By Mr. Andrew Mathews. 



13 



a garden, that therefore which has its ribs perfectly solid 

 and at the same time large, is to be preferred. In the selec- 

 tion of plants from which to save seeds, the Gardener should 

 particularly attend to these qualities. 



The Cardoon does not require so much care or trouble in 

 its cultivation, as is often bestowed upon it. There are diffe- 

 rent methods of managing it, recommended in the books on 

 British and French Horticulture, but as the plan practised in 

 the Garden of the Horticultural Society, in the present and 

 preceding years, appears the most simple, as well as the most 

 successful, I will detail it. 



The soil to be chosen for the growth of Cardoons should 

 be deep and light, but not over rich. The seeds are to be 

 sown about the middle of April, in trenches about six inches 

 deep, by twelve inches wide, into which a small quantity of 

 rotten dung has been previously dug. The rows to be set 

 four feet distant from each other, and the seed sown in 

 patches (three or four together) at about eighteen inches 

 apart; when the young plants have acquired four or five 

 leaves, they should be thinned out to single plants. During 

 the summer, they must be kept free from weeds, and in dry 

 weather frequently watered. They require much moisture. 

 About the end of October, when the plants have attained 

 nearly their full size, a dry day is to be chosen, when the 

 plants are free from damp, to commence the operation 

 of blanching, which is thus performed :— The leaves of 

 each plant are carefully and lightly tied together with 

 strong matting, keeping the whole upright, and the ribs 

 of the leaves together. The plant is then bound closely 

 round, with twisted hay-bands about an inch and a half in 



