Hog and Jerusalem Artichokes. 33 



branches long and slender, and entirely of a bright purple 

 hue. The flowers of these expand the soonest by 10 or 14 

 days, the petals of the ray longer, often twice as long as the 

 other, and the plant altogether makes a more gay and striking 

 appearance. Indeed, a field of these, of from 5 to 10 acres, or 

 even of one acre, viewed from an elevated distance, in the 

 month of September, adds a very remarkable feature to the 

 landscape. 



Now it may be that these differences are those of a variety 

 only, for so far as I can see, the specific character given by 

 Limiseus, '' H. fol. ovato. cordatis trinervizs," and even the 

 recent one in Eaton's Manual, " Leaves 3-nerved, scabrous ; 

 lower ones heart-ovate ; upper ones ovate, acuminate ; petioles 

 ciliate ; root tuberous," — will apply quite as well to one 

 sort as to the other. Still if it be true, as is most probable, 

 from its having been introduced mto this country from that 

 direction, that its native habitat is Texas, or Mexico, whilst 

 the old one hails from Brazil, I shall continue to think, till 

 the matter is settled by authority, that the new sort is also a 

 new, or at least a different species. 



As to the taste of hogs for them, it seems to be an acquired 

 one, like that of men for oysters, or pickled olives. They 

 almost always reject them at first, but after a while begin to 

 relish, and then become ravenously fond of them, — turning up 

 and pulverizing the soil to a great depth, in search of the 

 smallest fragment. 



There is a great difference of opinion as to their value in 

 an economical point of view ; some unhesitatingly pronounc- 

 ing them a humbug, while others think they are destined to 

 produce as important a change in our rural economy, as did 

 the introduction of the root culture into England. For my- 

 self, I believe that, with judicious management, they may be 

 made to reduce greatly the expense of raising pork — and that 

 they woidd be well worth cultivating, were it only for their 

 effect in renovating the soil. 



Athens, Ga., Nov. 16, 184G. 



VOL. XIII. NO. I. 5 



