14 THE SEED-GROWER. 
In the rigorous winters of the Northern States, arti- 
choke requires protection with a covering of straw or 
stable litter, but in the warmer climates of the Southern 
and Pacific Coast sections this is not necessary. 
Seed may be shelled by hand, or thrashed out on a 
floor, with a flail, running seed through a fan mill for 
cleaning. 
Market.—While the more general cultivation of this 
vegetable in the United States is confined to the South 
and to the Pacific Coast, it is also grown with success, 
but on a lesser scale, in Northern sections. 
All seedsmen have a moderate demand for artichoke 
seed; it is mostly imported from Europe, at price laid 
down in New York of about $1.00 per pound. 
In a favorable season, a yield is about 300 pounds 
per acre. J 
ASPARAGUS. 
Asparagus reaches full growth generally in the second 
year. On its numerous branches there are borne a 
great profusion of bright-scarlet berries, which contain 
the seeds, several in each berry. When these berries 
are soft-ripe seeds are sufficiently matured for saving. 
The stalks are then cut and taken to the barn or shed 
for extraction of seed. 
Extracting and Drying Seed.—The first operation 
is to separate the berries from the stalks, which may be 
done by stripping them off by hand, or by threshing 
them out on a cloth spread on the floor. 
Then to extract the seed, the berries are first mashed 
or crushed in a tub ora barrel, using for the purpose 
a wooden pounder; next, they are washed to clean the 
shells from the seed, which may be done in the same 
tub or barrel. The vessel used is filled two-thirds with 
water, the berries are poured in, and then the whole ig 
