WINTER MEETING. 237 



In this paper it is impossible to give anything like a detailed account of the 

 culture of all the different kinds of garden vegetables, and I am sure my hearers 

 will appreciate me more when I say I shall not attempt it. There are, however, 

 a great many simple methods, involving very little trouble or expense, by which 

 most home gardens might be made useful beyond their present capacity. These 

 methods may not be entirely new and startling ; in fact, each person present may 

 know them, and yet, what we know may lie dormant in our minds and not be put 

 into actual practice unless our memory is jogged occasionally. 



Asparagus is indispensable in the complete garden, because it is ready for 

 use at a time when no other out-of-door crop could take its place. It is quite gen- 

 erally grown, but its producing period, instead of being the customary few weeks 

 of early spring-time, should be made to cover several months. 



A bed once prepared, may last a life time, so it is well to give it the best of 

 preparation. Seeds should be selected in autumn from large strong plants, and 

 kept in moist eand over winter, as they germinate more quickly if not allowed to 

 become too dry. They should be sown the last of April in shallow drills, and 

 thinned and cultivated the first season much like onions or other small annuals. 

 In one season they should become large enough to remove to the permanent bed. 

 The land should be deeply worked. Best general results may be expected 

 from a sunny location, but if part of the planting can be on high ground and part 

 in a low cooler place, it facilitates the production of both early and late plants. 

 The main planting should be set with the crowns six or eight inches below the 

 surface, but for early product part of the plants should be only two or three 

 inches deep. The deeply-set plants should be only slightly covered at first and the 

 soil drawn up around them as they increase their growth. The distance apart to 

 set the plants may be varied to suit the kind of cultivation desired, bearing in 

 mind, however, that for best development the hills should be at least two feet 

 apart each way. The plants should not be ;cut for use for two years after the bed 

 is made. 



Well-decomposed barnyard fertilizer is no doubt best, and ;should be applied 

 in liberal quantity. A thick dressing of it thoroughly worked into the soil each 

 year maintains that fine tilth which allows the stems to make a symmetrical 

 upward growth, and enables the picker to break off the entire bleached, succulent 

 growth deep below the surface. 



In the garden we have three beds of this plant, which this year produced fine 

 succulent stems from February 26th to the last of June. As soon as the plant 

 withered in autumn, a part of one bed was heavily dressed to retain the warmth 

 of the soil. In midwinter this dressing was removed, an ordinary hot-bed frame 

 was placed on the bed, and the soil enclosed worked up loose and fine. The frame 

 was then half-filled with fermenting horse manure, and banked to the top on the 

 outside with the same material. Hot-bed sash were then placed over the frame. 

 In about five weeks the plants began to come through, and continued to be pro- 

 duced until warm weather. 



Rhubarb may be forced in much the same manner as asparagus. A barrel 

 with each head out, or any such frame, may be set around the root, and fermenting 

 manure used around it the same as in forcing asparagus. The barrel or frame 

 should be kept covered to retain the heat. Light is not necessary. In the green- 

 house we force both these vegetables under the benches, but have not had so good 

 results with asparagus as when it is forced in the open ground. 



Lettuce is an important factor in every garden during early summer. Have 

 you tried growing a sash of it in late winter or early spring? It may be done in 



