50 



and indigestible seeds. Italian analyses show the pods to contain over 40 per cent 

 of sugar and some 8 per cent of protein. Over 75 per cent of the total weight is 

 digestible. 



Carobs may be grown from seed, but improved varieties are best propagated by 

 grafting or budding. This is best done in spring, but dormant buds may be made in 

 autumn. The trees are difficult to transplant, and it is usually best to raise seedlings 

 and graft them where the tree is to stand. The beans should be soaked for four days 

 before sowing, and are best planted from 20 to 45 feet apart. If not sown in position, 

 they had best be potted at the end of the first year, and ultimately the pots can be 

 set where desired without danger of loss. If planted on a hillside, it is usually nec- 

 essary to build a rampart of stones in the shape of a crescent in the lower side of the 

 hill, to prevent them from being washed away. 



In Italy it is claimed best to allow the plants to attain a strong growth before 

 attempting to graft them, this being done usually in the third year from seed. The 

 carob bears the staminate and pistillate flowers on different trees, and it is necessary 

 in order to insure a crop of pods to have a considerable proportion of staminate trees 

 in the plantation. Another method of securing fertilization of the flowers is to graft 

 branches of the male tree in the ordinary carob. The trees begin to produce three 

 years after being grafted, and in six years should produce from about 100 pounds of 

 pods to the tree. When in full bearing each tree produces from 400 to 600 pounds. 

 The unusually large trees may reach a height of 60 feet, having a crown 75 feet in 

 diameter, and may produce as high as 3,000 pounds of pods. The great carob- 

 growing regions of the Old World are along the Adriatic coast of southern Italy, the 

 island of Sicily, the southern half of Sardinia, and the island of Cypress. They are, 

 however, produced all along the Mediterranean Sea. The single province of Syracuse 

 exports no less than 25,000 tons annually, worth more than $250,000, while the total 

 production for the island of Sicily averages about 90,000 tons a year. The carob is 

 a concentrated food for horses, milch cows, and for fattening stock. To a certain 

 extent it replaces oats for horse feed. It must always be fed with some more bulky 

 fodder. It has been suggested that' it is very useful in some arid regions to feed along 

 with the thornless cactus. Sirups and various sweetmeats are sometimes prepared 

 from carob pods, and the pods are sometimes offered for sale in America, to be eaten 

 from the hand. 



Dr. Franceschi, Santa Barbara, Cal., writes that the carob tree has been introduced 

 into southern California many years ago. He says specimens are to be seen in differ- 

 ent places growing much more rapidly than in their native habitat, and some of them 

 bearing very profusely. He adds that it is the first tree to get established on the 

 lava about Vesuvius and Etna, after the American cactus Opuntiaficus indica has first 

 broken the way. It should be remembered that this tree belongs to the Legumi- 

 nosese, and, like the clovers, vetches, and other plants of this family, is able to draw 

 its nitrogen largely from the air through the bacteria which grow in little tubercules 

 on the roots. It should certainly be tested in all parts of the Southwest where the 

 mesquite is of importance as food for cattle, since the carob belongs to the same 

 family and produces pods containing much more digestible material." (Swingle.) 



3113 to 3116. Cynara scolymus. Artichoke. 



From France. Received through Mr. W. T. Swingle, April, 1899. 



These four numbers, as well as Nos. 3118 and 3119, are some of the best varieties 

 of artichoke grown in France. The varieties grown in America have almost, if not 

 quite all, originated from seed. By this importation it is hoped to obtain the very 

 best sorts now grown in Europe. A special circular giving methods of culture and 

 other information about artichoke has been issued by this office and published as 

 No. 22 of the Division of Botany. 



3113. Large green Paris artichoke. (Gros vert de Laon.) This variety is 



one of the most extensively cultivated in the neighborhood of Pari>«. 

 It yields regularly and abundantly and has larger heads than any 

 other variety. It has the great advantage of reproducing itself 

 from seed. The scaly leaves composing the head are reflexed, 

 forming an open burr looking very different from the smooth ' ' green 

 lobe" commonly grown in England and America. 



3114. Green Provence. 'This variety, which is extensively grown in the 



south of France, is particularly esteemed for eating raw with pepper 

 sauce. If grown from seed this variety always yields a large num- 

 ber of spiny plants.' ( Vilmorin. ) 



