Crawford avalanche., 1896-02-27
RAISING ARTICHOKES FOR
STOCK FOOD.

a few years ago / planted for the
first time peck of improved White
French artichokes, merely as an expert
ment, says ]. III. Van Ness. From this
peck Of seed raised about 100 bushels
Of fine tubers. Part of these fed to
hogs, which fattened readily upon
them. Before butchering, however.
the hogs were fed few bushels of corn
as a finishing feed. The hogs were thus
cost The following year l raised 200
bushels Of tubers, which were fed as
before, with results equally as salts
factory. In addition to feeding them
to hogs, i also gave some to colts. In a
short time / found that the artichoke
was an excellent feed for horses. Mich
cows ate them readily, and the flow Of
milk was largely increased The re-
suits of the first two years were so ia
vorable that l have grown them eX-
tensively each season since. Last year
raised nearly 1,S00 bushels. About
half Of the crop was dug and is now
buried. The remaining half / left In
'ht SiOuhu iOi SplihS
feeding. AS yet, no insect, blight or
rust has affected the plant, and dry
weather seems to be but slightly detri-
mental to it's development. l believe
the artichoke has come to stay. Dur
ing the past five years drOuth has been
frequent in this State, but my arti-
choke crop has yielded me as high as
600 bushels per acre during that time.
The best soil for artichokes is low
ground. which is Of little value as
cornfield because Of late frosts. Land,
therefore, which has hitherto been
worthless except for hay. may be util
lied for growing artichokes, as frost
does not hurt them. Prepare the seed
the same as potatoes, cutting to one
eye, and plant in rows three feet apart
and Is inches apart in the rows. Cul-
tivate as for corn. The methods Of
harvesting are varied. They can be
dug late in the fall, and placed in a
cool. dark cellar or buried, or they may
he left in the ground all winter. A good
plan is to turn the hogs into the field
and let them do their own digging.
They will live and be in the best posi-
bic condition. and not need a pound of
grain feed. If the ground Is not frozen
they will root out all winter, until the
tubers become soft i'm May or June.
The tops look something like the COM
mon sunflower, and grow about six
feet high. If cut while green. good
fodder is obtained, which horses eat
about as well as hay. This feed was
thoroughly tested the present season
because Of the scarcity of hay. Thou
sands Of acres OF tops were harvested
and fed. 1t Is stated that the fattening
qualities of artichOkes are about the
same as those Of potatoes. Many peo-
pie are afraid to plant artichOkes be-
cause they think 1t impossible to get rid
of them after once obtaining foot
hold in the soil. This Is a false idea.
The artichOke. like the potato, grows
from an eye. or course 1t is impossible
to dig every one. A tuber left in the
ground will sprout and grow the next
spring All do to get rid Of them is
to follow the artichokes with any other
cultivated crop, and see that none Of
the plants mature. or turn the whole
field under when the artichokes are q
foot high The old tubers have decayed
by this time. and the new ones are not
sufficiently matured to grOw.-Ameri-
can Agriculturist.