  211. The ARTICHOKE (Cynara scolymus) is a well-known plant which is grown chiefly for culinary purposes, and was originally imported into this country from the south of Europe. This plant was cultivated with us as early as the year 1580. The parts that are eaten are the receptacle of the flower, which is called the bottom, and a fleshy substance on each of the scales of the calyx. The choke consists of the unopened florets, and the bristles that separate them from each other: these stand upon the receptacle, and must be cleared away before the bottom can be eaten. Its name has doubtless been obtained from a notion that any one unlucky enough to get it into his throat must certainly be choked. With us artichokes are generally plain boiled, and eaten with melted butter and pepper; and they are considered both wholesome and nutritious. The bottoms are sometimes stewed, boiled in milk, or added to ragouts, French pies, and other highly-seasoned dishes. For winter use they may be slowly dried in an oven, and kept in paper bags in a dry place. On the Continent artichokes are frequently eaten raw, with salt and pepper. By the country people of France the flowers of the artichoke are sometimes used to coagulate milk, for the purpose of making cheese. The leaves and stalks contain a bitter juice, which, mixed with an equal portion of white wine, has been successfully employed in the cure of dropsy, when other remedies have failed. The juice, prepared with bismuth, imparts a permanent golden yellow colour to wool. 212. The CARDOON (Cynara cardunculus) is a species of artichoke which grows wild in the south of France, and has smaller flowers than the common artichoke, and the scales of the calyx terminated by long, sharp spines. The stems rise to the height of four or five feet, and are upright, thick, and cottony. The leaves are large and winged, and the flowers of blue colour. The parts of the cardoon that are eaten are not those belonging immediately to the flower, as of the artichoke, but the roots, stalks, and middle ribs of the leaves; and chiefly the latter, which are thick and crisp. But, as all these are naturally very bitter, the plants, previously to being used, are blanched, by being tied up like lettuces, about the month of September, and having earth thrown upon their lower parts, to the depth of eighteen inches or two feet. Cardoons come into season for the table about the end of November; and are either eaten alone, or as a sauce to animal food, particularly to roasted meat; or are introduced as a dish in the second course. They are, however, not so much used in England as on the Continent; and this in consequence chiefly of the trouble attending their cultivation, and their preparation for the table, so as to render them palatable. 213. LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa) is an esculent vegetable, that is cultivated in nearly every kitchen garden in the kingdom. The different kinds or varieties of lettuce are extremely numerous: but those best known are the cos lettuce, and cabbage lettuce, the former having upright leaves, and the latter having its leaves folded over each other like those of a cabbage. Their culture is very simple. The seeds are sown at various seasons of the year, that the plants may be ready, in succession, for the table. After a while, they are planted out from the seed-bed into another part of the garden, at a certain distance from each other, to allow of room for their expansion and growth. When the cos Lettuces have an odour somewhat resembling that of opium; and they also possess somewhat similar narcotic properties, which reside in the milky juice. The properties of this vegetable as a salad, if eaten without oil, are considered to be emollient, cooling, and wholesome. 214. ENDIVE (Cichorium endivia) is a common vegetable in kitchen gardens, having curled or crisped leaves. We are supposed to have been originally indebted to the East Indies for this useful winter salad. It is chiefly cultivated in the south of England; being sown generally about June or July, and afterwards planted out, like lettuce. The chief excellence of endive consists in the whiteness of its inner leaves. It is, therefore, adviseable, either to cover the plants with flower-pots, or, when full grown, to tie them loosely together, for two or three weeks. By so doing, they will become perfectly blanched; and, in winter, they may be preserved, either by covering them with straw and mats, or by putting them in sand in a dry cellar. The French consume a great quantity of endive at their tables. They either eat it raw in salads, boiled in ragouts, fried with roast meat, or as a pickle. It is a wholesome vegetable which seldom disagrees with the stomach. SUPERFLUA.215. CAMOMILE (Anthemis nobilis) is a well-known plant, the dried daisy-like flowers of which are frequently used in medicine. The principal use to which camomile flowers are applied is to excite vomiting, and promote the They are administered in substance, as a powder or electuary, in infusion as tea, in decoction or extract, or in the form of an essential oil obtained by distillation. So fragrant is the camomile plant, that the places where it grows wild, on open gravelly commons, may easily be discovered by the somewhat strawberry-like perfume which is emitted by treading on them. This quality alone has sometimes induced the cultivation of camomile for a green walk in gardens. 216. TARRAGON (Artemisia dracunculus) is a hardy plant of the wormwood tribe, which grows wild in India and the southern parts of Europe, and is cultivated with us in gardens for culinary uses. It has a somewhat shrubby stem; smooth, spear-shaped, leaves tapering at each end; and flowers roundish, erect, and on footstalks. This is a hot and bitter vegetable, which is sometimes eaten with lettuces, or other salad herbs: and sometimes used as an ingredient in soup. Its seeds are pungent; and may be advantageously substituted for the more costly spices obtained from the Indies. The Indians frequently eat the leaves of the tarragon plant with bread. The sauce called tarragon vinegar is made by infusing for fourteen days, one pound of the leaves of tarragon, gathered a short time before the flowers appear, in one gallon of the best vinegar: straining this through a flannel bag, and fining it by means of a little isinglass. A distilled water is sometimes prepared from the leaves of tarragon. FRUSTRANEA.217. The JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE is a somewhat potatoe-shaped root, produced by a species of sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus) which grows wild in several parts of South America. This plant bears single stalks, which are frequently eight or nine feet high, and yellow flowers, much smaller than those of the common sunflower. So extremely productive are these valuable roots, that betwixt seventy and eighty tons' weight of them are said to have been obtained, in one season, from a single acre of ground. They succeed in almost any soil; and, when once planted, will continue to flourish in the same place, without requiring either much manure, or much attention to the culture. The season in which they are dug up for use is from about the middle of September till November; when they are in greatest perfection. After that they may be preserved in sand, or under cover, for the winter. The roots are generally eaten plain boiled; but they are sometimes served to table with white fricassee-sauce, and in other ways. Their flavour is so nearly like that of the common artichoke, that it is difficult to distinguish them from each other. We are informed that Jerusalem artichokes are a valuable food for hogs and store pigs; and that if washed, cut, and ground in a mill, similar to an apple-mill, they may also be given to horses. 218. The COMMON or ANNUAL SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus) is a Peruvian plant, with large yellow flowers, that is well known in our gardens. The uses to which this plant may be applied are such as to render it well deserving of attention in rural economy. Its stalks contain a white, shining, fibrous substance, which might be advantageously employed in |
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