ART 



[70] 



ART 



A, ni'tidum (glossy-leaved). 2. Pale lilac. June. 

 Buenos Ayres. 1830. Greenhouse ever- 

 green. 



oersi'color (changeable -flowered). J. Pink. 

 September. Brazil. 1825. Stove ever- 

 green. 



ARTICHOKE. (Cy'nara sco'lymiis.') Many 

 persons ha^o thought that the name of 

 this vegetable refers to the almost un- 

 swallowabte part of it known by the name 

 of " the choke ; " but this is quite a mis- 

 take. The word artichoke is merely the 

 English mode of spelling its French 

 name, artichaid ; and this is said, by old 

 writers, to be a corruption of the Arabic 

 name for it, alcocalos, which has reference 

 to the shape of its heads being like that 

 of the pine-apple. The Arabs prize it 

 highly, not only for its edible heads, but 

 its roots as a purgative, and its gummy 

 exudations as an emetic. 



Varieties. There are two varieties in 

 cultivation, the conical, or French, of 

 which the heads are green, and the scales 

 of their calyx spreading ; and the globe, 

 tinged with purple, with the scales curved 

 inwards and compactly. The artichoke 

 is sometimes called the globe artichoke, 

 on account of the round outline of its 

 heads. These heads are boiled, and the 

 bottom of each scale, or calyx, eaten 

 with butter and salt. The bottom of these 

 heads, which is the part named " the re- 

 ceptacle" by botanists, because it is the 

 receptacle or part containing all the mem- 

 bers of the flower, is very fleshy, and is 

 cooked in various ways; being, also, 

 sometimes dried, and used in winter. 



Propagation. It may be raised from 

 seed ; but the most expeditious and usual 

 way is to plant suckers from the old 

 roots in the spring. When the suckers 

 are eight or ten inches high, in open 

 weather, about the end of March, or early 

 in April, select such as have much oi 

 their fibrous roots, and are sound, and 

 not woody. The brown, hard part by 

 which they are attached to the parent 

 stem must be removed, and, if that cuts 

 crisp and tender, the suckers are good 

 but. if tough and stringy, they are worth- 

 less. Further, to prepare them for 

 planting, the large, outside leaves are 

 taken off so low as that the heart ap- 

 pears above them. If they have been 

 some time separated from the stock 

 or if the weather is dry, they are 

 greatly invigorated by being put into 

 water for three or four hours before the) 

 are planted. They should be set in rows 



bur feet and a half by three feet apart, 

 and about half their length beneath the 

 surface. Turn a large flower-pot, or a 

 sea-kale pot, over each, and water them 

 abundantly every evening until they are 

 established, as well as during the droughts 

 of summer. The only other attention 

 liey require, during the summer, is 'the 

 requent use of the hoe, and an occasional 

 supply of liquid-manure. It is also an 

 xcellent plan to have some mulch kept 

 about their roots during dry weather, im- 

 mediately after planting, and during the 

 whole summer, and to remove all small, 

 weak suckers about June. The plants 

 will produce a succession of heads from 

 July to October of the year they are 

 planted. For about five years they will 

 Continue similarly productive during 

 May, June, and July. At the end of 

 ive years a fresh bed should be made. 



The Artichoke's heads attain a much 

 larger size than they would otherwise, by 

 twisting a piece of wire very tightly round 

 the stem, about three inches below each, 

 and thus preventing the reflux of the sap. 

 No vegetable is more benefited than the 

 artichoke by the application of sea- weed, 

 or any other manure containing common 

 salt. 



To obtain Chards. Those who require 

 chards must make a plantation annually ; 

 for making the chards destroys the 

 plants. After the best heads have been 

 cut, early in July, the leaves are to be 

 cut over within half a foot of the ground, 

 and the stems as low as possible. In 

 September or October, when 'the new 

 shoots or leaves are about two feet high, 

 they are bound close with a wreath of 

 hay or straw, and earth or litter is drawn 

 round the stems of the plants. The 

 blanching is perfected in a month or six 

 weeks. If the chards are wished late in 

 the winter, the whole plants may be dug 

 up before frost sets in, and laid in sand 

 in their blanched state. In this way 

 they may be kept for several weeks. 



Gobbo. The Italians, to make this, 

 bend the stem of an artichoke down to a 

 right angle, and the stalks of the leaves 

 are bound together, and covered over so 

 as to blanch. The result is a lump, 

 which is eaten raw, with salt, and is 

 tolerably good. In Italy it is used in the 

 autumn and winter, and replaces radishes. 

 Winter Dressing. As soon as a stem 

 is cleared of all its heads in the summer, 

 it should be broken down close to the 



