weeds by occasional hoe- 

 ing. The seeds ripen in July and 

 August following the year of sow- 

 ing. 



Cardoon (Cynara Garduncu- 

 lus). This perennial composite is 

 a native of South Europe. It 

 grows up to 6 ft. in height, and 

 has large pinnate leaves, greyish- 

 green above, almost white be- 

 neath. In some varieties there is 

 a yellow or brown spine, often 

 over J in. long, in the angle of 



the leaf divisions. The fleshy leaf stalks when blanched, as well as the 

 thick fleshy main roots, are the edible portions. The best-known varieties 

 are the Prickly Tours (fig. 501), the Ivory White, the Spanish, and the 

 Artichoke-leaved or Puvis. Of these the Prickly Tours is considered the 

 most valuable, notwithstanding the wicked spines on its leaves, which 

 necessitate great care in working among the plants. 



Cardoons like a deeply - trenched and well -manured soil. They are 

 always raised from seeds. These are sown in heat in April to have plants 

 for the open air by the end of May or early in June, the seedlings being 

 potted up singly when large enough to handle. In the open air the plants 

 are placed in holes or trenches about 1 ft. deep, and from 4 to 5 ft. apart. 

 The space between the rows are utilized for quick -growing crops like 

 Radishes, Early Carrots, Lettuces, Dwarf Beans, Spinach, &c., which are 

 taken off before the blanching process begins. 



