ARTICHOKES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 267, 9 October 1940, Page 12

ARTICHOKES.

VALUABLE FOOD FOR PIGS. (Written for tho “Manawatu Standard.”) Ihe provision of food stocks lor the maintenance and lattening ot pigs during next winter is at present causing considerable apprehension and should nut ne regarded ligutly. Althougn opinions ditfer widely regarding tho Jerusalem artienoke (rielianuius tuberosus) there is no douht it is especially valuaoie as a food lor pigs. The dmerence m opinion may arise Horn a dilierence in sows, or a diltererence in the method ot growing ttiem and m utilising the crop alter it nas been grown. Also- ironi a diherence in handling me land and clearing it ot the artichokes vvnen it is required for a dinerent crop. That there is a place tor the artichoke as a torage tor pigs should not . any longer bo questioned, 'due writer’s experience over many years, together with the testimony ot numbers ot reputable men in various parts of i\ew Zealand, fully sustains tins view. Tho artichoke is a tuber which bears some resemblance to the potato, both in appearance and habit 01 growth. The tubers are more elongated and irregular in shape than those of the potato. They cluster around the parent stem and yet they throw out runners which bear small tubers. • This it is that gives them so much power to completely occupy ilie land, since these small tubers, if allowed to remain in the ground, will throw up iresh plants. Tho tuber is less firm than that ot the potato. It is, however, equal to the potato m lending value. The plant is extremely hardy and there are few if any parts of the Dominion in which it will not grow successfully. The strong points in lavour of the artichoke crop are lound, hist, in the large amount of healthful iood which they lurnislr for pigs, as high as ten tons per acre and sometimes more when soil conditions are specially favourable ; second, in ttte fact that the pigs may harvest them; third, in their immunity from injury by frost, especially while not yet harvested; fourth, in the tact that they can be planted either in spring or autumn, and, filth, in the number of successive crops that they will produce from one planting under certain conditions of management. As many as seven successive crops have been grown without any interruption, and under some conditions — such as light to medium soils, together with judicious stocking—the growing ol these successive crops could be further extended. The chief—and only objections—to their growth arise, first, from the difficulty sometimes, found in ridding tho land of them; and, second, from the impaction ot certain lands which follows harvesting them by pigs when those lands are unduly moist. Artichokes may be planted after any kind of crop, but since they grow best when cultivated much the same us potatoes, they should naturally bo given the place of a cleaning crop, However, because of the difficulty that is frequently found in ridding the land of artichokes, they should be followed by some kind of cultivated crop, inter-cultiva-tion of which during the growing period will impede the growth of any tubers that remain in the soil. When artichokes are grown as pig forage, however, it is advantageous to grow them during successive seasons on the same piece of land for at least a limited number of years. When thus grown, replanting is not necessary and the labour of cleaning out the artichokes for a different crop is lessened in proportion as the term of growing the successive crops is extended. SUITABLE SOIL.

A 6oil that will grow artichokes in excellent form should be deep, moist, triable, free from stagnant water at all seasons of the year, and well supplied wiut vegetable matter. The soil that suits the potato is acceptable to the artichoke. Good crops may bo grown on sandy soils in moist seasons, providing they have first been properly enriched but not when the opposite conditions prevail. Sandy and alluvial soils' will grow excellent crops of artichokes when irrigated. While strong clays may produce good crops, artichokes should not bo grown on such lands as image. Pigs cannot dig them except at the expenditure of too much labour, and if they are allowed to search for them in clay land, when wet it would become so impacted that for a time subsequent to such foraging it would be impossible to cultivate it without great labour. in preparing the land lor artichokes much depends upon the season of the year when the sets are to be planted. When planted in the autumn it is not absolutely necessary to have the soil in tilth as fine as for spring planting. When planted ill the spring the tilth should be fine. In moist situations the aim should be to havo the soil lie loosely upon itself, but in dry localities tho aim should be to havo the land firm. In either case, the ploughing should he deep. We 11 rotted manure may be ploughed in before planting the crop or when planting takes place. , Although artichokes may bo planted in the autumn, spring is the most desirable time. While September is the usual month of planting excellent crops have rosultud from much later plantings. Deep planting is much to be preferred, since it makes possible more thorough cultivation belor.s the plants are up, and it further removes the leeding ground of tho root 3 from tin, influences ot surface evaporation. Tho tubers should be set out in rows 2ft 6in to 3ft apart, and Ift 6in to 2ft in tho rows. The tubers should be put six inches deep in the ground. The best results come from j the use of tubers of full size. The weighs of tubers required to plant one acre will vary, of course, in proportion to the width apart in which they arc planted and according to the size that may be used. The average weight of seed per aero is, how ever, from lOcwt to 12ewt. The artichoke responds to liberal manurial treatment and in addition to supplying the soil with organic matter 3cwt blood and bone, 2cwt superphosphate, and 2ewt kainit per acre may be given when planting tho tubers CULTIVATION. The first year the cultivation of artichokes should be thorough during the early part of the season. The first harrowing should he given about ten days after the tubers are planted. Tho subsequent harrowings, from two to four in number, ought to'be made before the plants reach the height of, say, six inchcß. The The horse inter-cultivation should then begin. It ought to be given frequently and it is important that it shall be shallow so as not to break the horizontal rootlets of tlie plants. When tho crop is to be grown during successive years on the same land without replanting, the soil should be carefully harrowed or otherwiso levelled every spring

Pigs should be put on to forage as soon as the crop liks matured for the season. Spring. foraging should be very brief as the value of s the' tubers is much impaired

after they begin to grow. Piga may be given free access to the crop. But when practicable it is advisable to allow them the option of feeding on other pasture,' preferably red clover oi lucerne. Young pigs should be given some grain feed in addition, but brood sows will not usually require grain until near the time of farrowing, especially if they have access to pasture also.