SOIL CULTURE AND YIELD. 175 



' ' The preparation of the ground and the subsequent cul- 

 tivation is the same as for potatoes ; the rows should not be 

 less than four feet apart, and three feet between plants. 

 Plant small tubers or the larger ones cut to two eyes, and 

 about four inches deep. Keep the ground stirred to pre- 

 vent weeds, till the plants shade the patch, and then they 

 will take care of themselves. They should yield from 

 seven to fifteen tons per acre, or even more, with a good 

 stand, good soil, and care. On a dry year a neighbor of 

 mine planted one acre to artichokes, but got but little over 

 half a stand on account of parts of his land being too dry. 

 Yet with his partial stand he raised ten tons of tubers. ' ' 



But Mr. Murdock and his neighbors operate on a peat 

 soil of great looseness and richness, which favors the 

 maximum size and multiplication of the tubers. His re- 

 sults are, therefore, not attainable everywhere, but still 

 the growth and productiveness of the plant are marvelous 

 in this climate. 



Gathering. In the garden the artichoke bed can be re- 

 garded as a permanent investment. Digging can begin in 

 the autumn at one end of the bed and proceed regularly 

 through it as the tubers are wanted until growth starts in 

 the spring. Selecting the large tubers for use and leaving 

 the small ones in the soil will harvest and replant the crop 

 at one operation. It is necessary to dig at intervals for 

 the tubers are prone to decay and cannot be stored as 

 potatoes are. 



Before the rains are over, the bed should have a top 

 dressing of manure and then it is ready for another sea- 

 son, with no farther care except pulling weeds which start 

 early. 



The Jerusalem artichoke has been commended for years 

 as a food for hogs the animals to do their own harvesting. 

 Some growers are very enthusiastic over it, but why it has 

 not been more widely employed has never been fully ex- 

 plained. Some growers commend them highly as cow- 

 feed, and when boiled, fowls eat them readily but the 

 cost of digging for such purposes is a serious drawback. 



