1048 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



and vegetables of all kinds thrive famously in wet or dry 

 seasons. When the ground is dug one spit deep year after year 

 the root-run is very limited, owing to the hard pan formed, which 

 is impervious to the descent or ascent of water, and there is 

 nothing to marvel at in the crops being unsatisfactory or col- 

 lapsing entirely. If one-fourth of the garden is trenched every 

 winter, the labour will scarcely be felt, and in four years the whole 

 will have been done, and another commencement can be made. 

 The results will amply repay for the extra labour, and the produce 

 will be of such a high order that it may be relied upon not to 

 disgrace the grower anywhere. Next in importance to deep 

 cultivation is the constant moving of the surface soil during the 

 growing season. All vegetables seem to heartily enjoy this form 

 of cultivation : not only are weeds kept down, but moisture is 

 conserved, and the soil kept in the most favourable condition 

 for root action. By the above system the writer has secured 

 honours at leading shows in all parts of the kingdom and supplied 

 large establishments with daily supplies of vegetables in con- 

 siderable variety at a moderate outlay in seeds and labour. 



Artichokes. 



Globe Artichokes (Fig. 677) are easily propagated by seeds 

 sown in deeply-worked and rich soil in March or early in 



April. Select a well- 

 drained sunny site, 

 and sow the seed 

 very thinly. Four 

 feet apart is a suit- 

 able distance be- 

 tween the plants, 

 and to that distance 

 the young 

 plants should 

 be thinned. 

 Keep down 

 weeds, and 

 give one or two 

 soakings of 

 liquid manure 

 during the 

 summer. On 

 the approach 

 of frosty 

 weather the 

 base of the 



Fig. 677.— Globe Artichoke. 



