394 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



disease better than others, yet none are free from liability to 

 decay. Dr. Farlow remarks that the precautions which should 

 be taken to prevent the extension of the disease will be more 

 definitely known when the plant in which oospores are pro- 

 duced, has been discovered. At present we can not say with 

 certainty that these are found either in clover, wheat, oat, or 

 rye straw, and therefore the prohibition to plant after any 

 of the above-mentioned crops is without foundation. It is 

 thought probable, however, that the oospores of Peronospora 

 infestcms will be found concealed in some common plant eat- 

 en by cattle ; and as these oospores are so tough as not to be 

 affected by passing through the alimentary canals of animals, 

 the chances of avoiding the rot are greater when mineral 

 manures are made use of than animal. Dr. Farlow also puts 

 in a word of caution in reference to the fungus of the lettuce, 

 which he states is increasing very rapidly in ISTew England, 

 and is a subject worthy of serious consideration. 



CULTIVATION OF THE ASPARAGUS IN FRANCE. 



There are few vegetables in which the result of special 

 care in cultivation has been more marked than in the case 

 of asparagus, which, from the old-fashioned stringy, slender, 

 and tough spike, has been converted into a tender, succulent 

 mass of agreeable food. This result is due particularly to 

 the labors of the French, asparagus having been cultivated 

 in France for a long time, especially in the vicinity of Ar- 

 genteuil, near Paris. 



In former times the beds in which this plant was culti- 

 vated were managed without reference to other crops; but 

 more recently the plant has been reared in the vineyards, 

 the grape and the asparagus agreeing very well together. 

 At present the vineyards of Argenteuil furnish from eight 

 to twelve hundred dollars' worth of asparagus annually per 

 hectare (2^- acres), or from three to five hundred dollars' 

 worth per acre. 



The asparagus bed is started in March or April, with 

 shoots obtained by sowing under glass in open, light, well- 

 worked soil, isolated as much as possible from surrounding 

 vegetation, the earth being dug out to the depth of about 

 eighteen inches. Trenches of these dimensions are first pre- 

 pared, being separated from each other about four inches, in 



