392 
deep and well manured with stable-dung. Sea- 
weed is an excellent manure for it, and salt is 
beneficial when the soil is not clayey. 
Suckers.—From six to twelve suckers are pro- 
duced by each stool. In April, as soon as the 
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Fig. 1147.—Artuuchoke—Large Green or De Laon. 
leaves are 8 or 10 inches in length, the stools 
are uncovered and the suckers slipped off with 
a heel, two or three of the finest being left 
on the parent plant. The suckers are then 
planted 4 inches deep, 8 or 9 inches apart, in 
clumps of three, placed 2 feet from each other, 
in rows 4 feet asunder. Water should be given 
till the plants begin to shoot. Where the ground 
is stiff, it is a good plan to dig a trench 18 inches 
deep, and fill it with a mixture of dung and 
mould, and in spring to plant on this. In the 
autumn of the year of planting, some heads fit 
for use will be produced. 
Seeds (fig. 1148). — Globe Artichokes are 
easily raised from seeds, and strong plants can 
be had in one sea- 
son. They cannot 
be depended upon 
to come true to 
name, only a 
small proportion 
of the seedlings 
being of any 
value. Some at- : 
. ae Fig. 1148.—Seed of the Artichoke (Cynara 
tain to gl eat Scolymus). 
height and _pro- 
portions, and produce numerous small flower- 
heads more nearly resembling Cardoons than 
Artichokes. Others are of little worth owing to 
the heads being thin and spiny. The seedlings 
worth saving grow with moderate strength, and 
THE GARDENER’S ASSISTANT. 
give a good crop of massive heads with succulent 
scales. 
ing on a supply till severe frosts intervene. 
The seeds may be sown either under glass or 
in the open. Sown in a pan in February or 
March, and placed in heat to hasten germina- 
tion, the seedlings quickly appear, and when fit 
should be placed singly in 4-inch pots in loamy 
soil and kept growing in heat till well estab- 
lished, when they should be hardened off in a 
frame before planting them out in April or 
_May, 18 inches apart, in rows 3 feet asunder. 
Seeds sown in April in the open ground in 
shallow drills 3 feet apart, thinning the seed- 
lings until eventually they are left 18 inches 
apart, if kept free of weeds by stirring the soil 
about them with a hoe, will produce good plants 
by August. 
If the heads are required for pickling, they 
should be gathered when about 2 inches in 
diameter; if for the bottoms, when they are 
nearly full-grown and before the opening of 
the scales. As soon as the crop from each of 
the flower-stems is gathered they should be cut 
down; and all dead leaves should be removed 
at the same time. Any heads remaining in 
November may be preserved for a long time, by 
cutting them off with the whole of the stalk 
attached, planting the latter in moist sand in a 
shed or cellar, secure from frost, and cutting off, 
every three or four days, a small portion from 
the lower part of the stalk. 
Towards the end of November, or before 
frost sets in, the extremities of the longest 
leaves must be cut off; the ground should then 
be forked over, but in doing this care must be 
taken not to injure the roots. After the ground 
has been forked, a good thickness of dry litter, 
fern-leaves, or other protecting materials, should 
be packed closely round the plants, but not over 
their heads. Before severe weather sets in the 
plants should be well covered overhead, but the 
covering must be removed whenever the weather 
is mild, and again replaced at the approach of 
frost. Towards the end of March, or as soon as 
all danger of severe frost is over, the protecting 
materials may be entirely removed; but if any 
of the plants have been partially blanched, as 
is not unfrequently the case, they should be 
gradually exposed to the light. Afterwards, 
when the leaves are 8 or 10 inches in length, 
the stools should be uncovered; and all the 
suckers, with the exception of two or three of 
the most vigorous, having been removed, but 
so as not to injure the roots of these, the earth 
should be again replaced round the plants. This 
Seedlings are of good service in carry- - 
eg 
