v AUTUMN 161 
and mind, children, you are more careful when 
you try such experiments. 
Another failure I would warn you against 
occurred with artichokes. The artichoke is 
a kind of thistle, and if left long enough comes 
to a large purple flower. The first year I 
grew them the head was not picked until the 
purple began to show. By that time it is all a 
“choke,” or fluffy flower, and great was my 
disappointment, when I brought it into the 
house to be cooked, to find there was nothing 
left to eat. They must be cut as young buds, 
unless they are only grown for ornament. 
They are perennial plants, and it is better not 
to trouble to sow the seed, but. to get a few 
offsets from large old plants. Put them in 
about March, and they would be ready to cut 
in August or September the first year, but 
earlier still the second year. Like other 
herbaceous plants, they would have to be cut 
down when they have done flowering in the 
autumn, and in cold seasons protected with 
ferns or litter. 
There is only one more vegetable I am 
going to tell you about, and that is the potato. 
Some children might find more delight in 
growing them than in all their lovely flowers. 
It would be a pity to give up a pretty little 
garden for their culture, but there is sometimes 
M 
