4 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



when watering is necessary. If the plants are sufficiently manured 

 and watered, almost all of them will yield in the autumn of the 

 same year. Sometimes, instead of planting out the shoots per- 

 manently immediately after they are detached, they are first 

 planted in nursery-beds, from which they are afterwards removed 

 and placed out permanently at the end of June or July. The 

 success of the plantation is, in this way, more certain, and the 

 yield in autumn is, at least, quite as abundant as that produced 

 by following the other mode of planting. 



When Artichokes are raised from seed, it should be sown in 

 February or March, in a spent hot-bed, and the plants should be 

 planted out permanently in May. Plants raised in this way may 

 yield in the autumn of the first year. A sowing on the spot where 

 the plants are to remain may also be made at the end of April or in 

 May, but the plants thus obtained will not yield until the next year. 



At the commencement of winter. Artichoke plants should be 

 protected against frost, which sometimes destroys them in our 

 climate. In order to do so, all the stems which have flowered 

 should be removed from the stools by cutting them off as close to 

 the root as possible. The longest leaves also should be shortened, 

 after which soil should be heaped around the stools to the 

 height of 8 or lo in. above the neck of the root, care being taken 

 not to let any of it get into the heart of the plant. Should 

 the frost be very severe, it is advisable to give the stools an 

 additional covering of dry leaves or straw ; but it is important 

 that this covering should be removed whenever the weather is 

 mild, in order to prevent the danger of its rotting the plants. At 

 the end of March, or in the beginning of April, when hard frost is 

 no longer to be feared, the soil is stirred and manured if necessary, 

 the protecting heaps are removed from about the stools, and the 

 work of detaching the suckers or shoots is proceeded with as 

 described above. It is advisable to partially renew plantations 

 of Artichokes every year, and also not to allow any plantation 

 to last more than four years. 



Artichokes are grown in every 

 British garden, but rarely so well 

 as they deserve to be. 



The culture of the Artichoke 

 varies somewhat according to situa- 

 tion and climate. In the north and 

 midlands, it is necessary to cover it 

 in winter with litter or leaves, to 

 protect it from frost; in the south 

 it is sufficient to earth it up, but 

 even this precaution is not taken 

 everywhere. The plants are in- 



creased by seed and offsets. Varie- 

 ties of it, however, do not always 

 come true from seed, and they re- 

 quire, besides, more time than 

 offsets before they produce heads; 

 offsets, therefore, are most generally 

 adopted. With good culture heads 

 may be had for six months in 

 succession. Commencing with es- 

 tablished plants that have been 

 protected through the winter, these 

 will afford the first supply in May 



