THE ARTICHOKE. 



305 



posed of round knobs, which are united togetlier 

 into a kind of tuher. This is seated deep in the 

 ground, and is not liahle to be much affected by 

 the winter frosts. From this root, which con- 

 tains turions or eyes somewhat analogous to those 

 on the tuber of the potato, tlie stems rise up in 

 the early part of the spring, and are cut for use 

 when only a few inches above the ground. The 

 shoot of an asparagus grows only from the ex- 

 tremity, and works or vegetates from the centre, 

 and not from the surface as in trees. Thus it 

 pushes up through the soil in one mass. The 

 branches, which lie so thick together, safe and 

 weU protected under their scaly leaves, soon begin 

 to be developed, and are drawn out until the 

 whole plant, with its numerous thread-like leaves, 

 assumes very much the character of a larch tree, 

 having its miniature parts more light and ele- 

 gant, and the colour of a more lively gi'een. The 

 flowers, which wave in graceful panicles, are of 

 a yellow hue, and of a fragrant smell. They 

 are followed by round berries of a bright orange- 

 red. 



The head of the young shoot of asparagus is 

 edible just as far as the part which is to flower 

 extends; and thus one who eats a head of aspar- 

 agus eats in that little space the rudiments of 

 many hundreds of branches and many thousands 

 of leaves. 



Asparagus is distinguished into two varieties, 

 the red and the green : the first is a larger kind, 

 growing fuller and closer; though handsomer in 

 appearance, it is not considered of so good a 

 flavoxir as the green. In consequence of its 

 being more showy, it is, however, held in greatest 

 esteem with market-gardeners. This kind has 

 been cultivated with great success in soils con- 

 sisting of little else than sea sand, dressed annu- 

 ally with sea- weed; and by attending to this 

 mode of culture it is probable that asparagus 

 might be reared on many spots on the coast, 

 that will hardly produce any other vegetable. 



A large quantity of asparagus is raised for the 

 London market. Battersea, Mortlake, and Dept- 

 ford, at each of which places the soil is light and 

 friable, are the chief localities for its cultivation. 

 The breadth of land in asparagus-beds, in the 

 parish of Mortlake alone, is estimated to be nearly 

 a hundred acres; one of the principal growers 

 having sometimes forty acres under this crop. 

 The largest cultivator in Deptford has eighty 

 acres entirely laid out in asparagus beds. 



Although the natural soil of this plant is poor 

 and light, beds for asparagus can scarcely be too 

 highly manured, since its good quality depends 

 on the quickness of its growth, which is accel- 

 erated by richness of soil. It is propagated by 

 seed, which is sown broad-cast in spring; and at 

 the same period of the ensuing year the young 

 plants are transplanted to beds prepared for their 

 reception, and where thej' are allowed to remain 



three or four years before the tender shoots are 

 cut for use. When these are from two to four 

 inches above the ground, they are cut two or 

 three inches below the surface. In cutting, care 

 is taken to leave to each plantule or stool one or 

 two shoots, to grow up into flower and seed, or 

 otherwise the roots would perish. Under'good 

 culture, the same plants wiU continue to furnish 

 annual crops during twelve or fourteen years. 

 It is estimated by a practical gardener that fivj 

 square poles of ground, planted with sixteen 

 hundred plants, will yield, during the season, 

 from six to eight score heads daily. 



Asparagus contains little nutriment, but it is 

 a mild vegetable, and pleasant to the taste. 

 Its culinary preparations are few, its very deli- 

 cate flavour rather being deteriorated than im- 

 proved by other adjuncts. 



The Artichoke, (a/nara scoh/mus.J This 

 plant belongs to a well marked natural family, 

 the Composites, and the Syngenesia aqualis of 

 Linnaeus, all the species of which are character- 

 ised by the adhesion of their anthers forming a 

 tassel or button-shaped mass, as in the thistle, 

 daisy, dahlia, crysanthemum, &c. The form of 

 the artichoke most nearly resembles that of the 

 thistle. The name is supposed of Arabic origin, 

 the plant being called in that language khar- 

 cliiof. 



The artichoke is evidently not indigenous to 

 Britain, but is probably a native of some of the 

 warmer parts of the temperate zone, and is sup- 

 posed to be indigenous to the countries which 

 bound the Mediterranean, as well as to the islands 

 which are situated in that sea. 



Like sea-kale, it is naturally a maritime plant, 

 or at least one which thrives best on soils where 

 there is a mixture of saline or alkaline matter. 

 It does not, however, flourish on the same sand}'' 

 shore with the former plant, its most genial soil 

 being that in which there is a mixture of peat, or 

 other decayed marshy vegetable matter. No where 

 does the artichoke arrive at greater perfection 

 than in the Orkney islands, and this successful 

 culture is said to be consequent on the plentiful 

 supply of sea weed with which the ground is 

 annually di-essed. 



Beckmann made very laborious researches to 

 ascertain the positive antiquity of the artichoke. 

 These discussions are, however, more curious 

 than interesting. A commentator of Dioscor- 

 ides, Hemiolaus Barbaras, who died in 1494, re- 

 lates that this vegetable was first seen in the 

 Venice garden in 1473, at which time it was 

 very scarce. A few years previous to that time 

 it was, however, an object of cultivation in other 

 parts of Italy. It was introduced into Franco 

 at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and 

 not many years afterwards, during . the reign of 

 Henry VIII., was first transplanted into our 

 gardens. In the Privy-Purse expences of this 

 2 1 



