The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1897-04-10
FARMER AND PLANTER,
THE ARTIcHoKE.

Its Value as q Stock Food and Its Culture.
Please allow me space in your valu-
many inquiries being made of me In re-
gard to artichokes. l grow the Sim
proved White French" some call them
the Mammoth White" They pro-
duced for me last year over 600 bushels
per acre. They should be planted In
April, or as soon as the ground is in
good working order in the spring;
prepare the land as for corn;
lay off rows three and one-half or
four feet wide, cut to one eye, and
plant obout 90 inches apart in row, one
eye to the hill; cover about 2K inches;
cultivate as you would corn. Keep
them clean of weeds until four feet
high and you will not be bothered
with any after that. They grow from
eight to ten. feet high, have great
many branches and heavy foliage. l
think they improve the land on which
they grow, especially when hogs are
allowed to run to them. If properly
cut, four bushels will plant an acre.
The hog seems to be in his glory in the
artichoke field. They are not only good
for hogs, but for all classes of stock.
When fed to mich cows they increase
both flow and quality of milk very much.
They are first-class conditioner for
horses, mules, jacks. and am told there
is nothing better for sheep. They will
keep well, buried as potatoes or in cell
lar If covered so as to protect them
from the air; when exposed to the air
they will shrivel. would advise dig
ging and storing part of the crop
about the last of November to feed when
the ground is frozen, but the greater
part leave for the hogs to harvest.
Freezing dose not hurt them while in the
ground, although they grow very near
the surface. Hogs will get all they can
even with rings in their noses, but it
would be more pleasant for them not
to be rung. When they have access to
artichokes they are not much inclined
to root up grass.
The tubers do not form until about
+. the time they bloom, which is usually
from the LIST to 18th of August. They
grow rapidly until freezing weather. 1
believe freezing and thawing under
ground improves the flavor.
l never knew or heard of hog talk
Ing cholera or swine plague where they
had excess to articholxes. Many emf
nent authorities write in asserting that
the artichoke Is most judicious food
for swine. and they do not hesitate to
state that the sanitary properties of
the artichoke tends to greatly reduce
dangers from communicating diseases
and generally promote health.
There is nothing better for brood
sows and pigs, as the chief
object to be sought is muscular
development The artichoke so
encourages the development of
their digestive organs that the assimi-
lation of their food is made much more
effective, thus insuring good health.
They do not grow from the seed. l
have examined closely and have found
one that came from the seed. The
tubers have great many eyes and
every eye will produce stalk, so there
will be great number of volunteers
shoots spring up if tubers are left in the
ground. They will spread no farther
than the roots grow, which is about
two feet They are about as
hard to kill when growing as po-
tatoes. Ihave dug as many as one peck
from single stalk, though as rule
hardly half SO many. / have seen them
as large as could go in half-gallon
cup, and all the way down to the size
of a marble.
l agree with Mr.. Arnold, of Missouri,
as to their excellence. l have been
raising them for a number of years,
and from actual experience am fully
convinted that they are one of the very
best and cheapest feeds farmer can
have to keep his stock healthy and
growing FAST AS the season for their
use II from about the 18th of October
until the 18th of May, they form a con-
Meeting link from the time pasture goes
out in fall until 1t begins again in the
spring. Land that will produce SO
bushels of corn per acre will produce
from 500 to 700 bushels of articholes,
with no more labor than with corn.
With hogs, one can save the expense OF
digging, storing and feeding six months
In the year. Just open the gate and
they will do the harvesting while you
are doing something else. l believe
that as soon as the cheapnessef raising
and feeding and their excellence as a
very healthful hog food becomes better
known, all wide-awake swine growers
will consider field of articholxes as
necessary to success and profit as their
clover and corn.-L. A. Davis, in Farm
ers' Home journal. :