62 



KITCHEN-GARDEN PLANTS. 



[chap. 



of the outer garden. One row of clumps along under that hedge, 

 and at three feet from it, would contain fifty clumps, which would, 

 if well cultivated, produce enough for any family in the world. 

 The artichoke is a large, rude and tall thing, and, thus situated, it 

 would not intercept the view of prettier crops. If part of that 

 shady hedge were wanted for other things, you might have two 

 rows of artichokes, extending half the length of the row before 

 mentioned. Those who are very fond of artichokes might have 

 some few clumps in an earlier spot ; and, to have them late in the 

 year, the latest should be cut off with stems as long as possible, 

 and these stems stuck into moist earth or sand in a cool shed or in 

 a cellar ; preserved in which manner many people have them to eat 

 in January. There are two sorts of this plant, the difference of 

 which consists, I believe, solely in the fruit, or rather of the flower ; 

 for, after all, the seed is the fruit. One of these sorts bears a coni- 

 cal head, the other a head which is round. The latter is larger 

 than the former, but I never heard that there was any difference in 

 the quality. If you wish to save the seed of this plant, you ought 

 to let some of the earliest heads remain uncut, they will flower like 

 a thistle in the summer, and the seed, very much like that of 

 ihe sunflower, will be ripe in the fall. Gather it when per- 

 fectly dry, rub it out of the husk, and put it by in a very dry place, 

 where it will keep good for three years at the least. 



121. ASPARAGUS.— This plant is raised from seed only. It 

 is contained in small berries which are first green and then red, 

 each of which contains two or three black seeds which are ripe in 

 the month of October. The seed should be then gathered, made 

 perfectly dry ; the pods kept whole and hung up in a dry place 

 for use ; when wanted to be sown, it should be rubbed out of the 

 pod. Out of the pod the seed will keep four or five years ; but if 

 in the pod and kept dry, it would probably keep twenty. To have 

 asparagus heds there are two ways of going to work : first : sowing 

 the seeds in the beds at once ; and, second, raising the plants else- 

 where, and transplanting them into beds. The beds ought to be 

 four feet wide, and not more, because you ought to be able to cut 

 the asparagus without going upon the beds. If the ground where 

 the beds are to be have a dry bottom to a great depth, the beds 

 may stand pretty nearly upon a level with the common earth of the 

 garden ; but, if the bottom be wet, the paths between the beds 

 ought to be deep ; they ought to serve as trenches ; for asparagus 



