September 16, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
* 
?25 
VEGETABLES 
ALL THE YEAR ROUND. 
III.—JERUSALEM and CHINESE ARTICHOKES. 
Jerusalem Artichokes. 
Here we luive another useful vegetable 
which ought to receive better treatment than 
it usually does. Very often the plants are 
found growing in poor soil, and left through¬ 
out the season to do as best they may. 
Although the plants succeed fairly well in 
almost any kind of soil, a nice light loam is 
the best for them ; in such the stems grow 
strongly, the leaves are large and fleshy, and 
the tubers attain to a large size. 
Situation.— This should be open to the 
sun, and not overshadowed by tall trees, 
though a fairly high fence would be bene¬ 
ficial on the south-west and north sides to 
protect the plants from strong winds. _ 
Preparing the Ground and Planting.— 
Early in the autumn, the moment that the 
soil is moist enough to work freely, deeply dig 
1 the ground, break up the subsoil, but keep it 
below. If very poor and somewhat clayey. 
: add a medium dressing of rotted manure with 
! the soil, thoroughly incorporating it with the 
top portion. 
If of a light, sandy nature, leave the work 
of manuring until the spring, or a short time 
before planting is done. The best way to 
apply the manure is to spread it on the sur¬ 
face and then dig it in. 
The planting should be done similarly to 
Potatos. and the extra stirring of the loam will 
tend to mix up both it and the manure better. 
If the soil is fairly; dry, planting may be 
| carried out at the end of February or early 
! in March. If too moist, then defer the work 
until the month of April. 
Plant medium-sized tubers, those weighing 
from two ounces to three ounces being the 
most suitable. Larger tubers may be cut, re¬ 
taining one or two eyes on each piece. Allow 
; a space of 2ft. 6in. between the rows, and 1ft. 
between the tubers in the rows. 
The Summer Treatmentconsists in keeping 
the beds free from weeds, and supplying the 
plants with clear and liquid manure water 
while they are growing, thus assisting the 
plants to make strong growth before the end 
of the summer. 
Autumn and Winter Treatment. —Directly 
the leaves assume a yellow tint near the base 
of the plants, cut down the latter to about 
half their length. The sun and air will then 
1 be admitted, and both stems and tubers will 
! ripen better. 
In gardens where- rockeries are a special 
feature dwarf evergreen shrubs are of great 
value, not only for the sake of giving variety 
and character to the rockery, but on account 
of the evidence of life they afford during 
winter. A rockery that is entirely devoted 
to herbaceous Alpines and bulbous plants is 
apt to present rather a bare and uninterest- 
ing appearance for some months in the year, 
when practically everything is at rest. With 
the aid of a few evergreen plants of shrubby 
character much of the bareness may be 
obviated, and, indeed, the rockery may, by 
their judicious introduction, be made attrac¬ 
tive even in mid-winter. Among the Litho- 
When digging commences see that all tubers 
are taken out of the ground, as any left, how¬ 
ever small, are sure to grow again. The 
tubers may remain in the ground all the win¬ 
ter, or be taken up and stored in the same 
way as Potatos are. 
Do not expose any of them to frost else they 
will be spoiled. 
There are neither insect pests nor diseases 
which seriously trouble this vegetable. 
Varieties. —New white, with a smoother 
surface than the old purple-skinned ; silver¬ 
skinned, and purple-skinned. 
In season from September to April. 
LARGE TUEER OF JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, 
SHOWING HOAV TO CUT IT FOR PLANTING. 
Chinese Artichokes. 
This is a vegetable which may be grown In 
any odd corner, as it will thrive in very poor 
soil. Once planted it quickly becomes 
established, and need not be disturbed except 
to gather when required. Both in light and 
heavy soil the plant grows freely; the only 
necessary work is to thoroughly break up 
clayey soil, to add a small quantity of rotten 
manure, and plant the tubers in rows one foot 
apart, and six inches from tuber to tuber in 
the rows. 
Plant during March or April. The tubers 
are about two inches in length when fully 
grown, and made up of several fleshy joints. 
The foliage somewhat resembles that of Mint. 
AVhen properly cooked this vegetable has the 
flavour of boiled Chestnuts. It is known also 
by the name Stachys tuberifera. Like some 
weeds, it spreads rapidly, and is very difficult 
to get out of th© soil when once established. 
In season throughout the winter and early 
spring months. " Q. 
spermums a few good shrubby species are 
to be found which may well be* used for this 
purpose, and they possess the merit of bear¬ 
ing bright and pretty flowers in addition to 
evergreen foliage. L. prostratum is so widely- 
known that it may be deemed unnecessary to 
mention it, yet it is far from being too com¬ 
monly seen. 
It is a plant that is ever interesting, but 
never more so than in the dull, grey months 
when most things are leafless and flowerless, 
for when once a clump of L. prostratum 
attains fair dimensions it is difficult to catch 
it m an entirely flowerless state. Even when 
half covered with snow we have seen stray- 
stars of that invincible blue which vies with 
the Gentian for brilliancy dotted over our 
plants, which smother the boulders of the 
rockery with dense masses of small dark 
green leaves. Very early m spring th, 
flowers open in increased numbers, and right 
on through summer do they come peeping 
out from the close-growing foliage like bright 
blue eyes. We believe nothing better suits 
this plant than to be tightly wedged between 
rough stones in a position open and sunny, 
and having light sandy or gritty soil for its 
roots to run in. Coolness, but perfect drain¬ 
age! is thus ensured for the roots, light and 
warmth for the herbage. 
L. rosmarinifolium is another sweetly 
pretty shrub that under good cultivation 
attains as much as 2 ft. in height. The 
foliage resembles that of the Rosemary, as 
is indicated by its name. Its flowers are 
also blue, but are prettily spotted with white. 
Being a native of Greece, it is sometimes 
rather sorely tried during our somewhat 
treacherous winters, but only during excep¬ 
tionally severe spells is it necessary to afford 
the protection of a handlight. 
Then we have our native species, L. pur- 
pureo-coeruleum, which throws out a profu¬ 
sion of long arching or semi-prostrate stems. 
These are well furnished with fairly long, 
narrow leaves, and from May to August the 
clusters of flowers are borne, first of a rosy 
red, then merging into a full, rich purple. 
If this plant is treated with some care, 
especially in the matter of pruning, removing 
old stems and thinning where at all crowded, 
the results will be a greater profusion of 
bloom and more attractive foliage. There 
are several other Lithospermums of consider¬ 
able merit, but the above are the most gene¬ 
rally useful. Heather Bell. 
WHEN TO REARRANGE THE 
HERBACEOUS BORDER. 
d be question is often asked of professional 
gardeners, “ V hen should I rearrange my 
herbaceous border ? ” The answer is not 
always quite satisfactory. One says in 
spring, when vegetation is so far advanced as 
to indicate the position of plants, especialh- 
those of a bulbous character. Another says 
autumn is the best time for the operation, 
as all the principal plants are to be seen, and 
their heights, colour, etc., are more easily 
taken note of. Both opinions, speaking 
generally, are right, but in both cases the 
operation must, if successful, be subject to 
certain conditions. The writer often tried 
both seasons for the work, and found each 
equally successful. Also, he found it an 
impossible thing in some instances to suc¬ 
ceed in the work if the autumn was the time 
chosen, and also the same if the spring was 
selected for the work. 
It is clear that the chief thing to be taken 
into account when meditating upon such 
action is the texture of the soil. If of a 
heavy, plastic, clayey texture, the operation 
should undoubtedly be done in the autumn, 
because, if left to spring, and any measure 
of dry weather ensues, it will be found that 
the plants, even far on in the season, will not 
have attached themselves to the soil, conse¬ 
quently the success of the operation is dis¬ 
appointing—often dispiriting—and the dry 
season is blamed for an indiscretion of the 
operator. On the other hand, if the soil is 
light, or friable loam, the operation is best 
deferred to spring, because, as reason will 
dictate; such soils are best left in as 
solid a state as possible till the vigours of 
LITHOSFERAU/nS. 
PRETTY SHRUBS 
FOR ROCKERIES. 
