ARTICHOKE — BEAN 463 
The fleshy scales of the head and the soft “bottom” of the head 
are the parts used. The young suckers or shoots may also be tied 
together and blanched, using them like asparagus or Swiss chard. But 
few of these plants would be needed for a family, as they produce a 
number of flower-heads to a plant and a quantity of suckers. The 
plants should be set from 2 to 3 feet apart in the row, the rows being 
3 feet apart. This vegetable is not quite hardy in the North, but a 
covering of leaves or barnyard litter to the depth of a foot will protect it 
well. The plant is perennial, but the best yield comes from young plants. 
If the heads are allowed to ripen, they reduce the vitality of the plant. 
Artichokes have never become so popular in this country as to have 
produced a long list of varieties. Large Green Globe is most commonly 
offered by seedsmen. Edible heads should be secured the second year 
from seed. Seedlings are likely to vary greatly, and if one is fond of 
artichokes, he would do better to propagate by suckers from the best 
plants. 
These plants make no mean decorative subjects, either massed or 
in a mixed border, and from the rarity of their culture are always 
objects of interest. 
Artichoke, Jerusalem, is a wholly different plant from the above, 
although it is eommonly known as “artichoke” in this country. It 
is a species of sunflower that produces potato-like tubers. These tubers 
may be used in lieu of potatoes. They are very palatable to hogs; 
and when the plant becomes a weed, — as it often does, — it may be 
exterminated by turning the hogs into the field. Hardy, and will grow 
anywhere. 
Bean. — Every garden grows beans of one kind or another. Under 
this general name, many kinds of plants are cultivated. They are all 
tender, and the seeds, therefore, should not be planted until the 
weather is thoroughly settled; and the soil should be warm and loose. 
They are all annuals in northern countries, or treated as such. 
The bean plants may be classified in various ways. In respect to 
stature, they may be thrown into three general categories; viz. the 
pole or climbing beans, the bush beans, and the strict-growing or up- 
right beans (as the Broad or Windsor bean). 
