

A 



niter, tribus alit quatuor f])inis ad eundcni exortam. 



C. B. P. 490. 

 Asparagus {Bedinatus) c^ule IncrmI ramis declina- 



tis foliis fctaccis. Prod. Leyd. 29. Afparagm with a 

 fmooih ftalk^ declintyig branches^ and brijtly leaves. 



%, Asparagus {/Ifmticus) acukis folitariis caulc ercflo 

 foliis fafciculatis, ramis filiformibus. Lin. Sp. Plant. 

 313. Afparagus withftngle fpines^ an upright ft alk^ leaves 

 growing in cluflers^ and very Jlender branches. 



5. Asparagus {Capenfts) fpinis lateralibus terminalibuf- 

 que, ramis aggregatis foliis fafciculatis. Lin. Sp. 

 Plant. 314. Afparagus zvith fpines growing on the fides 

 and ends of the branches^ which are in bunches^ and leaves 



■ corning out in clufters. 



10. Asparagus (Sarmentofus) foliis folitariis lineari lan- 

 ceolatis caulc flexuofo aculeis recurvis. Flor. Zeyl. 



124. Afparagus with f ingle ^ narrow^ fpear-ftoaped leaves^ 

 a flexible ft alk^ and 7'eciirved fpines. Afparagus acule- 

 atus Zeylanicus maximus farmentofus. H, L. 62. 

 The firil fort is the common Afparagus, which is 

 . cultivated for the ufe of the table, and may have pro- 

 bably been brought by culture to the perfeftion it now 

 is, from tlie wild fort, which grows naturally in the 

 fens of Lincolnfliire, wliere the Hioots are no larger 

 than ilraws ; but if fo, it muft have been from very 

 long culture and good management; for a friend 

 of mine, who procured fome feeds of the wild fort, 

 which he cultivated with great care, in very rich 

 ground, yet could not bring the roots to produce 

 llioots more than half the fize of the garden kind, 

 which grew on the fame ground •, but he always found 

 the wild fort came up a week or ten days earlier in 

 the fpring, and the flioots were exceeding fweet. 

 I have lately had fome doubt, whether the fort of Af- 

 paragus whicli grows naturally in England, was the 

 famiC with that mentioned by Cafper Bauhin, bccaufe 

 Tourncfort and Vaillant both aflert that they had cul- 

 tivated that wild fort in the royal garden at Paris fe- 

 veral years, and it had never altered, therefore I pro- 

 cured fpecimens of tliat, which I find to be extremely 



The leaves are much 

 finer and fliorter, and are produced in much larger 

 clufters ; the branches grow much clofer together, 

 and the foot-ftalks of the flowers are longer ; there- 

 fore I believe it to be a diftinct fpecies from our wild 

 fort, which appears to me undoubtedly the fame as 

 the Garden Afparagus. 



Tlie Garden Alparagus is propagated by feeds. In the 

 proc'urii^ of wMch, there fliould be particular care 

 to get it from a perfon of fivill, who may be depended 

 upon for his choice of the flioots, and integrity in fup- 

 plying with his beft feeds. 'But where a perfon is 

 in polfcfllon of fome good beds of Afparagus, it is 

 much the beft: way to fave it himfclf ; in order 

 to which, a fufficicnt number of the faireft buds 

 fliould be marked early in the fpring, and permitted 

 to run up for feeds •, becaufe thofe which run up after 

 the feafon for cutting the Afparagus is over, are ge- 

 nerally fo backward, as not to ripen the feeds unlefs 

 the fummer is warm, and the autumn very favoura- 

 ble. In the choice of the buds to be left for feeds, 

 there muft be great regard had to their fize and 

 roundnefs, never leaving any that are Inclinable to be 

 fiat, or that foon grow open headed, always choof- 

 ing the roundeft, and fuch as have the clofeft tops. 

 But as feveral of thefe produce only male flowers 

 which are barren, a greater number of buds fliould 



/ 



diflerentfrom theEnglifli fort. 



be left, than might be necefl^ary, if there could be a 

 certainty of their being all fruitful. When_the buds 

 are left, it will be proper to thruft a ftick down by 

 each, but there muft be care had in doing this, not 

 to injure the crowJi of the root. Thefe fticks will 

 fervc as marks to diftinguifli tliem from the otliers 

 when they arc all run up. Toward the end of Sep- 

 tember the berries will be fully ripe, when the ftalks 

 fliould be cut oft', and the berries ftripped into a tub, 

 in which they may remain three weeks or d month to 

 fwcat, by which means the outer huiks will be rotten ; 

 then fill the tub Avith water, and with your hands 



break all the hulks by fqueezing them between your 





hinds. Tliefe liuflcs will all fwim upon rlie watcr^ 

 but the feeds will fink to the bottom ; lo that by pour- 

 ing off the water gently, the hufls^s will be carried 

 along with it, and by putting frefli water two or three 

 times, and ftirring your feed about, you will make it 

 entirely clean : then fpread the feed upon a mat or 

 cloth, and expofe it to the fun and air in dry weather, 

 until it is perfeftly dry,' when it may be put into a 

 bag, and hanged up in a dry place till the beginning 

 of February, which is tlie proper leafon for fov^in 

 it ; at which time you muft prepare a bed of good 

 rich earth made very level, v/hereon you mult fow 

 your feeds (but not too thick, which will caufe the 

 plants to be fmall ;) then tread the bed all over to 

 bury the feed in the ground, and rake it over fmooth. 

 The following fummer keep the ground diligently 

 cleared from weeds, which will greatly add to the 

 flirength of the plants ; and toward the latter end of 

 Oftober, when the haulm is quite withered, you may 

 fpread a fittle rotten dung over tlie furface of the 

 ground, about two inches thick, which will preferve 

 the young buds from being hurt with the frofts, &c. 

 The fpring following the plants will be fit to plant 

 out for good (for plajits of more than one year's 

 growth are unfit to remove, as I have often experi- 

 enced ; for young plants are much better than old, 

 and will produce finer roots :) you muft therefore 

 prepare your ground by trenching it well, burying 

 therein a good quantity of rotten dung at the bottom 

 of each trench, that it may lie at leaft fix inches be- 

 low the furface of the ground \ then level the whole 

 plot very exactly, taking put all large ftones : but 

 this fliould not be done long before you intend to 

 plant your Afparagus, in which you muft be govern- 

 ed according to the nature of your foil or the leafon ; 

 for if your foil is dry and the feafon forward, you 

 may plant early in March ; but in a wet foil, it is bet- 

 ter to wait till the end of that month, or the begin- 

 ning of April, which is about the feafon that die 

 plants are beginning to flioot. I know many people 

 have advifed the planting of Afparagus at Michael- 

 mas, but this I have experienced to be very wrong ; 

 for in two different years I was obliged to tranfplant 

 large quantities at that feafon, but I had better have 

 thrown away the plants ^ for upon examination in the 

 fpring, I found moft of the roots were grown moul- 

 dy, and decaying, and I am fure, not one In five of 

 them fucceeded, and thofe which did were io weak, 

 as not to be worth their ftanding. 

 The feafon being come for planting, you muft, with 

 a narrow pronged dung-fork, carefully fork up the 

 roots, fliaking them out of the eartli, and feparatin^ 





them from each other, obferving to lay their heads 

 even, for the more convenient planting them, which 

 muft be performed in this manner: 

 The plot of ground being levelled, you muft begin 

 at one fide thereof, ranging a line very tight crofs the 

 piece, throwing out a trench exadlly ftrait, by the fine 

 about fix inches deep, being careful not to turn up 

 the dung \ into whicJi trejich you may lay your roots, 

 fpreading them with your fingers, and placing them 

 upright againft the back of the trench, that the buds 

 may ftand forward, and be about two inches below 

 the furface of the ground, and at twelve inches dif- 



tance from each other -, then with a rake, draw the 

 earth into the trench again, laying It very level, which 

 will preferve the roots in their right pofition ; then 

 remove the line a foot farther back, and make ano- 

 ther trench in the like manner, laying therein your 

 plants as before direfted, and continuing the fame 

 diftance row from row, only obferving between every 

 four rows, to leave a diftance of two feet four inches 

 for an alley to go between the beds to cut the Afpa- 

 ragus, &c. 



Hie plot of ground being finlflied and levelled, you 

 may fow thereon a fmall crop ot Onions, which will 

 not hurt the Afparagus, provided the Onions are not 

 too clofe, and tread in the feeds, raking the ground 

 level. 



B b 



There 



