2l8 FORAGE CROPS. 



plants in the line of the row should not be nearer 

 than eighteen inches. A greater distance between 

 the plants will probably provide the largest yields, 

 unless in soils deficient in fertility. 



Cultivation. — The first year the cultivation of 

 artichokes should be thorough during all the early 

 part of the season. The first harrowing should be 

 given a few days after the artichokes are planted. 

 The subsequent harrowings should ordinarily be 

 from two to four in number, and they ought to be 

 made before the plants reach the hight of, say, six 

 inches. The horse cultivation should then begin. 

 It ought to be given frequently, and it is important 

 that it shall be shallow so as not to break the hori- 

 zontal rootlets of the plants. 



When the crop is to be grown during successive 

 years on the same land without replanting, the soil 

 should be carefully harrowed, or otherwise leveled, 

 every spring before other cultivation is attempted. 

 As soon as the young plants appear, they should 

 be all cut out with the cultivator, except such as are 

 allowed to remain in narrow strips about three feet 

 apart to form the rows. The cultivator should 

 then be made to cross the rows likewise, but 

 in the second instance the rows may be left 

 somewhat closer. The artichokes will then grow 

 at the corners of squares, or of rectangles, hence 

 the cultivator may be used so as to run in vari- 

 ous directions. The harrow will probably be the 

 next implement to use, that the weeds around 

 the plants may be killed. Horse cultivation should 

 then follow, as previously described. 



Pasturing or Foraging. — The management of 

 the foraging of this crop will vary with variations in 



