ESCULENT -ROOTED PLANTS.— JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



223 



planting; 5. Plant in November, in light dry- 

 soils, but not until February in wet soils ; 6. 

 Preserve seed-potatoes between layers of earth, 

 until required ; 7. Plant as you dig — that is, dig 

 enough for one row, and then plant it with the 

 dibber, so as to avoid trampling on the ground." 

 "Why not plant in the trench as the digging goes 

 on ? " 8. Let the tops of the sets be 6 inches 

 below the surface; 9. Do not earth up the stems; 

 10. Do not cut down the stems; 11. Take up 

 the crop as soon as the leaves begin to look 

 yellow, in July or early in August; 12. Store 

 in a dry shed between layers of earth, sand, or 

 coal-ashes." — Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary, p. 

 741. 



The European names are, Pomme de Terre 

 in French ; Tartufi bianchi, or Porno di Terra, 

 in Italian ; Kartoffel in German ; Batata da 

 Terra in Portuguese ; Aardappel in Dutch ; and 

 Batatas Inglezas in Spanish. 



§ 4. — THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE. 



Natural history. — The Jerusalem artichoke 

 (Helianthus tuberosus L.) belongs to the natural 

 order Compositse, sub-order Helianthese, and to 

 the class Syngenesia and order Frustranea. The 

 generic name is derived from Helios, sun, and 

 Anilios, a flower, from the resemblance of the 

 flowers of the genus to that luminary, which they 

 are supposed to look towards while the earth is 

 illuminated by his light. The popular name 

 Jerusalem is merely a corruption of its Italian 

 name Girasole, and artichoke is derived from the 

 resemblance in flavour which the tubers have to 

 the bottoms of artichokes. Parkinson, in whose 

 time it was introduced, calls it Battatas de 

 Canada. Coles describes them, forty years after- 

 wards, as the Potatoes of Canada. In Martyn's 

 edition of Miller's " Gardeners' Dictionary " we 

 are informed that they were called so because 

 the French brought them " first out of Canada 

 to these parts ; not that they are natives of that 

 country, but had been introduced there from 

 Brazil." A writer in the " Perlny Cyclopaedia," 

 but upon what authority he does not mention, 

 says this plant was introduced into Europe at 

 the Farnese garden at Rome, from whence it 

 was originally distributed. They were first 

 planted in England in 1617, and so rapidly did 

 their cultivation proceed that before 1629 they 

 were so common in London " that even the 

 most vulgar began to despise them." Parkinson 

 remarks that in his time " they were baked in 

 pies, with marrow, dates, ginger, raisins, sack, 

 &c. ; but the too frequent use, especially being 

 so plentiful and cheap, hath rather bred a 

 loathing than a liking for them." We notice 

 this plant thus largely because the advent of its 

 restoration to cultivation has commenced, and 

 also to show that they may yet be produced 

 abundantly, which their long-neglected state 

 induces some to doubt. " The potatoes of 

 Canada," says Coles, " called by ignorant people 

 Jerusalem artichokes, were of great account 

 when they were first received amongst us, but, 

 by reason of their great increase, they are be- 

 come common, and consequently despicable, 



especially by those who think nothing good 

 unless it be dear ; but if any one please to put 

 them into boiling water, they will quickly be- 

 come tender, so that being peeled, sliced, and 

 stewed with butter and a little wine, they will 

 be as pleasant as the bottom of an artichoke." 



The whole genus, except S. tuberosus, flowers 

 most profusely, but, in consequence of its sel- 

 dom producing flowers, few varieties have been 

 produced. This is to be regretted, because if 

 so, improved varieties might be expected, as has 

 occurred in the case of the potato. Some 

 varieties are said to have been produced in 

 France, where it is much more extensively 

 grown than with us, but of their merits little 

 has hitherto transpired. The improvement 

 wished for would be, increase in the size and 

 number of the tubers, and a dwarfer habit in its 

 growth. From the experiments made by Messrs 

 Payen, Poinsot, and Terey, and published in 

 the "Jour, de Pharm.," vol. xvi. p. 434, it 

 appears that 100 parts of the tuber contain 

 23.96 parts of nutritious substance, or twice as 

 much as is obtained from the potato, and some- 

 thing more than the cerealia contains. The 

 tubers on which these experiments were made 

 were grown on a sandy soil of moderate good- 

 ness, which had been manured with ammonico- 

 phosphate of magnesia. A state of flowering 

 might be induced by removing the tubers as 

 soon as formed, so as to throw the strength 

 which would otherwise be consumed by them 

 into the stem, on the principle pointed out by 

 Mr Knight in regard to causing early potatoes 

 to produce flowers. " I took," he says, " several 

 methods of placing the plants to grow in such a 

 situation as enabled me readily to prevent the 

 formation of tuberous roots, but the following 

 appearing the best, the others need not be re- 

 ferred to. Having fixed strong stakes in the 

 ground, I raised the mould in a heap round the 

 bases of them, and in contact with the stakes ; 

 on their south sides I planted the potatoes 

 from which I wished to obtain seeds. When 

 the young plants were about 4 inches high, they 

 were secured to the stakes with shreds and 

 nails, and the mould was then washed away by 

 a strong current of water from the bases of 

 their stems, so that the fibrous roots only of 

 the plants entered into the soil. The fibrous 

 roots of this plant are perfectly distinct organs 

 from the runners which give existence, and 

 subsequently convey nutriment, to the tuberous 

 roots ; and as the runners spring only from the 

 stems of the plants, which are, in the mode of 

 culture I have described, placed wholly out of 

 the soil, the formation of tuberous roots is 

 easily prevented: and whenever this is done, 

 numerous blossoms will soon appear, and almost 

 every blossom will afford fruit and seed." From 

 this Mr Knight concluded " that the same fluid 

 or sap gives existence alike to the tuber and 

 the blossom and seeds, and that whenever a 

 plant of the potato affords either seeds or blos- 

 soms, a diminution of the crop of tubers, or an 

 increased expenditure of the riches of the soil, 

 must necessarily take place." By these means 

 he succeeded in producing varieties of suffi- 

 ciently luxuriant growth and large produce for 



