182 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



their common barn-manure, or to spread on their garden^^ 

 and low flat land." 



Probably sea-mud or sea^-water would produce good ef- 

 fects as preservatives against this and other insects. 



A correspondent of the New England Fanner^ vol. iv. p» 

 2B4, recommends, from actual experiment, the soaking of 

 seed-corn in a solution of copperas, to preserve it against 

 the wire-worm, other insects, and birds. He says, The 

 plan which I pursued v/as as follows : — I used about one 

 and a half pound of copperas in three pecks of corn. 

 I made the water warm, and soaked the corn full forty-eight | 

 hours before planting, putting in corn and copperas as we - 

 used it out. It is not easy to use too much copperas ; I . 

 believe the more the better." This method has been fre- i 

 quently and successfully put in practice. See N, E, Far^ 

 imr^ vol. V. p. 310. 



The Striped bug, or Yellow fly. — This is a small in- 

 sect of the coleoptera order, or such as have crusiaceGiis 

 elytra^ or wing cases, like the beetle. The elytra of this 

 bug are striped with yellow and black. They prey on the 

 young plants of cucumbers, melons, squashes, and others 

 of the cucurbitacecB species. " These insects may be consid- 

 erably thinned by killing them in a dewy morning, when 

 they have not the free use of their wings, and cannot well 

 escape. But nothing that I have tried has proved so effec- 

 tual as sifting or sprinkling powdered soot upon the plants 

 w^hen the morning dew remains on them. This forms a 

 bitter covering for the plants, which the bugs cannot en- 

 dure the taste of." — Deane, ^M¥e w^ould recommend 

 sprinkling the plants with a little sulphur or Scotch snuff." ^ 

 — Farinerh Assistant, But the surest defence against these 

 insects is, enclosing the plants with a frame, and a muslin 

 or gauze covering, as recommended page 91. 



JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE.— Helianthus tuherosus. 

 — The Jerusalem artichoke is a hardy perennial, a native 

 of Brazil, and is of the same genus as the sun-flower. It 

 is propagated and cultivated like the potato. We have 

 been informed that this root will grow and produce a 

 profitable crop on poor land, and without manure ; though, 

 with deep ploughing and good manuring, its culture would 

 probably be attended with greater profit. It was much 

 esteemed before potatoes were known. The epithet 

 Jerusalem is a corruption of the Italian word Girasole 

 |frpm girarej to turn, and sol) or sun-tlowTr j the name ml> 



