ROOT CROPS. 217 



firm. In either case, the plowing should be deep. 

 Manure may be plowed in or put upon the surface 

 before planting the crop or after planting, according 

 to conditions. 



Sowing or Planting. — Artichokes may be 

 planted in the fall or in the spring. When planted 

 in the fall, late planting will usually be found pref- 

 erable, as then the winter frosts will not cut off the 

 young growth. This would be seriously injurious 

 to the plants when young. But in the spring the 

 planting should be early, considerably earlier than 

 would be safe in planting potatoes. When planted 

 in the fall, whole tubers ought to be used. When 

 planted in the spring, cut sets will answer, though 

 perhaps not quite so well as medium-sized tuberS 

 planted whole. Deep planting is preferable to 

 shallow planting, since it makes possible more 

 thorough cultivation before the plants are up, and it 

 further removes the feeding ground of the roots 

 from the influences of surface evaporation. 



The planting may be done, first, by the ordinary 

 potato planter, or, second, by making furrows or 

 trenches with the plow at suitable distances and 

 dropping the artichokes in these by hand. These 

 furrows will vary from three to six inches in depth, 

 according to conditions. The trenches may be cov- 

 ered with the plow or the harrow, according to 

 attendant circumstances. In slough lands that are 

 dry enough for artichokes it may very well serve the 

 purpose to drop the artichokes in certain of the fur- 

 rows while the land is being plowed. 



The distance between the rows and also between 

 the plants in the row varies, but the rows should not 

 be nearer to each other than three feet, and the 



