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f' 



fuch gardeners as plant for fale,) fuch as have been 

 two or three years planted out from die feed-bed \ 

 and having fixed upon the time you v/ould willingly 

 have your Aiparagus fit to cut, about fix weeks be- 

 fore, you iliould prepare a quantity of new ftable 

 horfe-dung, which lliould be thrown in a heap for 

 ten days or more, to ferment, mixing fome fea-coal 

 aflics v/ith it •, then it fhould be turned over into a 

 heap, where it mull lie another week, when it will 

 be fi-t for ufe. ■ Then dig out a trench in the ground 

 where you intencj to make the bed, the width of the 

 frames that are defigned to cover it, and the length 

 in proportion to the quantity you intend to have 

 (which if defigned only to fupply afmall family, three 

 or four lights at a time v/ill be fufficient,) but for a 

 larger family, fix or eight lights will not be too much : 

 then lay down your dung into the trench, working 

 it very regularly, and beat it down very tight with 

 a fork, laying it at leaft three feet in thicknefs or 

 more, wlien the beds are made in December ; then 

 put your earth thereon about fix inches thick, break- 



ing the clods and laying it level ; and at one end, be- 

 gin laying your roots againfl; a little ridge of earth, 

 raifed about four inches high : your roots muft be 

 laid as dole as pofTible one to the other, in rows, with 

 tlieir buds ftanding upright; and between every row 

 lay a fiiiail quantity of fine mould, obferving to keep 

 the crown of tiie roots exaftly level. When you have 

 fiinilhed laying your bed with roots, you muft lay 

 fome ftiff earth up to the roots, on the outfides of the 

 bed, which are bare, to keep them from drying; 

 and thruft tv/o or three fharp-pointed fticks, about 

 two feet long, down between the roots, in the middle 

 of the bed, at a diftance from each other. , The ufe 

 of thefe fi:icks is to inform you what temper of heat 

 the bed is in, which you may find by drawing up the 

 ilicks, and feehng the lower part; and if, after the 

 bed has been made a week, you find it doth not heat, 

 you may lay a little ftraw or litter round the fides, 

 and alio upon the top, which will greatly help it ; or 

 if you find it very iiot, fo as to endanger fcorching 

 cf the roots, it will be advifable to let it remain 

 wholly uncovered, and to thrufi: a large ftick into the 

 dung, on each fide of the bed, in two or three places, 

 to make holes for the great fteam of the bed to pafs 

 off, which in a fi:iort time will reduce the bed to a 

 moderate heat. <. • ^ 



After the bed has been made a fortnight, you muft 

 cover the crowns^ of the roots v/ith fine earth, about 

 two inches thick ; and v/hen the buds begin to appear 

 ^above ground through that earth, you muft again lay 

 on a frefii quantity, about three inches thick ; fo that 

 in the wliole, it may be five inches above the crowns 

 of the root, which will be fufficient. 

 Then you muft make a band of ft'raw (or long litter,) 

 about four inches thick, which muft be faftened round 

 the fides of the bed, that the upper part may be level 

 with the furface of the s-round : this muft be faftened 



with ftrait fticks about two feet long, fliarpened at 

 the points, to run into the bed ; and upon this band 

 you muft fet your iiZra^^^ and put your glafies there- 

 on ; but if, after your bed hath been made three 

 weeks, you find the lieat decline, you muft lay a good 

 lining of frefti hot dung round the fides of the bed, 

 v/hich vv'ill add a frefnheat thereto ; and in bad wea- 

 ther, as alfo every night, keep the glafifes covered 

 with miats and fcraw; but in the day time, let it be 

 all talien off, efpecially whenever the fun appears ; 

 v/iiich, fhining through the glafies, will give a good 

 colour to the Afparagus. 



A bed thus made, if it works kindly, will begin to 

 produce buds for cutting, in about five or fix weeks, 

 and will hold about three weeks in cutting ; which, 

 if rightly planted with gojd roots, will produce, in 

 that time, about three hundred buds in each light; 

 fo that where Afparagus is propofed to be continued 

 until the Icafon of the natural being produced, a frefti 

 bed fliould be made every three weeks, until the 

 beoinninor of March, from the time of the firft bed 



being made ; for if the laft bed is made about a week 



( 



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in March, it will laft till th^ feafon of natural Afpa^- 

 ragus ; for the laft beds will conie a fortnight fooner 

 to cutafter making, than thofc made about Chriftmas; 

 and the buds will be larger, and better coloured, as 

 tliey will then enjoy a grcatei* ftiare of the fun. 

 Where this method of forcing early Afparagus is in- 

 tended, there ftiould^ be every year fuch a quantity 



on 



.. the 

 quantity of rootsnecefiarytoplantonelighc,iscommon- 

 ly known by the meafure of the gtound where they 



grow ; for v/here there is a good crop; and few roots 



■are mifllng, one rod of ground will furnifti enough 



for a light ; but this calculation is made from the 



ground planted with roots, which are defigned to be 



taken up after two or three years grovv'th for forcing, 



in which there are fixrov/s in a bed, at but ten inches 



planted, which you fiiall judge neceffary (unlefs y 

 intend to buy the roots from fome other garden :) t 



diftance, and the plants eight or nine inches afundet 

 in the rows ; but where there is a greater Ipace be- 

 tween the rows, and fev/errov/s in a'bed, then there 

 muft be a greater quantity of ground allotted for each 



Moft 



Aft 



from planting ; but where the land is not very good, 

 It will be better to let it have thi-ee years growth, for 

 ' if the roots are weak, t!ic buds of Aiparagus will be 

 very fmall, fo not worth the trouble of forcing. The 

 beft ground for planting Afparagus, to have large 

 roots for hot-beds, is a m.oift rich foil ; but for thole 

 that are to remain for a natural produce, a middhng 

 foil, neither too v/ec nor too dry ; but a frefti iandy 

 loam, v^^hen well dunged, is preferable to any other. 

 The fecond fort is mentioned to grow naturally in 

 Wales, and alfo near Briftol : I have received feeds 

 from the iiland of Portland, which have fucceeded 

 in the Chelfea garden, by which I am convinced it 

 is a difi^erent fpecies from the Garden Afparagus; and 

 alfo from the wild fort which grows narurally at Gibral-- 

 tar, and alfo near Montpelier, is different from both; 

 Mr. Magnol, of Montpelier, was alfo of the opiniori 

 that it was a different fpecies, for he fays, the common 

 wild Afparagus and this grew near each other in die 

 neighbourhood of Pvlontpelier, and the young fhoots 

 of the former were fvveet, whereas thofe of the latter 

 were bitter. The fam^e has been confirmed to me by 

 feveral gentlemen, v/ho have refided many years at 

 Gibraltar and Minorca, where the fecond fort o-rov/s 

 naturally in plenty. 



This fort is propagated by feeds in the lame manner 

 as the garden kind, but muft have a wan:ier fituation ; 

 and the roots ftiould be well covered in winter, to 



prevent the froft from penetrating the ground, v>hich 

 will deftroy it. 



The third fort hath white, crooked, flirubby ftalks, 

 which rife four or five feet high, but have no fpines 

 on them; the leaves come out in clufters from the 

 fame point, like thofe of the Larch-tree ; thefe are 

 very ftiort, and end in Hiarp prickles, io that they 

 are troublefome to handle. This fort arrows naturally 



in the South of France, Spain, and Portugal. It is 

 propagated by feeds as the former forts, but is too 

 tender to five abroad in England, fo tlie roots fnould 

 be planted in pots, or near a fouth wall, andflieltered 

 in winter. 



The fourth fort grows with flirubby ftalks three oi' 

 four feet high, with very white bark, and are armed 

 with thorns which are fingle, coming ogt juft' below 

 each turf of leaves. Thefe ftalks continue feveral 

 years, and put out many branches, garni Hied with 

 narrow fl:iort leaves. Thefe continue green all the 

 winter, if the plants are fcrcened from feverc froft. 

 It is propagated by leeds as the ^oxrv^v^ which niay 

 be procured from the Mediterranean, where it grows 

 naturally ; fome of the plants fliould be kept in pots, 

 that they may be fiiekered in winter,, and tlie others 

 may be planted in the full ground in a wai'm lituation, 

 and in hard frofts covered, otherwife it will not hve 

 abroad in this country. 



The fifth fort grows naturally at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. This hath ver)^ crooked irregular ftalks, which 



are 



