54 ARTICHOKE. 



tage of cloudy or wet weather for this operation. As the 

 roots penetrate to a great depth and the plants require 

 very rich soil, the bed should be heavily mauured, well 

 and deeply spaded, and the soil well pulverized. A good 

 dressing of salt, as for asparagus, is also useful for the 

 artichoke likes a saline soil and a top dressing of it may 

 also be given every year or two. 



After being carefully taken up, the plants may be set 

 with a dibble, in rows four or five feet apart and two feet 

 from plant to plant on the row; being careful not to insert 

 the heart of the leaves below the surface of the soil. If the 

 weather is dry at the time of planting, or should be dry be- 

 fore the plants get well established, liberal watering should 

 be given. In a bed composed of seedlings there will often 

 be found a great difference in the size of the flower buds or 

 heads the part used. It is therefore best to mark those 

 which produce the largest and most succulent flower heads, 

 and from these take the suckers for planting a new bed. 

 These should be taken off in May, when they are five or 

 six inches high, and planted in a permanent bed prepared 

 as above directed. 



The after culture consists in keeping the bed clear of 

 weeds and every season spading in some manure in order 

 to produce healthy, vigorous plants, with strong flower 

 stalks and blooms. Unless wanted for the purpose of 

 making a new bed in the spring, all the suckers, with the 

 exception of two or three, should be taken off the parent 

 plant, in order to strengthen it. The object to be attained 

 is large flower heads hence the whole culture must be 

 such as will produce a strong growth of the plants, giving 

 them plenty of room to develop their foliage and sustaining 

 the plants with liberal supplies of manure. If the flower 

 stems show more than three or four flower buds, all in 



