riptions of vegetables. To obtain fine roots,
however, the soil should be trenched fifteen or eighteen inches in
depth.
"It is propagated by planting the small tubers, or offsets: the large
tubers may also be cut or divided into several pieces, each having one
eye, as practised with the potato. In April, or early in May, lay out
the rows three feet apart, drop the tubers one foot apart in the rows,
and cover three inches deep. As the plants come up, hoe the ground
between the rows from time to time; and draw a little earth around their
stems, to support them, and to afford the roots a thicker covering."
_Taking the Crop._--The new tubers will be suitable for use in the
autumn. In digging, great care should be taken to remove the small as
well as the full-grown; for those not taken from the ground will remain
fresh and sound during the winter, and send up in the spring new plants,
which, in turn, will increase so rapidly, as to encumber the ground, and
become troublesome. In localities where the crop has once been
cultivated, though no plants be allowed to grow for the production of
fresh tubers, yet the young shoots will continue to make their
appearance from time to time for many years.
_Use._--"The roots, or tubers, are the parts of the plant eaten. These
are boiled in water till they become tender; when, after being peeled,
and stewed with butter and a little wine, they will be as pleasant as
the real Artichoke, which they nearly resemble both in taste and
flavor."
M'Intosh says that the tubers may be used in every way as the potato;
and are suited to persons in delicate health, when debarred from the use
of most other vegetables.
_Varieties._--For a long period, there was but a single variety
cultivated, or even known. Recent experiments in the use of seeds as a
means of propagation have developed new kinds, varying greatly in their
size, form, and color, possessing little of the watery and insipid
character of the heretofore grown Jerusalem Artichoke, and nearly or
quite equalling the potato in flavor and excellence.
COMMON WHITE.
Tubers large, and often irregular in form; skin and flesh white; quality
watery, and somewhat insipid. It is unfit for boiling, but is sometimes
served baked or roasted. It makes a very crisp and well-flavored
pickle.
PURPLE-SKINNED.
A French variety, produced from seed. Tubers purplish rose-color; flesh
dryer when cooked, and finer flavored, than that of the fore
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