42 



F A R x\l E R S ' REGIS 1' E K 



[No. 1 



any kind. The author was John Randolph, of 

 Williamsburg, attorney general under the colonial 

 government. The date of the work is not shown 

 by any thing in the oldest edition which we have 

 Been, which is as late as 1794. 



The value of this unpretending little treatise 

 has been so generally acknowledged, that it has 

 passed through several editions. Still it is a scarce 

 work, as must be soon the case with any which is 

 of such small bulk, and published alone. The 

 latest edition has many modern additions; but, be- 

 sides other reasons for omitting these, we prefer to 

 give the work to the public in its original form; 

 which was without the name of the author, or 

 without any introduction whatever to the notice, 

 or recommendation to the favor of the public. It 

 will be published altogether in this, the January 

 number of the Farmers' Register, for more conve- 

 nient reference and use. — Ed.Far. Reg.] 



A TREATISE ON GARDENING. 



Artichokes, known to the botanical writers 

 by the name of cinara, are to be propagated 

 either from the seed, which are to be Gathered 

 irom the choke or flower at the head of the arti- 

 choke, or from slips, which are to be separated 

 from the main stalk by the edge of the hand, and 

 transplanted. If these oflsefs are good, they will 

 be of a whitish color about the heel, and will have 

 Eome little root to them. If you have plenty of 

 ground, put three slips in a hill, and let the hills be 

 tour feet asunder, and the rows the same; but if 

 you are scanty with regard to your land, you must 

 cut your coat according to your cloth. About 

 March, or thebeginnmg of April, you are annual- 

 ly to slip off all the lateral branches with your 

 hand, and leave only the three principal stalks in 

 your hill. Every spring they ought to be dunged; 

 sheep's dung and ashes are not only the best for 

 that purpose, but also fisr preparing your ground 

 for them. It' you have depth of mould enoush, 

 i. e. two feet, and you don't crop your ground with 

 any thing else, your artichokes will remain good 

 a number of years; but if they are any ways ne- 

 glected, or the ground is tended, they will not only 

 be injured in their growth, but will very much de- 

 generate in five years. When planted out, they 

 should be well watered if not in a wet season, and 

 kept clean from weeds. There are various me- 

 thods of preserving them from the severity of win- 

 ter. Some cut I hem down within nfnot and cover 

 them with a hill or ridge, leavmg a small hole at 

 the top which is covered with dung, others cover 

 them entirely with dunpr- I have found from 

 many years experience that long dung is an ene- 

 my to them, and that the best way to preserve 

 them is by laying straw on the surface of the 

 ground over their roots. This preserves the leaves 

 from rotting, which ihW down from the frost, and 

 united, afiiard such a protection to the plants, that 

 not one in rifty will perish. They never flourish 

 in a drippino situation, but like a low place not loo 

 wet, but very rich. VVhen you cut them, cut the 

 stalk quite down to the ground, which strengthens 

 the plants and makes them forwarder in the 

 spring. There will be many on a stalk, but all 



must be pulled off except that which is on the 

 centre of the main stalk, if you propose having 

 them fine. If you prick out the slips in the spring, 

 you may have a succession till the fall. The 

 leaves of articliokes, 1 have been inlbrmed, clean 

 pewter the best of any thing. There are different 

 sorts, but two only that are much propagated. 

 1st., folus aciileatis, i. e. prickly leaves; 2d., JFolus 

 non aculeatis capita subrubentc, i. e. without 

 prickly leaves, smooth and reddish heads. The 

 latter is most preferred. There is the Cinara spi- 

 nosa, which is to be cultivated and eat like celery, 

 which produces a head with the seed not unlike 

 the artichoke, from w^hence it took its name. 

 The common name is chardoon or cardoon. The 

 Jerusalem artichoke, helianthus, is only a species 

 of the sun flower with a tuberous loot, not unlike 

 a potato. Some admire them, but they are of a 

 flatulent nature and are apt to cause commotions 

 in the belly. 



Asparagus, (growth^a young shoot,) are to 

 be propagated either from the seed or roots. The 

 seed are contained in those things which look like 

 red berries. These are to be gathered from the 

 most flourishing stalks, and laid in a tub for about 

 three weeks to ferment. This will rot the husks, 

 which will swim upon being rubbed between the 

 hands and having water poured upon them, but 

 the seed will go to the bottom. Pour the water 

 ofl' gently, and the husks will be carried along 

 with it. This being done two or three times, the 

 seed will become perfectly clean. They are then 

 to be laid on a mat or dish, and exposed to the sun 

 to dry. When that is done, they may be put into 

 a bag, and pricked out in February or March, in 

 beds about a foot asunder every way, and never 

 to be transplanted. But if they are to be trans- 

 planted, they may be sown as thick as you do cab- 

 bage. If you propagate from the roots, those of a 

 year old are most eligible, though if two, they will 

 succeed very well. In planting them out, they 

 should be placed about four inches under the sur- 

 face of the ground, with the bud erect against the 

 side of the earth perpendicularly cut, so that the 

 extremities of each root may touch one another. 

 This will put them about a foot asunder. The best 

 time for transplanting them is when they begin to 

 shoot, but before they appear above ground. The 

 principal thing to be regarded with these plants, is 

 the bed in which they are to be placed. A great 

 apparatus was formerly made use of", but now 

 seems on all hands to be disregarded. Nothing 

 more is necessary than to make your beds perfect- 

 ly rich, and light, that the head may not be ob- 

 structed in its growth upwards. Two feet of 

 n)ould and dung is depth sufficient for anj' plant. 

 They are to be kept clean from weeds, and nothing 

 sown upon the beds. The fourth year from the 

 seed they may be cut moderately, but it is better 

 to wait till the fifih. About October, the haulm 

 should be cut down and the beds covered with 

 rotten dung about six inches, part of which may 

 be taken ofl in February or March, and the re- 

 mainder forked up in the beds, which will not only 

 assist the roots but raise the beds in some small 

 degree yearly, which is an advantage. A spade 

 is a very prejudicial instrument to them. Cut 

 with a blunt pointed knife (some use a saiv) and 

 separate the earth from the plant and cut it so as 

 not to endanger the head of another that may be 



