ROOT CROPS. 213 



small tubers. This it is that gives them so much 

 power to completely occupy the land, since these 

 small tubers, if allowed to remain in the ground, will 

 throw up fresh plants. The tuber is less firm than 

 that of the potato. The plant is extremely hardy, 

 so much so that it may be allowed to remain in the 

 ground all winter without being harvested. 



This plant is grown for table use and for dif- 

 ferent kinds of live stock, to which it is variously 

 fed. Its highest value comes from growing it for 

 swine, and with a view to having the swine harvest 

 the crop in the autumn or in the spring, but more 

 especially in the autumn. The tops are sometimes 

 fed as fodder to horses and cattle, but where other 

 fodders grow freely, it would not be wise to set a 

 high value on such fodder. 



The strong points in favor of the artichoke 

 crop are found, first, in the large amount of health- 

 ful food which they furnish for swine; as high as 

 700 bushels per acre are reported by farmers who 

 have grown them for years, but the average yield 

 would probably run from 300 to 400 bushels per 

 acre, and in many instances it would be less than 

 these amounts; second, in the fact that the swine 

 may harvest them; third, in their immunity from 

 injury by frost, especially while not yet harvested; 

 fourth, in the fact that they can be planted fall and 

 spring; and, fifth, in the number of successive crops 

 that they will produce from one planting under cer- 

 tain conditions of management. As many as seven 

 successive crops have been grown without any inter- 

 ruption, and under some conditions the growing of 

 these successive crops could be further extended. 



The chief objections to their growth arise, 



