CARAWAY 185 



leaves and young shoots are sometimes eaten. The seeds are used 

 for flavouring bread in Germany and other countries, and certain 

 kinds of cheese in Holland. They are of very ancient use, and are 

 still used in bread, pastry, cheese, sweets, and sauces. 



CARDOON 



Cynara Cardunculus, L. Composite 



French, Cardon. German, Kardone, Cardy. Flemish, Kardoen Italian, Spanish, and 



Portuguese, Cardo. 



Native of Southern Europe. Perennial. Notwithstanding the 

 different botanical names which have been given to them, the 

 Artichoke and the Cardoon appear to belong to the same species, 

 cultivation having, in the case of the latter, developed the leaf- 

 stalks, and, in the former, the receptacle of the flower. The 

 Cardoon is a larger plant than the Artichoke, and of a more 

 vigorous habit of growth, but the botanical characteristics and the 

 general appearance of both present the greatest analogy to each 

 other. In the Cardoon, the stem, which attains a height of from 

 4 to 6 ft., is channelled and of a whitish hue ; the leaves are very 

 large, pinnated, slightly gray-green on the upper surface, and 

 almost white underneath, and armed, in several varieties, at the 

 angle of each division with very finely pointed yellow or brown 

 spines from about in. to over in. long. The very fleshy leaf- 

 stalks or ribs are the edible part of the plant. The flowers, which 

 have usually pointed scales, resemble those of the Artichoke, but 

 are smaller. The seed is thick, oblong, rather flat, and angular, 

 gray, striped or streaked with dark brown. Their germinating 

 power lasts for seven years. 



CULTURE. Unlike the Artichoke, which is almost always 

 propagated by means of offsets, the Cardoon is always raised 

 from seed, which is usually sown in May, in holes or " pockets " 

 filled with compost, and made at a distance of about a yard from 

 one another in every direction. It might be sown earlier in pans 

 on a hot-bed, but this practice has few advantages, as the Cardoon 

 has ample time to develop itself during the summer and autumn, and 

 is not a vegetable that is sought after before its natural season. The 

 ground must be kept very clean, and the plants should be plentifully 

 watered through the summer. As they will not have grown large 

 enough to touch one another before September, the ground between 

 the rows may be utilised in the meantime by sowing some other 

 crop there. The stalks or ribs are blanched by tying them together 

 and wrapping them round with straw, which is also tied up with 

 cord, bast, etc. The plants are then earthed up, and left so for 

 about three weeks, when the stalks or ribs will be in proper 

 condition for use ; but if left longer than this, they will be in danger 



