672 



G L E A N I N (^ S IN B E E C U L T l" K I-; 



()( T'lUKK, 19'J'J 



middle of the winter wheu the appeal to the popu- 

 lar taste will be most powerful ; and when we 

 realize what a back-breaking job it is to prune 

 carefully and cultivate the plant so that it may 

 break forth into blossom at just the identical time 

 we desire, and that this same blossom shall hold all 

 of the delicious succulence which makes it so 

 loved. The grower cuts back his plants in June, 

 and it is marvelous how soon after the plant has 

 been pruned to the very ground the great new 

 leaves and sturdy flower stalks make their ap- 

 pearance. And if it be given plenty to eat — for 

 it has a ravenous appetite and must have plenty 

 of fertilizer, plenty of water, with long days of 

 bright sunshine and a rich black loam soil — it will 

 be most accommodating and bud and blossom just 

 as the gardener would like. But woe betide the 

 gardener who cuts down the ration ! 



You will notice in tlie above tluit this 

 artichoke is also a honey plant; and our 

 good friend Burbank tells us in his circular 

 that he has perfected a variety of this ar- 

 tichoke with blossoms as large as a bushel 

 basket; and the bud of this plant before 

 the blossoms come out has been found to be 

 such a delicious food that 500 carloads were 

 shipped to eastern cities in 1921. Perhaps 

 somebody can tell me how many carloads 

 are now being shipped. As you perhaps 

 know, I have now two daughters in Los An- 

 geles, Calif., and they are agreed that arti- 

 choke buds are a delicious vegetable. But 

 they do not get buds anything like the size 

 Burbank mentions. Some years ago T was 

 interested in this new artichoke, and suc- 

 ceeded in getting one or two to bloom here 

 in Ohio; bitt Ave had forgotten or did not 

 know just hoAV to use the jilant, and never 

 made any use of the buds. Some of the 

 leaves of that plant were three to four feet 

 long. We have a few plants growing in 

 our garden now that came from Burbank; 

 but I fear our season is going to be too 

 short for them. We give here a cut of this 

 artichoke to sliow vou what thev look like. 



The California articlioke, or "big thistle," which 

 bears edible buds that are now being shipi)ed to the 

 large cities all over the United States by the car- 

 load. Burbank tells us of an improved variety 

 that bears >)l(>ssoms as large as a Imsliol basket 



J think I read somewhere that the Cali- 

 fornians claim there is only cue locality in 

 California where these artichokes can be 

 produced successfully, and that spot is rath- 

 er holding tlic tfailc T d" not sec why tticy 



can not be grown in Florida, and 1 am plan- 

 ning to make a trial of it. 



The sunflower and artichoke are closely 

 related. In fact, the blossoms of the arti- 

 choke and helianti look very much like a 

 small sunflower. 



In our August number for 1919 I gave 

 you some extracts from the dairy papers 

 sliowing that the sunflower stalks, when cut 

 at the right time, promise to surpass corn or 

 anything else as a plant for filling silos and 

 helping dairymen in giving the world milk 

 (instead of beer) and butter and cheese. I 

 was very enthusiastic about it. But our 

 Ohio Experiment Station rather discouraged 

 me. While they admitted its value for dairy 

 purposes they had not succeeded in getting 

 nearly as many tons per acre as they got 

 of corn. But our dairy periodicals )ioir 

 report that in many localities sunflower si- 

 lage not only gives more tons to the acre, 

 but produces more and better milk, cheese, 

 etc.; and I believe it is pretty well settled 

 that in many places where sunflowers suc- 

 ceed they are found to be preferable to 

 corn for filling silos. For .one thing they 

 will stand more frost in cold weather than 

 corn, as T have demonstrated, and which 

 I reported in 1919 and 1920. And you 

 may recall that there is a spot in Califor- 

 nia where they grow sunfloAver seeds not 

 only by the ton but by the carload; and 

 the May number for 1920, page 300, gives a 

 report from it as a honey plant, some colo- 

 nies producing 100 pounds of sunfloAver hon- 

 ey. In Eussia, Avhere the Eussian sunfloAA-er 

 seed comes from, they saA^e the seed to such 

 an extent that oil is expressed, and this oil 

 is said to be a very good substitute for but- 

 ter. My impression is, however, that the 

 oil from no plant nor animal can equal the 

 regular old-fashioned cow's butter. Can 

 any of our readers tell us more about it? 



NoAv, friends, with the above long preface 

 I an) just ready to tell my story. 



About the first of July T found a notice 

 in t'.e National Stockman and Farmer of a 

 ncAV and improA^ed artichoke, and I at once 

 addressed the Avriter of said article for fur- 

 ther particulars; and it Avas one of my 

 "happy surprises" to receive A-ery proni)>t- 

 ly the letter beloAv: 



My kind friend Root: 



May I tell you it is like a benediction to get 

 such a letter from my friend and teacher of 40 

 .vears' standing. 



I planted every tuber I had of the French White 

 Jerusalem artichoke, and they are in their rapid 

 growth now. I looked to see if new tul.ers hail 

 formed but there are none yet. They grow like 

 the i)otato. and now they are just sending out the 

 white underground stems on which the tubers 

 will form a little later. This tuber has been de- 

 veloped on the farm of ex-Congressman Sibley of 

 Franklin, Pa., and the results there attained are 

 almost beyond belief. I am writing Mr. Sibley 

 to send you his rejiort on the work done. • 



The common wild tuberous artichoke T ahvays 

 grew but never thought highly of it, as it lacks 

 productiveness and the tubers are small and very 

 uneven. This improA'od tuber is very large and 

 extra-smooth, and a iiroduction of 850 bushels to 

 llie acre on n large scale is indeed wonderful. 



