292 JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, SANFOIN AND CELERY. 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. » 



The cultivation of this plant differs from any other. It is always grown upon the same 

 piece of land, which is kept in good condition by manuring once in two years. They may be 

 produced on a shallow, sandy soil : its cultivation adds much to the resources of the farmer. 

 It is thought much of by Boussingault. In addition to the food furnished by the tubers, the 

 stems furnish a kind of fodder for cattle. I may add that the sunflower also furnishes a nu- 

 tritious food in its leaves and heads, when in seed or flower : the horse is remarkably fond of 

 them, and eats the upper part of the stem with avidity. But I do not believe the sunflower 

 can be cultivated with profit for feeding the horse, or any of our domestic animals. 



SANFOIN, 



Is fitted to a light soil, and is designed as one of the means of increasifig the value of those 

 soils which have sufiered from long culture : it may be a gravelly, a sandy or light loamy soil. 

 The land must be free from weeds, and especially from quack grass. It is sown with barley. 

 The first season after the barley is taken efi", it should not be fed : but it may be sown the 

 next year, and fed by sheep until frost. The quality of the hay is Fuch as to suit the horse. 

 The value of this crop arises from the continuance of it for many successive years to furnish a 

 good crop for the scythe, and after a tender feed for cattle and sheep. It is, however, unsuited 

 to milch cows, as it imparts an unpleasant flavor to their milk. The roots of sanfoin are larger 

 than clover, and penetrate deeper into the soil, and the sod is filled with roots. 



When it is determined to break up the crop, it is ploughed, or the surface is cut with a 

 breast plough ; only about one inch of &od is taken off — it is merely pared : when this is done 

 it is left to dry ; it is then burned in heaps, and the abundance of ashes produced are spread 

 over the surface, or used as they may be required. The field is now in a condition for turnips, 

 or other root crops, or com. There is still, after skinning off, a vast amount of organic mat- 

 ter in the soil, which will decay, and in combination with inorganic, furnish nutriment to a 

 succession of crops. There is no doubt but sanfoin might be cultivated with advantage on the 

 sandy soils of Albany county. 



CELERY. 



This fine vegetable requires care ; but it amply repays all the expense attendant on its cul- 

 tivation, if properly bestowed. * Celery may be sowed in May, in the open ground if designed 

 for the winter. The seed is small, and germinates slowly. The plants are to be transferred, 

 when they are an inch high, to a rich loamy bed, where they may stand till August, having 

 been kept free from weeds in the mean time. During this month the trenches should be dug, 

 about eighteen inches deep, and half filled with manure which is well rotted and in a pulveru- 

 lent condition. This imparts a better flavor than the coarse unfermented manures. Mix the 

 eaith below the manure, intimately, with a fork. The plants may be trimmed, by the removal 



