The Vegetable Cultivation Author:John Rogers General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1839 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR. 1. ARTICHOKE -- Cynara. The generic term cynara is supposed to have been so called by the ancients, on account of its ash-coloured leaves; and the word choke is no doubt taken from that part of the head which is left after the bottom part of the scales is eaten, and which, if accidentally swallowed, produces a sensation similar to choking. This vegetable, which affords a pleasant and nourishing diet, is a native of Africa, and also of some of the warmest parts of Italy, whence it was first brought to this country in the reign of Henry the Eighth, in the year 1548; and, from the moisture of our climate, and the attention bestowed upon its cultivation, the size and flavour were so much improved, that the Italians sent for plants from England, supposing them to be of another variety. They were, however, mistaken, for the plants soon returned to their original size and quality, upon being restored to their native climate. The artichoke is principally cultivated in the gardens of the higher classes, by whom it is much esteemed; and it is considered more as a luxury than a profitable esculent. The heads, in their immature state, and before the flowers open, are boiled in salted water, v till all such parts of them become soft as are capable of being so. The scales are then plucked off one by one; the lower part, or bottoms, as they are called, are dipped in a mixture of melted butter, well seasoned, and the fleshy substance sucked from the rest. But there is generally so little to be obtained, as almost to justify the observation of a raw country servant, who, having waited ...« less