JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1655, 13 February 1883, Page 3

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.

A wuiTKR in the Garde/nit? Chronicle speaks of this excellent vegetable in the following terms :— "I have been puzzled to know why the poorer classes who, in the count] y at any rate, have garden giouiul, do not cultivate the&o artichokes, which arc so easy to grow 1 and so exceedingly prolific. Once planted in a piece of land they are difficult to eradicate; for the smallest tuber left in the soil wijl . throw up a plant next year ; but my experience of the poor classes shows me that they , .seldom value "inexpensive articles, and are, despite school boards, very prejudiced and unenlightened in many respects. A labourer's wife who would turn up her nose at artichokes, which ' grew like all along of themselves ' iv the country, would, if she went to live in a town, and had to pay fotirpeuce a pound for them, value them greatly, and say 'they was quite a gentry dish. 5 Palestine soup is made of them,'' anil tlt^t form a ' good basis for many brown tojHp. I often dress them the French way : mff till nearly tender, drain well, sprinkle and pepper, and fry a light bi'own in butter, or fry them 'in a well-made batter, Laye.rs of cut artichokes impart a nice flavour to veal, ham, and chicken pies. la] ways put a teaspoonf ul ' of lemot} juice in the cold water into, which the artichokes, after being washed and pared, are thrown to stand in. It makes* jjhem beautifully White , and this, if vegetables are to be dre,ss<edi.in the ordinary' 'way, pifcher plain boiled, or mashed, ia essetftiai.» / '.• ''• , ; :;. The writer of the t above has .evidently had exceptionally favourable- opportunities for emancipating hergelf ,11,'om, the "prejudices, and,iirieulightenm'ent" of the "poor classes" against the use' tjf the' root in question as an article , ,of food. ■Her'wfell-meant 4't^i ( hpt7tS/*remov<} fha prejudices of the' 'class sbie "refers to' would hay "liiore "JUcd^ful'ifott/BMfc whicli^we think inthe case^Tn noihtjis more th,eir lniafoi^tind' .than their i.fault ' Tlfey'a'ije hWa^olis'iioM #."W*^ t aqd ohicVen pK)H.,!f If thßyl^y'.LW.Quld ' '?^KJphonii artiohplstfs aB'JUi-jncredicutr<r!Bi(it r

boiled plain, and sePv l <£cn#hole or mashed, or baked in the oVen iv dripping or butter, they are a most excellent dish. Then nothing is more easy ofepujture than the artichoke. Iymay, as hinted at ftbqye, be gr,o\vn v ,i{* ( the,Bame , spo£ .year, after year, but'ihaj:;#,not;Cultivat!on, it is leaving them to ' grow lileo all along of themselves." .^hejjwill be, none^tlle worse for an occasional dressing of manure, and of being, planted every, year in ayra v re F gdlar'>w^ r tth2F the manned of potatoes, but giving tbdm more room each W a y- Between, /the rows there fehould not be Jess, that 2^ffc., and between the sets Ift. They may be left iv the ground, all winter, being quite, hardy ; but they are improved in quality by being lifted and, stored, as potatoes arc. 1

Single ' Wombs Wanted. — It will be remembered thajb the iMa-rquis' of ,Lorne , recently lield out high hopes to unattached young' woir.en, wlio may be disposed to emigrate to ' the Canadian jftorth-West, ,He said that a^ouiig woman would have twenty offers in a week, aud that the further West she went the more offers she, would get. A pamphlet just published, entitled "Fat, Lauds for Lean Tillers," states that a goqrt-looking woman can choose among fifty adorers, while, a plain' one can select from five j and the writer interprets his estimate liberally by adding that, in his opinion, no, goodtempered woman is plain. The author quotes from a Canadian paper the following 1 paragraph on the subject t : — " The cry , js : Still they don't come, Girls of Ontario,' come West ! come West ! We have' in bur town many eligibles. The first comer can choose between a thin lawyer, a stout doctor, a retired but not retiring merchant, and oiie still in business. All are warranted docile, and tired of a life of single uhblessedness." EpUCATIOX OV WOMKN I.V RIJShIA. — The Moscow lady, who comes forward with an ofFer ot 50,000 roubles to be spent in the professional training of ladies who desire to becomp physicians, hasi added another to already existing proofs of 'the great interest Russian society takes in the education of its women. Since Peter the Great abolished tjhe limn, t and sat/Ch ft Hum's were forbidden to deal somewhat in the Spartan fashion with infants that did not promise to prow up , models of beauty, Russia lias 'had a good many more women that it has known what to do with. To provide spheres of social usefulness for a large population of the feminine sex, Miio had been taught little except that it is the (eternal duty of woman to conceal herself, was too heavy a task to be accomplished by any one man. Catherine was the first to see what was wanted/ and her institutions for the training > of , girls, though somewhat tinged witjh 1 class prejudices, form the historical opening of £he movement for the education' of \y!omen in Russia. Of late years the progress of the movement has been signal and rapid. At the present time there are nearly o'OO middle schools for girls in Russia, ' attended by over 00,000 pupils. Since 1861' special "courses" have been opened for the training of young women as teachers, while facilities have been granted to women not only to obtain some ot the advantages of a university education, but also to qualify themselves for the practice of medicine and surgery.