THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 



j rest of the leaf put aside, as we do the stem of as- 

 } paragus. The bottom, when all the leaves are thus 

 ; disposed of, is eaten with knife and fork. The 

 I French, who make salads of almost every garden 

 ' vegetable, and of not a few of the plants of the 

 field, eat the artichoke in salad. They gather the 

 i' heads, when not much bigger round than a dollar, 

 and eat the lower ends of the leaves above men- 

 ji tioned raw, dipping them first in oil, vinegar, salt 

 U and pepper ; and, in this way, they are very good. 

 |1 Artichokes are propagated from seed, or from off- 

 j ; sets. If by the former, sow the seed in rows a 

 foot apart, as soon as the frost is out of the ground. 

 Thin the plants to a foot apart in the row ; and, in 

 I the fall of the year, put out the plants in clumps of 

 four, in rows, three feet apart, and the rows six 

 feet asunder. They will produce their fruit the 

 , next year. When winter approaches, earth the 

 roots well up ; and, before the frost sets in, cover 

 all well over with litter from the yard or stable. 

 Open at the breaking up of the frost ; dig all the 

 I ground well between the rows ; level the earth 

 down from the plants. You will find many young 

 ones, or ofi^sets, growing out from the sides. Pull 

 these off, and, if you want a new plantation, put 

 them out, as you did the original plants. They 

 will bear, though later than the old ones, that 

 |i same year. — As to sorts of this plant, there are 

 |} two, but they contain no difference of any conse- 

 i quence : one has its head, or fruit pod, round, and 

 the other, rather conical. As to the quantity for a 

 i family, one row across one of the plats will be suf- 

 I ficient. — For Jerusalem Artichoke, see Jerusalem, 

 j 193. ASPARAGUS.— Were I writing to Nova 

 Scotians, I ought not to omit to give instructions as 

 to which end of the Asparagus the eater ought to 



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