.l8Sd-.,l 
THE 
AMERICAN GARDEN. 
JBEUaAlEJf ARTIOHOKES. 
It is to bo vogrotted that two 
widely dilleiMiig as this and tho voal ov 6101 ^ 
Artichoke should have .occivo; ’the .t’ 
popular uauio, and thereby cause auuoW ^ 
eoufusion. "ropiuau.bour,- (i.o 
Sr^ar ^ 
The edible part oltheJerusalcu Artichoke 
asds ubers winch, m general appearance, 
resemble Potatoes, and are prepared in sim¬ 
ilar manner; but, being less mealy, (;hov\.re 
more frequently used for stewing, sahids 
and pickling. Tho plant resembles a Sun¬ 
flower, and grows to about the same hei-lit. 
Itseidture is simitar to that of tho Potato- 
the tubers are planted in early spring, whole’ 
or cut in four to eight pieces, accoribug to 
their size, and regardless of the position of 
their eyes. The sets are then 
dropped every twelve or eighteen 
inches in furrows from three to 
four feet apart, and covered ex¬ 
actly like Potatoes. After the 
sprouts appear, the ground has to 
be kept clean from weeds, and 
cultivated; but it should never bo 
stirred very deep nor hilled up 
much, as the roots and tubers 
penetrate the entire space be¬ 
tween the rows, and would suffer 
seriously by deep cultivation. 
In the fall, before the ground 
freezes, the tubers wanted dur¬ 
ing winter are dug and stored in 
a cellar or pit. Those for spring 
use may be left in the ground 
without injury, except iu wet 
locations. 
The principal varieties culti¬ 
vated are the Long lied and the 
ll’Mle French, the latter much the 
better for cooking purposes. 
A TALK UPON PEAS. 
Pew products of the garden are 
more generally poimlar on the 
table than green Peas. The ama- 
teiu- is hungi-y for them before 
pods are large enough to gather, 
and the housekeeper counts the 
days until they will answer for use. 
The sweetness and tenderness 
of this delicious vegetable depend 
more than some Imow upon the 
stage of gi-owth at which it is 
gathered. The housekeeper who 
buys her Peas at the mai-ket often 
feels that she must have everypod distended 
hy the fully developed Peas in order to 
make sure of the worth of her money, but 
every old gardener knows that Peas are 
sweeter and moi-e tender wlieu used before 
they begin to crowd each other in the pod. 
A true gardener prides himself on getting 
the first mess of Peas from his garden before 
his neighbors’ are fit. Although it may seem 
out of season to talk of early Peas now, 
those who desire to beat their neighbors next 
spring will do well to commence preparations 
this fall, before the ground fi-eezes. 
Late in the fall, choose, if possible, a pai t 
of the garden that is sheltered on t e 
north by a high fence, a building, or a row o 
trees, and throw the soil into slight ri ges 
with the shovel-plow or by hand. This wi 
Cause the soil to di-y out in spring snfflei^n y 
to work several days before the remain ei o 
183 
the garden will do to plow. Then when 
robins and blue-birds announce the return of 
of «ood of one of tho 
oail est varieties of Peas i„ 
kSoli Pai't of the 
kitchei Leave them hero until the Peas 
wa^ra 
watoi as it boconiGs dry. 
If, after tho young shoots start, winter 
the box i'" often does, set 
ho box n a cool part of the cellar, cover it, 
to guard against mice, and rest in compla¬ 
cency, with tho assurance that your neighbor 
can do no more than you have done. Tho 
box may remain in tho collar a month, if 
need bo,_ without harm to tho miniature 
plan ts. 
Level tho soil of tho ridges as soon as it 
becomes dry enough to work, and plant the 
Extra Early, and Perry’s Extra Early, on 
Juno 20 . June 21 ushered in Bliss’s Ameri¬ 
can Wonder, Express, Pi-inco Albert, Carac- 
taciis, Carter’s First Crop, and Earliest of 
All. Next season, the list may read very 
differently. 
It is to be remarked that tho Prince Al¬ 
bert and Dan O’Kourke are comparatively 
old varieties. I may add also that another 
planting of Dan O’Kourke, the seed of which 
was imported from Prance, was not fit for 
use until June 2 ij. Among the dwarf inter¬ 
mediates, I am much pleased with Pride of 
the Market, Stratagem, Market Garden, and 
Hair’s Dwarf Green Marrow. 
“Elm.” 
[The variations in the relative periods of 
ripening of Peas in different seasons, as 
stated above, form an interesting subject 
for experimentation; butitisnet 
only in different seasons, but in 
different localities in the same 
season, that such changes take 
place. In our own garden, this 
summer. Express was the earliest, 
being fit for use June 21 ; this 
was followed by Cleveland’s Impr. 
Earliest of All, June 23; the 
Rural New-Yorker, June 24; and 
American Wonder, June 25, all 
planted on the same day.— Ed.] 
WHITE FRENCH ARTICHOKE. 
LONG RED ARTICHOKE. 
Peas carefully, with the radicle downward. 
Last spring (in a carefully conducted experi¬ 
ment) I gained eight days by sprouting my 
seed in this mamier before planting. 
Do you ask which is the earliest variety of 
Pea ? Ah! that is a hard question. The 
earlier varieties Seem to have entered into a 
combination not to give any one all of the 
credit. In 1882 and 1883, a distinct little 
blue Pea, sent out by Mr. Laxton, of Eng¬ 
land, under the significant name, “Earliest 
of All,” led the van in my garden. Strange 
to say, tho present season this ambitious 
candidate has to retu-e to tho baekgi-ound to 
give place to eight successful rivals, of which 
the names are Cleveland’s Rural New-Yorker, 
leading off June 18, followed by one plant¬ 
ing of Dan O’Rourke, June 19, and Dexter, 
Kentish Invieta, Reedland, Shah of Persia, 
Thorbum’s Extra Early Market, Landreth’s 
MANURING WITH EYE. 
Gardening requires a great 
amount of manure, and to meet 
with success one must make use 
of every available som-ce. One of 
them, which is strangely over¬ 
looked, is Rye. As the result of 
many years’ experience, I consider 
it more profitable as a fertilizer 
for gardening puiposes than any¬ 
thing else^ Its growth is made 
late iu atitumu, after most vege¬ 
tables have been removed, and 
early iu spring before the principal 
crops are planted; it furnishes 
the soil w'ith an abimdanee of 
plant food, w-hile it saves the ex¬ 
pense and hauling of bulky ferti¬ 
lizers. 
Three years ago I sowed an 
acre of Rye, which furnished a 
splendid pasture all winter until 
the first of the following April. 
On the 18th, when thi-ee feet 
high, it was plowed under w-ith the 
aid of a heavy chain hung from tho 
end of the whiffietree cross-bar to the plow- 
beam. A heavy drag w-as then run over the 
ground twice, furrowed and planted to Egyp¬ 
tian Sweet Corn. At first the soil was very 
hard to cultivate, but afterward it became 
loose and fine, and kept moist throughout the 
season. The Corn grew astonishingly vigor¬ 
ous, yielded the best crop I have ever raised, 
and the land still shows the effects of this 
manuring with Rye. 
Thos. D. Baird. 
ASPARAGUS FERTILIZER. 
According to Dr. Goessmann’s analysis, the 
ash of Asparagus contains fifty per cent, of 
potash, thus plainly showing that wood- 
ashes, or potash in some other form, consti¬ 
tutes a- most essential, fertilizer for this 
most delicious vegetable. ■ 
