Chap. XXIX.] SOME VEGETABLES OP THE PARIS MARKET. 497 



varieties, some of which are spiny, whilst others are destitute of 

 prickles, or nearly so. The principal varieties are, the Cardoon of 

 Tours, a spiny variety which Parisian gardeners prefer to all 

 others ; the Spanish Cardoon, which is more cultivated in the 

 south than in the north of Prance ; the Cardoon Plein Inerme, 

 which is almost as fine as the Cardoon of Tours, and which has 

 the advantage of being free from prickles ; and finally, the Cardoon 

 Puvis, much sought after in La Bresse and in the neighbourhood 

 of Lyons. The Cardoon Puvis is an almost spineless variety, 

 readily distinguished from those already named ; the leaves are 

 larger and shorter than those of other Cardoons, which has given 

 rise to the name it bears in some localities — the Artichoke-leaved 

 Cardoon. The way the fine Cardoons of the Paris market are 

 raised is as follows. The ground requires well pulverising and a 

 rest from heavy cropping ; it matters little how poor or stiff the 

 soil, so that the bottom be dry. The exposure must be an open 

 one, as they require a free circulation of air and all the sun 

 possible. Having marked off the spaces for the trenches and 

 ridges, allowing six feet for each, those marked out for the ridges 

 are manured well and dug, for the improving of the ground for 

 other crops, as well as providing for the Cardoon, must be kept 

 in mind. The trenches are next dug out one foot deep, laying 

 the soil right and left on the ridges, and breaking the lumps well 

 as the work proceeds. The sides of the ridges should be well 

 sloped off, and beaten smooth with the back of the spade. A 

 compost, previously prepared, must now be wheeled into the 

 trenches to a depth of four to six inches, consisting of about equal 

 parts of chopped turfy soil, good, solid, half-rotted manure, and 

 road-drift or fine ashes, and if at hand some burnt clay. This is 

 forked into the trench in such a manner as to keep the compost 

 merely covered, while the ground below is loosened to the depth 

 of a foot at least. The trench ought -to lie uncropped until the 

 season for planting out the Cardoons has arrived, by which time 

 the ground will be in fine order to receive them. Two rows of Dwarf 

 Peas are generally sown upon the ridges, and a row of Spinach 

 between ; these will be off before the Cardoons require earthing-up. 

 In the first week in May sow the seeds in thumb-pots, placing 

 two sound seeds at opposite sides of the pots, and plunge the 

 pots in a cold frame, which must be kept close until the plants 



