CHAPTER IX. 
ARTICHOKES, CARDOONS, AND MAIZE. 
“These may prove food to my displeasure.” 
Much Ado, I. 3. 
NT^HESE. three vegetables are scarcely worth growing, and 
'kih it will, therefore, be proper to dispose of them briefly. 
^ _ It must be confessed, however, that the first two are 
admired by many, and there are a few to be found who value 
the green cobs of the maize as a quite delicious vegetable. 
We can find no good reason for eating any one of the three, 
and very many are of our mind, so it may be at least agreed 
that these are not “ popular” vegetables. They make some 
amends for their poverty on the table by their grandeur in 
the garden. They are remarkably handsome plants, and the 
cardoon is certainly the handsomest of the three, and quite 
worthy of a place in what is called the “ sub-tropical” garden. 
The Artichoke ( Cynara scolymus ) is a fast-growing grey- 
green plant, producing large flower heads in the fashion of a 
thistle ; the varieties with very sharp-pointed scales on the 
flower-heads being the most conspicuously ornamental. Any 
ordinary good garden soil will grow good artichokes, and there 
is indeed only one difficulty to be recognised, and that is, to 
carry the plants through a severe winter safely, for they are 
somewhat tender in constitution. 
Having trenched and manured a piece of ground, mark it 
off in lines three feet apart, and sow seed or put out suckers 
from old plants in the month of April. It is much the best 
plan to sow a row or so every year and destroy the old plants 
when they cease to be profitable, which is pretty sure to 
happen when they are five years old. In a hot season much 
of the seed will lie dormant and come up strong the next 
season, and the plants may be transplanted during showery 
weather to make permanent plantations. They should be in 
rows a yard apart, and the plants two or three feet apart in 
the row. We have on many occasions cut nice heads from 
