BUDS, BLOOM, AND EARLY BIRD 



thoroughly turned three times at intervals of two days, Feb. 

 and then trodden down into a firm mass of the shape ^"^4 

 advised. Seedsmen supply bricks of spawn, which may 

 be broken up into pieces as large as a Walnut, and 

 pushed into the warm manure. A coat of soil an inch 

 thick should be put on when threads can be seen running 

 from the spawn, and a covering of straw nine inches 

 thick placed over all. 



Globe Artichokes. — Has the reader had a vegetable 

 resembling a small scaly ball placed before him at a 

 banquet, and eaten it in mute speculation as to what it 

 may be ? It is the Globe Artichoke. Both in appear- 

 ance and flavour it is entirely different from the Jerusalem 

 Artichoke. I am not prepared to say that the Globe 

 kind is worth adding to the list of vegetables for a quite 

 small garden, because it only gives a small quantity of 

 food in proportion to the amount of ground that it 

 occupies ; it is more or less of a delicacy. Growing large 

 and bushy, it needs planting some four feet apart. It 

 can be raised from seed, but those who have plants may 

 increase them early in the year by taking off and planting 

 the young rooted side growths. Afterwards, they may 

 fork some manure into the ground round the old plants, 

 by way of stimulating them. 



Starting Potatoes in Boxes. — The present is a good 

 time to start Potatoes in boxes. If the reader asks why 

 they should be handled now, inasmuch as it involves 

 time and trouble, I reply : As early Potatoes are sure to 

 make growth of some kind during mild weather towards 

 the end of mid-winter, we may as well have that growth 

 strong. If the tubers are left in a heap in the dark, the 

 sprouts which they push will be weak and valueless ; if 

 the Potatoes are laid thinly in boxes, and put in a light 

 place safe from frost, the sprouts will be short, thick, and 

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