402 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



that no one can comprehend ; nnd of estimating! 

 their crop?; of esculent and tuberous roots, some- 

 times as being measured by the Wiiichesur bush- 

 el, and in other in-lances estimating them nimlij 

 jjoumls to the btislicl ; and at other times they are 

 measured by barrds or loads, the size of whicii 

 no one can conjecture. Therefore, in our in- 

 quiries, we cannot say with certainty, wliat ca- 

 pacity of measure is meant by those wlio relate 

 the results of experiment", that have been made 

 in that country, either as to the ground occupi- 

 ed, or the crop produced. Therefore, in order 

 to come to any satisfactory result, in my inqui- 

 ries relative to the comparativs value of arti- 

 chokes, as a crop, I have concluded that the 

 land planted with potatoes, (with which I shall 

 compare this crop,) must have I'een measured 

 with the same instrument that the acre was, 

 which was planted with artichokes; and that 

 the same measure was used, to ascertain the 

 quantity o( each crop. 



Mr. Peters published his bool^ entitled "ffi/i- 

 tcr Riches,'" as long ago as 1772, in which he 

 speaks in very high terms of artichokes, as a 

 crop to feed all kinds of stock oil; and express- 

 es his astonishment, that they are not more 

 grown, and that they arc held in such low es- 

 teem, even lor human sustenance. 



He assert-, that ho has raised from one acre 

 of land, from 70 to OO tons ; and th.it he is ol 

 opinion, that ji'G tons may be raised (rom seven 

 acres ; from which it will appear, 'hat if Mr. 

 Peters had only 70 tons, he must have had 

 '.i',413 bushels of artichokes, at 65 poinds to the 

 bushel, (which is the most that a bwhcl of the 

 best potatoes can be made to weigh;) but if he 

 had CO tons, then his acre of artKhokes pro- 

 duced him the prodigious quantify of 2,755 

 bushel;, of the same weight. 



From the above example, it ivUl be seen, 

 that Mr. ??!■>■= ^iJ "01 exceed probaniiity, in 

 expecting 3?,C} tons from seven acres, when 

 planted for an ordinary cro[i, which would be 

 iJjtJiG bushels of artichokes. 



Another English writer es imates an ordinary 

 crop of artichokes to be eqial to 130 Winches- 

 ter bushels per acre, when planted, without the 

 expense of manure. He also considers this crop 

 to possess great merit, iron its certaintij upon 

 any soil, and its not rer^uirin^ manure, and being 

 lironf against frost. 



I shall now endeavor to compare this crop, 

 as to its value, with potatoes. 



Arthur Young has given us several courses 

 of experiments, made by himself, on a good 

 ^oil, with ditfercnt .sorls of potatoes, one of w hicli 

 produced \M bushels, without manure, and the 

 rest, that were highly manured, with diflVrent 

 sorts of dressing, and at great expense, produc- 

 ed from 110 to G-OO bushels lo the ;'cre. Those 

 producing the least crop, were manured with 30 

 loads of yard compost, and tliosc producing the 

 most, were two lots which yielded exactly alike, 

 one parcel being manured with G leads of night 

 soil, and the other with 10 loads of bones. .\nd 

 in another course of experiments, probably 

 made the ne\t year, on the same ground, with 

 the same sorts of potatoes, and the same kinds 

 and quantity of manure ; he obtained, without 

 manure, HObushcU; with the y.ird compost, 

 I 10 bushels; from the night soil, 300 bushels; 

 and from the bone manure, 010. And two 

 other experiments, in dillerenl parts of England, 

 have given i-esults froni the same liiud of soil; 



one acre, without manure, lOO bushels; one 

 acre, 2t0 bushels, manured with wood ashes, 

 which was the smallest crop wilh manure ; and 

 the largest crop, manured with 5Li loads of farm 

 yard dung, was 100 bushels. 



The above experiments, having been made 

 by the best farmers in England, or perhaps in 

 the world, it will be observed, that the above 

 products in artichokes, may be compared with 

 them, to verj' great advantage. 



Therefore, having obtained the above intel- 

 ligence, I sent to Grant Thorburn for a bushel 

 of artichokes, for seed, in order to make an ex- 

 periment of their growth in this country. He 

 sent me a peck, saying that lie had only sent 

 that quantity, as he did not know that I should 

 approve of the price, which was ;^5per bushel. 

 This seed I received the 6th of May, and imme- 

 diately proceeded to plant it, on a soil in mod- 

 erate tilth for wheat. 



This peck of seed, I cut as small as was pro- 

 per, in order to make it go as far as possible in 

 planting. And while I was superintending the 

 planting of this seed, the boy, who assisted me,| 

 observed, that there were some artichokes grow- 

 ing on a certain place on my farm, which, when 

 examined, 1 found to be true, for 1 found a poor 

 exposed space of ground (not larger than a com- 

 mon breakfast table) covered with artichokes, 

 from which I dug about live pecks of fine large 

 tubes, which, notwithstanding the tops were 

 grown more than a fool high, I planted with the 

 others. And although they were planted quite 

 too late, I proposed, on some future occasion, to 

 publish the result of this ex|)enment. At this 

 time, they looked very tine, and the ground now 

 appears to be full of large roots. 



My present opinion, from all I have seen and 

 heard of artichokes, is, that they are the best 



suited for culti\atiuLj, iu this cUoiait,, — - .,. 



!or nogs, ^neep, and dairies, of any article thai 

 we have yet tried. 



Since last spring, I have examined several 

 where they are growing wild, and find that 

 they every where yield a bountiful increase, 

 more than could possibly be expected from po- 

 tatoes or turnips, or any other aciicle growing 

 on the same soil, and under the same circum- 

 stances, and every where indicate, th.U if cul- 

 tivated and manured in the same manner that 

 other crops are, the article would m;iintain the 

 s;ime superiority it does in a state of nature. 



I have found artichokes growing in hedge 

 rows, and among shrubbery in the borders of 

 gardens, to verv great perfection, where they 

 were perfectly shaded, and apparently overrun 

 with shrubs and weeds, and yet, on examining 

 the root.'^, they were abundant, and larger than 

 common potatoes, from which I concluded, they 

 wnulil even grow to some perfection in wood- 

 lands, where the soil was sot'l and mulchy. 



As to the best method of culture, 1 cannot say 

 much, as I have no experience, and can only 

 speak from the conclusion I have drawn from 

 observing the natural habits of the plant: from 

 which I would, however, venture to recommend 

 the following course of cultivation, which may 

 be tried on any kind of soil, with great certain- 

 ly of a good return, in proportion to the (piality 

 of the soil, or its improvements. But lo obt.iin 

 the best return, I would choose a field of a size 

 proportioned to the amount of green food f 

 might want for my winter's feeding, and of a 

 pretty good soil, if otherwise convenient, take 



ip some orchard ground, on account of the ben- 

 Hit that I am persuaded this crop would be to 

 he treo=. 



The ground should he ploughed and manured, 

 md then drilled in the manner that is usuall3 

 (lone for potatoes, and about the same quantity 

 of seed planted, at the same distance in the 

 rows. In the fall, the farmer should take up 

 ■ ucli a portion of the tubes as he would prob- 

 ibly want for his winter feeding, which will be 

 done cheapest with the plough. The remain- 

 der of his crop may be left, to be taken up early 

 in th» spring, as there is no way in which they 

 tan he so well preserved as to let them remain 

 In tlie ground during the winter. 



llie tubes that are taken up in the fall, should 

 be .loused in the same manner that potatoes 

 usually are, altho they are not so liable to injury 

 by frost, as either potatoes or the ruta baga. 



The next spring, when all the crop has been 

 taktn off the land, the ground should be well 

 and leeply ploughed, as early as possible, which 

 is all the cultivation that will again be wanfin"- 

 to s-'cure the most adundant crop. And when 

 the ground is to be appropriated to some other 

 coune of crops, it will only be necessary to 

 turn a sufficient number of hogs into the lot, 

 land Jicy will entirely eradicate the artichokes, 

 whi:h cannot otherwise be accomplished. 



Besides the use of this crop for stock, which 

 the ibovementioned authors consider to be equal 

 to pitatoes, they are also recommended highly 

 as ai article of human diet. It is true that when 

 boibd, they do not possess that peculiar farina- 

 ceois quality, that is so much esteemed in the 

 bes sorts of potatoes; but it is said when roast- 

 ed, they are a very delicate article for the ta- 

 ble: their taste then very much resembling the 

 g'tund nut of this country. 



And from alt my information in relation to 

 tb'; plant, 1 am persuaded that if ovory poor 

 tamilj in Ireland, and elsewhere, could devote 

 one qui.vtcr of an a-ie of land to this article, 

 they would at least bt saved from famine for 

 seven months in the year 



1 submit the above obserjation, to the consid- 

 erition of the enlightened members of the Ag- 

 ricultural Society, with my lecommendation, 

 llmt they will at least make an experiment, oa 

 a small portion of medium good soil, such as 

 they usually devote to their potatot crop : and 

 I promise myself the satisfaction to see this crop 

 generally raised tbrougliout the country, as a 

 cfieap, certain, and protitable substitute, both for 

 pctaloes and turnips, where the object is the 

 feeding of stock from November to May: by 

 which, the farmer will be able to bring his 

 ewes and lambs into his pastures in good health 

 and condition, instead of the miserable plight 

 ill which they are now seen during the early 

 sjiring months. 



The dairy farmer will al'O, by the cultivation 

 of this a:ticle, instead of seeing his cows shrunk 

 and dried up in winter, receive a rich supply 

 of milk at that season, w ben it is most valuable ; 

 and when his cows calve, he will have the moans 

 of fattening the calves, by which he will be sa- 

 ved both the loss and the shame of carrying 

 lean veal to the market, to be sold for little more 

 than the skin is worth. And he will find an ar- 

 ticle, on which to feed his team=, by which he 

 Uvill at least save one hah' of the dry short prov- 

 tnder that tanners arc now obliged to feed, and 

 liy which the health of his teams will be much 



