500 



THE PARKS AND GARDENS OP PARIS. [Chap. XXIX. 



manure or leaf-mould in a dark cellar. The decayed leaves should 

 be removed every week or so. Under this treatment they become 

 sufficiently blanched in a fortnight, and may be preserved in a 

 good condition for at least two months. 



Globe Aktiohokes. — Artichoke-culture is of more importance 

 in France than with us, and there is considerable difference 

 among the kinds grown. The Artichoke is extensively cultivated 

 in all parts of France — in the north as well as in the south, in the 

 east as well as in the west ; but it does not prosper equally well 

 everywhere, and each province has its variety, to which it gives 

 preference or which thrives better than other kinds. Amongst 

 these varieties ought to be mentioned the large green Artichaut 

 de Laon, the heads of which have scales more fleshy at the base 

 than the ordinary kind, and not placed very close one to the other. 

 This is one of the best varieties known, and one that is most 



commonly cultivated in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris, espe- 

 cially at Aubervilliers, Varieties 

 are apt not to come true from 

 seed, and they require, besides, 

 more time than offsets before 

 they are fit for consumption; 

 the latter mode of propagation 

 is, therefore, that most generally 

 adopted. Near Paris the offsets 

 are taken off in spring ; in other 

 districts the operation is deferred 

 till autumn, as this is thought 

 to produce better and earlier 

 returns. The process is as 

 follows: — After stripping off the 

 soil from the base of the plants, 

 without pulling them up, the suckers, which grow at the collar, 

 are removed with a heel, or portion of the stem, attached to 

 them ; and from amongst these offsets the strongest should 

 be chosen for planting. The soil which is destined to receive 

 them having been well prepared, the offsets should at once 

 be planted in lines, at a distance apart of about two feet six 

 inches each way, taking care to heap up the earth round the 



De Laon Ariichoke, 



