ARTICHOKE, GLOBE. 307 



chase them, it is not worth while to raise them from 

 seed in a private garden. 



The edible portion is the undeveloped stems, which, if 

 cut away as soon as they appear, are followed by others, 

 which start from the crown of the plant. The cutting, 

 if continued too long, would finally exhaust the root ; 

 hence it is customary to stop cutting as soon as early 

 peas become plenty, and allow the remaining shoots to 

 grow during the rest of the season, and thus accu- 

 mulate sufficient strength in the plant to allow it to pro- 

 duce another crop of shoots the next season. The en- 

 graving (figure 109) represents a strong plant with the 

 earth removed from the roots. The shoots aie shown in 

 differont stages of development, and it will be seen how 

 readily cureless cutting may injure the buds which are 

 ready to produce a succession of shoots. 



The surface of the Asparagus bed should have a top- 

 dressing of three or four inches of rough stable manure 

 every fall (November), which should be lightly forked 

 into the bed in the spring. The variety mostly grown is 

 the Colossal, although the new French variety, known as 

 the Palmetto (figure 110), is likely to supersede it, its 

 merit being that the shoots grow more uniformly large 

 than the Colossal. 



In some localities Asparagus is attacked by an insect 

 called the Asparagus Beetle. The best method of getting 

 rid of this pest, that we have found, is to coop up a hen, 

 and let the chickens eat the insects and their eggs. 



AKTICHOKE, GLOBE (Cynara Scdymus). 



The portion used of this plant is the undeveloped 

 flower cluster, or the portion which is known as the 

 scales of the involucre. They are boiled and served with 

 drawn butter ; but outside of France they do not seem to 

 be very generally appreciated. The plants are propagated 



