1 May, 1898. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. . Bol 
To obtain good results, artichokes should be planted at the end of August 
and during September. ‘Vhe tubers are planted in rows 3 feet apart, 18 inches 
between the plants, and covered to a depth of 4 inches. ‘his gives plenty 
of room for working. When the plants have attained a good size, the tops 
of them should be cut off to admit light and air to the base. There is very 
little more trouble to be taken with the crop beyond keeping the plants free 
from weeds and moulding up when they are about 6 inches to 8 inches high. 
They are difficult to eradicate, and should be grown where they are not likely 
to be troublesome. j 
On this head a writer in the nineteenth annual report of the directors 
of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station (U.S.) says :—* The 
plant gets to be such a troublesome weed in the garden that it is not advisable 
to give ita place there, although when grown extensively the tubers are con- 
sidered good food for hogs. A good way to get rid of them is to turn the 
hogs in on them, and they will soon find all the tubers. This is seldom 
practicable in a garden, and therefore they had better be kept out.’’ 
CROSNES, OR CHINESE ARTICHOKE. 
In the very comprehensive catalogue of seeds and plants issued by Messrs. 
Law, Somner, and Co., of Melbourne, we find the following notes on a new 
tuberous vegetable introduced from China under the above name :—‘ It is a 
hardy plant, producing a large quantity of tubers in the same way as the potato. 
Its culture is very easy, as it grows wellin any good garden soil, and is readily 
propagated by means of its numerous tubers. They may be left in the ground 
until required for use, as the severest frost does not injure them in any way. 
The best and simplest way of cooking this vegetable is to boil in water with a 
pinch of salt, thenfry them. They are of delicate flavour, somewhat resembling 
boiled chestnuts.” ; 
It would be well to know whether this new artichoke becomes such a 
nuisance in a garden as the Jerusalem variety. 
OLD BONES, AND HOW TO UTILISE THEM, 
Tuts is a problem that occurs to every farmer who realises the value of bones, 
and is accordingly saving of them. Bones that are comparatively fresh from 
the animal are richer in plant food or animal food than bones that are old and 
weather-beaten. Theoretically, these elements (nitrogen and phosphoric acid) 
are worth for fertilising purposes more than the prices which they would cost 
in fertilisers or chemicals.. However their value may be figured, it is too 
much to permit bones to be wasted. They contain a large amount of lime, 
but the chief value of bones is in their nitrogen and phosphoric acid, as 
follows :—100 lb. of bones contain, besides lime, water, &c., nitrogen—Fresh 
bones, 4 lb.; old, but not weather-beaten, 3 lb.; badly weathered, 2 1b.; 
phosphoric acid—Fresh bones, 20 lb.; old, but not weather-beaten, 22 Ib.; 
badly weathered, 16 1b. ~~ 
The quickest and simplest method of utilising old bones is to burn them 
in the kitchen stove, and carefully save the ashes. In this way you get in the 
ash all the phosphoric acid and lime there is in the bone, but you lose the 
nitrogen, which goes off as gas in the smoke. Where the quantity of bones is 
small, however, and especially if the facilities required for other methods of 
using them are not at hand, and, if the bones cannot be sold at a fair price, this 
burning saves them from going to waste. Bone makes an intense heat, and as 
far as it goes is a valuable fuel. Of course every thrifty farmer saves all the 
wood ash from the house, for it is so rich in phosphoric acid and potash that not 
a pound of it should be wasted, but every bit of wood ash, whether containing — 
bone ash or not, should be religiously preserved. Every intelligent and thrifty 
farmer knows the value of a dressing of rich wood ash and fine bone meal. 
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