POPULAR VAPJETIES OP GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



201 



some five feet in height, with a branching stem, fine cylindrical leaves, small 

 greenish flowers, and red berries containing black seed. The seed may be 

 sown either in the springer autumn, in drills about one inch deep, and the 

 rows wide enough apart to admit of hoeing, — about a foot. An ounce of seed 

 is sufficient for a drill thirty feet in length. Keep the soil mellow and free 

 from weeds during the summer, and in the fall or succeeding spring the plants 

 may be set out in beds, about a foot apart each way. The beds should be nar- 

 row so as to permit of cutting to the center without stepping upon them. The 



plants may remain in the seed-bed until two years 

 old if desired. Before winter, cover the transplanted 

 beds with about four inches of manure. A good 

 many varieties are advertised, with but little differ- 

 ence. As Asparagus plants are all grown from seed, 

 it will be seen that there is great opportunity for 

 variation. Salt is an excellent manure for Aspara- 

 gus, and an efficient assistant to the cultivator, keep- 

 ing down the Aveeds with very little labor. When 

 grown in large quantities for market, Asparagus is often planted a foot apart in the 

 rows, and the rows three feet apart, and sometimes three feet apart each way. Cut 

 for use the third year after planting, and if the shoots appear pretty strong, a 

 little may be cut the second year. The part used is the young shoots when 

 about five or six inches in height, and when the bud is close and firm, and these 

 should be cut a little below the surface, with a sloping cut. It is not best to 

 continue the cutting late in the season, unless the shoots are very robust. Al- 

 ways give the bed a good dressing of manure in the fall, first removing the 

 dead brush of the past season. An Asparagus bed will last longer than the 

 maker, so it should be well made, and there should be no haste in cutting. 

 Those who do not wish the trouble and delay of growing Asparagus from seed, 

 can obtain plants, either one or two years old, at a very moderate price. Se- 

 cure a good, rich, deep, mellow soil, and set the plants with the roots spread 

 out naturally, just as a good gardener would arrange the roots of any tree or 

 plant, and so deep that the crown will be two or three inches below the surface. 

 In removing weeds be careful not to injure the crowns. In the spring remove 

 them by hand. The engravings show a bunch of Asparagus as usually ex- 

 posed for sale, and a branch of the plant at seeding time. 



BEANS. 



Beans are usually divided into two general classes, dwarf and pole beans. The 

 dwarfs are earlier and more hardy, as a general rule, than the running sorts. 

 The dwarfs are generally used for string-beans, when the pods are tender, and 

 the climbers only for shelling. We have endeavored in the engraving to show 

 the habit of both. Beans like a dry and rather light soil, although they will 

 do well in any garden soil if not set out too early in the spring. Nothing is 

 gained by planting until the ground is tolerably dry and warm. The Dwarf 

 varieties grow from twelve to eighteen inches in height, need no support, and 

 are planted either in drills or hills. The drills should be not less than a foot 

 apart, two inches deep, and the seed set in the drills from two to three inches 

 apart. The usual method in hills is to allow about four plants to a hill, and 

 the hills two by three feet apart. Eows are best for the garden. A quart of 

 •ordinary sized beans is about fifteen hundred, and will sow two hundred and 

 fifty feet of rows, or one hundred and fifty hills. Hoe well, but only when dry. 

 Kunning beans should not be planted quite as early as the Dwarfs. The usual 

 way of planting is in hills, about three feet apart, with a pule in the center of 



